Everwilde Farms - 1/4 lb Blood Flower Garden Flower Seeds - Gold Vault Bulk Seed Packet

Also known as tropical milkweed, these brilliant red and yellow blossoms explode with color in their first growing season. Every butterfly garden needs this annual plant. In 1753, eminent botanist Carl Linnaeus gave the Blood Flower milkweed its Latin genus name, "Asclepias." Asclepias, the name of the legendary Greek deity of medicine and healing, is especially appropriate since this plant formerly had numerous medicinal uses. At one time, the silk from the seed pods was spun for fabric or used for stuffing pillows; in World War II, school children gathered the silk to provide a cheap filling for soldiers' life jackets. Commercial attempts to make use of this abundant plant included the manufacture of paper, fabric, lubricant, fuel, and rubber; eventually these became impractical and were abandoned. In the wild, the Blood Flower milkweed attracts flocks of butterflies and their larvae; butterflies are immune to the plant's poison, and actually become rather poisonous themselves as protection from predators.