milkweed
A plant that bandages itself
There are lots of things to know about the plant called milkweed.
Milkweed gets its name from the white juice, which looks like milk, that
oozes out when the plant is cut. This rubbery juice dries in the sun and
covers the cut like a bandage.
Without milkweed plants, there might not be any beautiful monarch
butterflies. Milkweed is the only plant on which female monarch
butterflies will lay their eggs. That’s because milkweed is the only
food that monarch butterfly caterpillars will eat.
Milkweed seeds grow inside fat, green pods. In the fall, the pods turn
brown, dry up, and split open. When the wind blows, the seeds are lifted
out of the pod a few at a time. They have long, silky tufts, like
parachutes, that carry them through the air on the wind.
In a milkweed cradle, Snug and warm, Baby seeds are hiding, Safe from
harm. Open wide the cradle, Hold it high!
Come Mr. Wind, Help them fly.
Baby Seeds Unknown
