Flower for the Day Tropical Milkweed 11-1-23

Last week I found this tropical milkweed (Asclepias curasavica) in my garden at the Lake House in Warren County.

I have absolutely no idea how it got there. I have never heard of it before.

This is what I found out about it:

Tropical milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is a non-native milkweed that has exploded in popularity in response to the demand for milkweed. It is simple to propagate, allowing growers to rapidly produce the plant for quick sale. The plant is also attractive, both to humans and monarchs, providing flowers and lush green foliage throughout the growing season – and that's a problem.

Tropical milkweed becomes a problem when planted in temperate areas where it does not die back in winter. A protozoan parasite of monarch butterflies, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha or OE for short, can travel with monarchs visiting the plants and become deposited on leaves. When caterpillars hatch and start eating the plant, they ingest the OE. High OE levels in adult monarchs have been linked to lower migration success in the eastern monarch population, as well as reductions in body mass, lifespan, mating success, and flight ability.

I don't want to reduce anyones 'mating success'.I'm going to cut the sucker out before it propagates. Monarchs don't need more problems than they already have.