“The milkweed is a displaced citizen in its own land. Where once it owned the continent, it’s now a kind of vagrant, occupying the botanical equivalent of homeless encampments.” With this quote, author Eric Lee-Mäder introduces “The Milkweed Lands.”
This engaging book, richly illustrated by Beverly Duncan, is focused on Asclepius, a genus with over 90 species in North America. While perhaps most famous as a food source for monarch butterflies, the author expands that perception to see milkweeds as an essential part of many different ecosystems.
This story begins with the winter blizzards of the northern prairie ecosystem of the United States and Canada. Underneath the snow an incredible amount of life continues. This includes the roots of the milkweeds and the various insects, fungi, small mammals and other creatures surviving and even thriving. Exploring this world down to the cellular level, this could be heavy-going, but Lee-Mäder has a light touch, making these complex scientific principles quite easy to understand.
The story continues into the other seasons, in part featuring restoration efforts in California’s Central Valley. Here hedgerows often shelter Asclepius species that have been eliminated on the adjacent farmlands or orchards for their weedy qualities. Other plants and animals, often also deplored by humans, find their homes here, too.
Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on May 20, 2024
Excerpted from the Summer 2024 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin