Asclepias speciosa is a milky-sapped perennial plant in the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), known commonly as the showy milkweed and is found in the western half of North America.

Their corollas are reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, form a star shape.

[5] This species is native to the western half of North America,[6] including British Columbia and from the Cascade Range in California east to the central United States.

[9] Efforts to restore falling monarch butterfly populations by establishing butterfly gardens and monarch migratory "waystations" require particular attention to the target species' food preferences and population cycles, as well to the conditions needed to propagate and maintain their food plants.

[10] For example, where it grows in Michigan and surrounding areas and in the western US, monarchs reproduce on A. speciosa, especially when its foliage is soft and fresh.