California Milkweed (Asclepias californica)

California Milkweed (Asclepias californica) is a species in the Apocynaceae (Dogbane) family. It is native to California and northern Baja California from the East Bay region southward and the foothills of the Sierra.

This flowering perennial has thick, white, woolly stems that bend or run along the ground. The plentiful, hanging flowers are rounded structures.

The flowers are dull to bright shades of lavender or pink and form an attractive contrast with the grey-to-white foliage. This plant was eaten as candy by the Kawaiisu tribes of Indigenous California; the milky sap within the leaves is said to be flavorful and chewy when cooked.

To maximize Monarch butterflies reaching their overwintering areas, plant only locally native milkweed species.

Information from Calscape