Monarch butterfly

Danaus plexippus

Larvae feed exclusively on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.); butterfly weed is one of the most-recommended host plants for monarch garden plantings because of its showy orange flowers and drought tolerance.

Larvae feed exclusively on milkweeds (Asclepias spp.); A. syriaca is one of the principal monarch host plants across eastern North America. The single most wedge-load-bearing wildlife relationship in the catalog.

Asclepias incarnata is among the canonical monarch larval host plants — same status as A. syriaca but in a wet-meadow rather than disturbed-roadside ecological context. Caterpillars sequester the cardiac glycosides from the milkweed sap as predator-deterrent defense. Planting swamp milkweed is the wet-site equivalent of the common-milkweed conservation action.

Both the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder ("attractive to butterflies throughout the growing season") and NC State Extension document butterfly nectar value; the late September-October bloom overlaps the southbound monarch migration.

Late-summer nectar for migrating butterflies; the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists boneset as attracting butterflies, though it names no specific species, so the monarch association is inferred from the documented butterfly-nectar value rather than a species-level citation.

Monarchs nectar readily at the spikes, but the plant supports only adults — its leaves feed no monarch caterpillars, which need milkweed (Asclepias). Pair butterfly bush with milkweed if you want to raise the next generation, not just feed the current one.

Zinnias are a well-documented nectar source for butterflies; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Zinnia elegans as attracting butterflies, and the flat, open, late-season flower heads are a favored monarch nectar plant.

Liatris spicata is among the most-cited monarch nectar plants in the eastern flora — the dense purple spike's late-summer bloom timing aligns precisely with the eastern monarch migration south to Mexico. Planting Liatris is the canonical complement to milkweed (host) for full-life-cycle monarch support.

The shallow, accessible florets of flossflower are a common late-season nectar source visited by migrating monarchs and other butterflies; this is a general nectar visit, not a host (larval) relationship — monarch caterpillars feed only on milkweeds.

Late-season nectar fuel for migrating monarchs heading toward Mexican overwintering grounds.

Late-summer Vernonia nectar is a well-documented fuel source for monarchs staging their southward fall migration.

The Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records Shasta daisy as attractive to butterflies; the flat, open flower heads are an accessible nectar platform for butterflies during the midsummer-to-fall bloom.

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder records the flowers as attractive to butterflies; mountain mint is a frequently observed late-summer nectar plant for migrating and breeding butterflies.

Late-season bloom timing makes swamp sunflower a critical fall-migration monarch nectar source.

Joe-Pye weed is a canonical late-summer nectar source for monarchs preparing for fall migration. NC State lists "butterflies, skippers, moths, and bees" among the flower visitors; the monarch relationship is heavily documented in pollinator ecology literature.