Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

Europe

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

This perennial vine grows across North American forests and open fields. It traps monarch butterfly larvae by mimicking milkweed, causing them to starve.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Gentianales

Family

Apocynaceae

Genus

Vincetoxicum

Species

Vincetoxicum rossicum