Milkweed

• 7 Nov, 2010
• 7 likes

asclepias curassavica, also known as the butterfly plant, lives a life in synchrony with the monarch butterfly. The butterfly plants its seed on the milkweed, its caterpillar eats the leaves of the milkweed as it progresses its way to the top of the plant, stopping always short of the calyx and flower stalks at the top. The caterpillar spins itself into a dark chamber, its personal cromlech, and dies. Inside of the caterpillar, the butterfly grows, feeding from the nutrients stored for it, until finally the monarch butterfly emerges, forces its wings open, and takes flight. The monarch butterfly returns to the milkweed for its nourishment and lays its egg there to begin a new cycle of life.