The Milkweed Foundation

03/11/2026

12/09/2024

A great project that worked to rescue and relocate some of the Forgotten Coast's rarest plants.

05/09/2024

3 species of southeastern native milkweed do not have white sap.

Florida Milkweeds, including 21 native species, are conserved through education and conservation. Asclepias, Matelea, Gonolobus, and Funastrum.

05/03/2024

In the 10 years that we have assessed the southeast for native milkweeds, ~89% of populations were confined to roadsides and powerlines, and over 50% have been impacted by herbicide or DOT construction activities.

Florida Milkweeds, including 21 native species, are conserved through education and conservation. Asclepias, Matelea, Gonolobus, and Funastrum.

05/02/2024

A blog discussing the different varieties of butterfly milkweed in the deep south, including where they are occur, how to identify them, and how to tell if your nursery is selling the wrong one.

Florida Milkweeds, including 21 native species, are conserved through education and conservation. Asclepias, Matelea, Gonolobus, and Funastrum.

04/10/2024

The monarch butterflies are on the move! Real monarchs are already making their way north from Mexico.

04/08/2024

Aquatic milkweed is a native, evergreen milkweed that is used by monarchs in native habitats year-round. The article also describes the various milkweed species that are active in the dormant season in peninsular Florida.

Implication:

If OE was initially discovered in Florida in the 1960s, and if aquatic milkweed has been providing evergreen biomass to monarchs and queens since pre-history, then there is no (current or historical) data to demonstrate that OE vectors did not naturally occur on these large, wild populations of evergreen milkweeds.

Exotic milkweed being mass-propagated and spread across the world is a problematic, and has enabled OE to expand; but monarchs and native, evergreen milkweeds have been native to the southeast for much longer than the exotic milkweed problem has existed. Thank you to the Southeast Monarch Milkweed Initiative for working diligently to map the geography and phenology for our native milkweeds.

Florida Milkweeds, including 21 native species, are conserved through education and conservation. Asclepias, Matelea, Gonolobus, and Funastrum.