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Asclepiadaceae family

Balloonplant Asclepias physocarpa

Also known as: balloon plant · butterfly flower · milkweed

Balloonplant is an introduced perennial herb, found in Hawaii.

More about this plant

Gomphocarpus physocarpus is a species of flowering plant in the Milkweed subfamily, Asclepiadoideae, and Dogbane Family Apocynaceae. It is commonly known as hairy balls, balloonplant, balloon cotton-bush, bishop's balls, nailhead, or swan plant. The plant is native to southeast Africa, but it has been widely naturalised as it is often used as an ornamental plant. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~12 caterpillar species

Asclepias supports ~12 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a moderate genus.

Recorded feeding on Asclepias in North America, including:

Danaus plexippus · Monarch ✦ Agathodes designalis · snout moth Cycnia inopinatus · tiger moth Cycnia pudens · tiger moth Cycnia tenera · Delicate Cycnia Danaus eresimus · Soldier
+ 8 more species →
Danaus gilippus · Queen Ectypia clio · Clio Tiger Moth Euchaetes egle · Milkweed Tussock Moth Euchaetes elegans · Elegant Tussock Moth Hyalophora cecropia · Cecropia Moth Lerina incarnata · Crimson-Bodied Lichen Moth Lycorea cleobaea · brush-footed butterfly Papaipema nebris · Stalk Borer
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0). ✦ = recorded on this exact species.
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[07] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[08] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[09] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[10] Other common names — Wikidata (CC0)
[11] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[12] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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