Jatropha & butterfly


We generally have the front door to house open. There's a storm door to keep the cool in and the heat and pests out. There's a tall--6 feet or so--Jatropha multifida a couple of steps beyond the storm door. At the tiptop of the Jatropha, there is a bloom spike with a dozen or so very small, nondescript flowers. For the last 2 days, one or more zebra butterflies have visited this bloom spike every 10 minutes or so. It must produce gallons of nectar, although pollen is also part of the zebra's diet. Turns out these butterflies prefer heliconias above all else, but since we have no heliconias yet [lobster claw on order] they have to settle for Jatrophas, of which we have many.

Island Jim
Southwest Florida
Zone 10
27.0 N, 82.4 W

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support hort.net -- join the hort.net fund drive!
http://www.hort.net/funds/



Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index