Purple Passionflower

Citizen Science in Action

Native flowers create beauty in a butterfly garden. At the same time, they provide food and nectar that are essential to helping butterflies thrive and reproduce.  The plants listed in the table below have been selected and rated by NABA members as important native flowering plants for butterfly gardening in South Florida.

A butterfly garden should contain plants that provide food for all stages of a butterfly’s life. Caterpillars require very specific plants for food and butterflies need nectar from flowers. Choosing a variety plants from the list below will increase the chances that butterflies commonly found in your area will be able to reproduce in your garden.

English NameScientific NamePlant TypeCaterpillar Food for:
Blue PorterweedStachytarpheta jamaicensisPerennialTropical Buckeye
Butterfly MilkweedAsclepias tuberosaPerennialMonarch, Queen, Soldier
FirewheelGaillarida pulchellaAnnualNot a caterpillar food plant
Partridge PeaChamaecrista fasciculataPerennialCloudless Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, Little Yellow, Ceraunus Blue, Gray Hairstreak
Tropical MilkweedAsclepias curassavicaPerennialMonarch, Soldier, Queen
Turkey Tangle FogfruitPhlya nodifloraPerennialCommon Buckeye, Phaon Crescent, White Peacock
Water DropwortOxypolis filiformisPerennialBlack Swallowtail

[insert_php]

// Make a MySQL Connection
mysql_connect(“localhost”, “nababutt_user”, “361user”) or die(mysql_error());
mysql_select_db(“nababutt_test”) or die(mysql_error());

// Get records from the “guides” and “plants” tables
$result = mysql_query(“SELECT plants.english_name, plants.scientific_name, plants.plant_type, plants.plant_url, guides.cat_food “.
“FROM plants, guides “.
“WHERE (guides.guide_name = ‘South Florida’ AND plants.id = guides.plant_id )”.
“AND (plants.plant_type LIKE ‘%perennial%’ OR plants.plant_type LIKE ‘%annual%’) “.
“ORDER BY plants.english_name”)
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echo ‘

English NameScientific NamePlant TypeCaterpillar Food for:
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echo ‘‘;
echo $row[‘english_name’];
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echo $row[‘scientific_name’];
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echo $row[‘plant_type’];
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echo $row[‘cat_food’];
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[/insert_php]

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