I was walking this fall and came upon this interesting plant. It has many names that people call it, balloon milkweed, Gomphocarpus Physocarpus, hairy ball milkweed, or Giant Swan plant. From what I have read, this plant can grow 5-6 feet tall, which I can verify from my walk. It certainly is eye catching and I had a name for it in my brain before I even found out what it was called. (use your imagination) In fact, I used that name from my brain to Google it and it worked. 

It is a tropical milkweed plant from southern Africa. An interesting thing about “hairy ball” milkweed is that it is viable later into the season which may allow the Monarchs to sustain longer. (for most scientists, this aforementioned fact is a good thing–but understandably there is some debate) Come to find out, there are many questions and debates over whether an introduced tropical milkweed is a good thing or a bad thing for the Monarch Butterflies. Click here to read more.

A couple weeks later, I did take a photo of the seeds as they burst forth from the pods (it took A LONG TIME)–it was much later in the season than native milkweed and I notice that not all pods successfully burst forth seeds.

The last thing is that I was in my favorite local bakery in Buffalo and spotted it on the counter in a flower bouquet. Apparently, it is quite a popular addition to flower arrangements! It certainly is a conversation starter!