Milkweed
by Marty Fancy
Title
Milkweed
Artist
Marty Fancy
Medium
Photograph
Description
An extremely close macro shows the beauty of this common weed. Milkweeds belong to the family Asclepiadaceae, derived from Asklepios, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Though most members of the genus Asclepias are tropical, there are approximately 110 species in North America known for their milky sap or latex contained in the leaves. Most species are toxic to vertebrate herbivores if ingested due to the cardenolide alkaloids contained in the leaves and stems. When Monarch larvae ingest milkweed, they also ingest the plants' toxins, called cardiac glycosides. They sequester these compounds in their wings and exoskeletons, making the larvae and adults toxic to many potential predators. Vertebrate predators may avoid Monarchs because they learn that the larvae and adults taste bad and/or make them vomit. There is considerable variation in the amount of toxins in different species of plants. Some northern species of milkweed contain almost no toxins while others seem to contain so much of the toxins that they are lethal even to monarch caterpillars.
This variety is Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) found in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah.
Uploaded
August 14th, 2013
Embed
Share
Comments (12)
Gary F Richards
Spectacular. Pink milkweed composition, lighting, shading, colors and artwork! F/L voted
Connie Handscomb
This is a fabulous macro, Marty! the Monarch butterflies will be so happy with this ... :))
Lisa Phillips
Your beautiful image has been featured in the FAA group "Thoughts of Flowers". http://fineartamerica.com/groups/thoughts-of-flowers.html
Jeannie Rhode
Marty, Congrats on your Featured Image on Macro, Nice macro capture with beautiful colors.
Sharon Mau
. . ★ . . . ♥ . . ☆ ☆ . . . . Featured: :: Macro :: . . . . ☆ ☆. . . ♥ . . . ★ . . http://fineartinternational.com/groups/macro.html