milkweed, showy (Asclepias speciosa)

Tall and robust, showy milkweed bears umbels of fragrant star-like pink flowers among velvety gray leaves. Abundant nectar attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, honey bees, native bees, and other beneficial insects. Essential to Monarch butterflies, which lay eggs only on the undersides of young milkweed leaves. Sap is toxic. Tough, extensive roots make showy milkweed a good species for stabilizing and restoring degraded or disturbed sites. May become weedy if not properly managed. Fibers of showy milkweed were used for many purposes by Native Americans throughout the Pacific Northwest. Deer resistant.