Butterfly Milkweed vs Common Milkweed

Asclepias tuberosa compared with Asclepias syriaca

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Butterfly Milkweed	Common Milkweed
Kingdom same	Plantae (Plants)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum same	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class same	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order same	Gentianales (Gentianales)	Gentianales (Gentianales)
Family same	Apocynaceae	Apocynaceae
Genus same	Asclepias	Asclepias
Species	Asclepias tuberosa	Asclepias syriaca

Evolutionary Relationship

Butterfly Milkweed and Common Milkweed share a common ancestor at the Genus level: Asclepias.

Conservation Status

Butterfly Milkweed

NE — Not Evaluated

Common Milkweed

NE — Not Evaluated

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Butterfly Milkweed	Common Milkweed
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Butterfly Milkweed

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Norway and United States.

Common Milkweed

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan), Europe (25 countries), and North America (Canada, United States).

Butterfly Milkweed

The Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is a species in the genus Asclepias. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Common Milkweed

Common Milkweed (<em>Asclepias syriaca</em>) is a native North American flowering plant in the genus <em>Asclepias</em>, family Apocynaceae. It is widely distributed across Europe, Asia, and North America, with confirmed presence in countries including Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Canada. Its range extends to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia and spans 25 European countries. The species is typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats, from temperate grasslands and roadsides to disturbed fields and forest edges. Common Milkweed is best known as a critical host plant for the monarch butterfly (<em>Danaus plexippus</em>), whose larvae feed exclusively on milkweed foliage. The plant produces fragrant pink-purple flower clusters and distinctive large seed pods filled with silky fibers that disperse seeds on the wind. Its milky latex sap contains cardiac glycosides that deter most herbivores. The conservation status of this species has not been formally evaluated by the IUCN, though its populations remain broadly widespread.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 2 countries:

🇳🇴 Norway 🇺🇸 United States