Nestled within the Eighty Acres prairie, a Monarch alights upon a butterfly milkweed. The butterfly milkweed is one of my favorite prairie flowers. It grows well in dry open prairies and it's bright orange, flat topped flower clusters, bloom from June through September. Native Americans used the stems for weaving ropes and chewed the root as a treatment for chest inflammation. For that reason, today, the butterfly milkweed is also known as the pleurisy root. READER WARNING! I am not recommending grabbing a shovel, digging up a butterfly milkweed root, and chewing on it like a carrot! Probably best to check out your pleurisy issues with your doc. Rather, being mindful of the Earth Mother's beauty as you take a slow walk through a prairie, a park, or around your neighborhood block, just might be the best health prescription you need today.
Nicely done, Bruce, I know it is a difficult task getting an active Butterfly landing on a flower.