One of the many interesting things about ecosystems is that there are usually keystone species that serve as the backbone. The well-being or even survival of others within this interconnected environment has always depended upon the keystone species. It could be a wolf, a beaver, a gopher tortoise or a keystone native plant such as butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa).
Over hundreds, maybe thousands of years, a natural environment learns to depend on certain plants that have evolved alongside the local wildlife. These plants have proven to be steadfast sources of food and shelter for the indigenous birds, butterflies, bees and other pollinators and wildlife. Today we know them as “keystone native plants.”
Without these keystone native plants, our pollinators and wildlife struggle. (Or worst case, everything collapses like a long-ago Roman arch that lacks the central stone that locked everything together.) For example, there is concern that the eastern monarch butterfly population is declining due to several factors, including the loss of native milkweed. According to the U.S. Forest Service, though they feed on the nectar of many flowers, a monarch butterfly will only lay its eggs on a milkweed plant.
Some keystone plants
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) website has a Native Plant Finder that lists keystone native plants ranked by the number of butterfly and moth species that use them as host plants. To find a specific area, search nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/plants and specify your location by entering your ZIP code.
Some…
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