April is Native Plant Month in Texas, and we Texans are rightly proud of our beautiful state flower, the bluebonnet, and many other native wildflowers. Recently I found myself driving slowly down Lone Man Mountain Road. This was the perfect time to see what was blooming! Unfortunately, with our lack of fall rain for seed germination and spring rain for growth and bloom, there were not as many wildflowers to see as in years past.
I was however pleased to find Antelope- horns milkweed (Asclelpias asperula) doing well along the roadside. This unusual plant bears a cluster of pale green flowers at the end of each stem forming a ball shape. Between each pair of petals are five white and maroon appendages with a distinctive white ball on the end. I find the intricate geometric arrangement of the flower parts fascinating. Antelope-horns prefer to grow in dry, sandy or rocky places making them very happy here even in current drought conditions.
The most important thing to know about this native is the critical role it plays in the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Monarch larvae (the caterpillar stage) will only eat milkweed leaves, and monarch adults know to lay their eggs on only milkweed species. The butterflies that develop from that larvae continue their amazing migration journey to the north in the summer and to Mexico in the winter. Texas is an important stop on the route.
This morning in my own yard I spotted a monarch butterfly hovering over two of my Antelope-horns volunteers. Looking on the other side of the yard, I found happy bees enjoying nectar and pollen from another of my volunteers. I hope you will get to know this important native wildflower and protect it whenever and wherever you can!
Happy Native Plant Month.
