Plants for a California or Western Butterfly Garden
This page shows which California butterflies use which California native plants. To get more details on a plant or for ordering the plant for your garden, just click on the plant links. The plant links give growing requirements (if you can use them in your garden), pictures and prices. (If there is no link on the plant it is because we do not carry it.) To get more detailed information on butterflies and for scientific names, click on the butterfly links. Each page has larval and adult food plant information and butterfly pictures. If there is no link on a butterfly it is because the page has not been written yet. Sorry.
This was an old page with a massive table, I've broken it into about 50 tables so the code is more current, that makes it kind of squirrelly, but much more readable.
Plant Species |
Adult Butterfly uses
|
Larva that use this
|
| Abutilon sp. |
|
Laviana Skipper |
| Achillea sp. | Chalcedon Checkerspot |
|
|
|
Hairstreaks |
|
| Adenostoma fasciculatum |
|
Gray Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Aesculus californica |
|
Echo Blue Butterfly |
|
|
|
Spring Azure Butterfly |
| Agastache urticifolia | Monarch Butterfly |
|
|
|
Western Tiger Swallowtail |
|
| Agave deserti | Bauer's Giant Skipper |
| Agave deserti | Bauer's Giant Skipper | |
|
|
Stephens's Giant Skipper | |
| Agave utahensis | Allie's Giant Skipper | |
| Alnus rubra | Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ambrosia sp | Common Sooty-wing Butterfly | |
| Amorpha fruticosa | Southern Dog-face Butterfly | |
|
|
Common Hairstreak Butterfly | |
|
|
Silver-spotted skipper |
| Amorpha californica | California Dog-face Butterfly | |
| Gray Hairstreak Butterfly | ||
| Northern Cloudy-wing Butterfly | ||
| Silver-spotted skipper | ||
| Amsinckia spp | Painted Lady Butterfly | |
| Anaphalis margaritacea | American Painted Lady Butterfly | |
| Andropogon scoparius | Miriam's Skipper |
| Arabis Spp. | Mustard White Butterfly | |
| Sara Orange-tip Butterfly | ||
| Boisduval's Marble Butterfly | ||
| Edwards's Marble Butterfly | ||
| Large Marble Butterfly | ||
| California White Butterfly | ||
| Arabis glabra | Boisduval's Marble butterfly | |
| Arabis holboelii | Edwards's Marble Butterfly | |
| Arabis perennans | Boisduval's Marble butterfly |
| Arbutus menziesii | Western Brown Elfin | |
| Doudoroff's Hairstreak Butterfly | ||
| Arceuthobium sp | Nelson's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Arceuthobium campylopodium | Muir's
Hairstreak Butterfly |
|
| Arceuthobium douglasii | Muir's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Aristolochia californica | Pipe-vine Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Artemisia rothrockii | Ruddy Copper Butterfly |
| Arctostaphylos sp | Monarch butterfly | |
| Painted
Lady Butterfly California Dogface Butterfly California Tortoiseshell Butterfly Red Admiral Butterfly America Beauty Butterfly Mourning Cloak Butterfly Mournful Dusky Wing Butterfly Sara Orange Tip Butterfly Spring Azure Butterfly Many other California Moths and Butterflies |
| Aster sp. | Monarch |
Northern Pearl Crescent Butterfly |
| Aster californicus | Field Crescent Butterfly | |
| Northern Checkerspot Butterfly | ||
| Aster conspicuus | Hoffmann's Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Aster hesperius | Field Crescent Butterfly | |
| Astragalus Spp. | Acmon Blue Butterfly | |
| Alexandra Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Alfalfa Butterfly | ||
| Arrowhead Blue Butterfly | ||
| Edwards's Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Golden Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Palo Verdes Blue Butterfly | ||
| Marine Blue Butterfly | ||
| Melissa Blue butterfly | ||
| Northern cloudy-wing Butterfly | ||
| Western Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Western Tailed Blue Butterfly | ||
| Astragalus douglasii | Harford's Sulfur Butterfly |
| Atriplex canescens | Mojave Sooty-wing Butterfly | |
| Alpheus Sooty wing Butterfly | ||
| Pygmy Blue Butterfly | ||
| San Emigdio Blue Butterfly | ||
| Atriplex hastata | Pygmy Blue Butterfly | |
| Atriplex lentiformis | Pygmy Blue Butterfly | |
| MacNeill's Sooty-wing Butterfly | ||
| Atriplex semibaccata | Pygmy Blue Butterfly |
| Baccharis glutinosa | Fatal Metalmark Butterfly | |
| Dusky Metalmark Butterfly | ||
| Baccharis douglasii | American Painted Lady | |
| Buckeye Butterfly | ||
| Acmon Blue Butterfly | ||
| Bidens laevis | Everybody |
| Brassica spp. | Becker's White Butterfly | |
| Common White Butterfly | ||
| Western White Butterfly | ||
| Large Marble Butterfly | ||
| Sara Orange-tip Butterfly | ||
| Beloperone californica | West Coast Lady Butterfly | Imperial Checkerspot Butterfly |
| Betula occidentalis | Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Betula fontinalis | Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly |
| Calocedrus Decurrens | Clench's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Carex Sp. | Umber Skipper | |
| Harbison's Skipper | ||
| Cassia spp | Mexican Yellow Butterfly | |
| Nicippe Yellow Butterfly | ||
| Cassia armata | Cloudless Sulfur Butterfly | |
| Large Orange Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Mexican Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Nicippe Sulfur Butterfly | ||
| Sleepy Orange Butterfly |
| Castilleja Sp | Chalcedon Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Leanira Checkerspot Butterfly | ||
| Northern
Checkerspot Butterfly |
| Ceanothus Spp. | Artful Duskywing Butterfly | |
| California Tortoiseshell Butterfly | ||
| Western Brown Elfin Butterfly | Doudoroff's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Echo Blue Butterfly | ||
| Hedge-row Hairstreak Butterfly | ||
| Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | ||
| Southern Buckthorn Butterfly | Pacuvius Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| Spring Azure Butterfly |
| Ceanothus incanus | California Tortoiseshell Butterfly | |
| Ceanothus integerrimus | Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| California Tortoiseshell Butterfly | ||
| Ceanothus oliganthus | Pacuvius Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| Ceanothus thyrsiflorus | California Tortoiseshell Butterfly |
| Cercocarpus Sp. |
|
California Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Cercocarpus betuloides | Gray Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Mountain Mahogany Hairstreak | ||
| Chenopodium sp. | Common Sooty-wing Butterfly | |
| Chenopodium album | Pygmy Sooty-wing Butterfly |
| Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus | Acastus Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Cirsium Spp; | Thistle Crescent Butterfly | |
| Mylitta Crescent Butterfly | ||
| Orseis Crescent Butterfly | ||
| Gabb's Checkerspot Butterfly | ||
| American Painted Lady | ||
| Painted Lady Butterfly | ||
| Collinsia heterophylla | Editha Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Chalcedon Checkerspot | ||
| Corethrogyne filaginifolia | Gabb's Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Echo Blue Butterfly | ||
| Spring Azure Butterfly |
| Cornus occidentalis |
|
Spring Azure Butterfly |
| Wind's Hairstreak Butterfly | ||
| Cowania mexicana | Desert Elfin | |
| Cryptantha sp | Painted Lady Butterfly | |
| Cuscuta Sp. | Western Elfin Butterfly | |
| Doudoroff's Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Cryptantha sp | Painted Lady | |
| Cupressus forbesii |
|
Ines Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Cupressus sargentii |
|
Muir's Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Dalea Spp. |
|
Southern Dog-face Butterfly |
| Danthonia californica |
|
Lindsey's Skipper |
|
|
Columbian Skipper |
| Descurainia sp | Edwards's Marble | |
| Large Marble | ||
| Dappled Marble | ||
| Rosy Marble | ||
| Cabbage Butterfly | ||
| Great Basin White | ||
| Checkered White | ||
| Peak White | ||
| Descurainia pinnata | Sara Orange-tip Butterfly | |
| Felder's Orange-tip Butterfly | ||
| Desert Orange Tip | ||
| Descurainia richardsonii | Edwards's Marble Butterfly |
| Diplacus Sp. | Chalcedon Checkerspot | |
| Distichlis Spicata | |
Sandhill Skipper |
| |
|
Wandering Skipper |
| |
|
Eunus Skipper |
| Dodecatheon spp. | |
Gray Blue Butterfly |
| |
|
Arctic Blue Butterfly |
| Dudleya lanceolata | |
Sonora Blue Butterfly |
| |
Human Folly Butterfly | |
| Elymus spp. | Woodland Skipper | |
| Encelia californica | Fatal Metalmark Butterfly | |
| |
Monarch Butterfly | |
| |
Dusky Metalmark Butterfly |
| Eriogonum elongatum | Buckwheat Copper |
|
| Gorgon Copper Butterfly | ||
| Eriogonum fasciculatum | Acmon Blue Butterfly | Mormon Metalmark Butterfly |
| |
Mournful Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| |
Tailed Copper Butterfly | |
| Gray Hairstreak | ||
| |
|
Green Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
|
Brown
Elfin |
| Eriogonum incanum | Lembert's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum inflatum | Mormon Metalmark Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum latifolium | Mormon Metalmark Butterfly | |
| |
Green Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum microthecum | Elvira's Blue Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum nudum | Mormon Metalmark Butterfly | |
| Buckwheat Copper | ||
| |
Gorgon Copper Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum parvifolium | El Segundo Blue Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum plumatella | Elvira's Blue Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum pusillum | Mojave Blue Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum reniforme | Mojave Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Small Blue Butterfly | |
| Eriogonum spp. | Gray Hairstreak | Bramble Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
American Painted lady | Comstock's Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
Mormon metalmark | Common Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
|
Gorgon Copper Butterfly |
| |
Blue Copper Butterfly | |
| |
Acmon Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Square-spotted Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Dotted Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Mojave Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Edward's Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Mormon Metalmark Butterfly | |
| |
Elvira's Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Bernardino Blue Butterfly | |
| |
California Green Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Buckwheat Blue | ||
| Eriogonum umbellatum | |
Blue Copper |
| Eriogonum wrightii | |
Mormon Metalmark Butterfly |
| Eriogonum wrightii subscaposum | Veined Blue Butterfly | |
| |
| Erysimum spp. | Large Marble Butterfly | |
| Festuca idahoensis | Sonora Skipper | |
| Lindsey's Skipper | ||
| Fraxinus spp. | Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Glycyrrhiza lepidota | Melissa Blue Butterfly | |
| Gnaphalium sp | American Painted Lady | |
| Haplopappus linearifolius | Siva Hairstreak | |
| Helianthus annuus | |
Bordered Patch Butterfly |
| Hibiscus sp | |
Common Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
Powdered Skipper | |
| Horkelia bolanderi | Rural Skipper | |
| Horkelia fusca | Edith's Copper Butterfly | |
| |
Rural Skipper | |
| Horkelia tenuiloba | Edith's Copper Butterfly |
| Isomeris arborea | Becker's White Butterfly | |
| Juniperus californica | Skinner's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Silva Hairstreak |
||
| |
Muir's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| |
Leda Hairstreak | |
| Juniperus osteosperma | |
Siva Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
|
Clench's Hairstreak |
| Koeleria macrantha | Columbian Skipper |
| Lathyrus spp. | Marine Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Northern Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Western Tailed Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Silvery Blue Butterfly | |
| Lavatera assurgentiflora | West Coast Lady Butterfly | |
| Common White Butterfly | ||
| Lepidium fremontii | Edwards's Marble Butterfly | |
| Western White Butterfly | ||
| Linum sp | |
Variegated Fritillary Butterfly |
| Lobelia dunnii serrata | Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
| |
Large white skipper | |
| Lomatium sp. | |
Edward's Swallowtail Butterfly |
| Lotus sp. | Acmon Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Eastern tailed Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Greenish blue Butterfly | |
| |
Northern Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Northern Cloudy-wing Butterfly | |
| |
Western Tailed Blue Butterfly | |
| Lotus argophyllum | Avalon Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Lotus crassifolius | Silver-spotted Skipper | |
| Lotus parshianus | Acmon Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Afranius Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| Lotus scoparius | Alfalfa Butterfly | |
| |
Blues | Clouded Sulfur Butterfly |
| |
Chalcedon Checkerspot butterfly | Bramble Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
|
Avalon Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
Marine Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Acmon Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Funereal Duskywing Butterfly | |
| |
Southern Blue Butterfly | |
| |
California Green Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Lupinus albifrons | Icarioides Blue Butterfly | |
| Arrowhead Blue Butterfly | ||
| |
||
| |
||
| Lupinus densiflorus | Icarioides Blue Butterfly | |
| Silvery Blue Butterfly | ||
| Lupinus excubitus | Arrowhead Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Evius Blue Butterfly | |
| Lupinus formosus | Icarioides Blue Butterfly | |
| Lupinus hirsutissimus | Arrowhead Blue Butterfly | |
| Lupinus lyalli | Shasta Blue Butterfly | |
| Lupinus versicolor | Icarioides Blue Butterfly | |
| Lupinus spp. | Sooty Gossamer-wing Butterfly | |
| |
Common Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| |
Northern Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Melissa Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Icarioides Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Silvery Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Arrowhead Blue Butterfly | |
| Acmon
Blue, or Silver Studded Blue |
| Olneya tesota | |
Funereal Dusky-wing Butterfly |
| Orthocarpus densiflorus | |
Editha Checkerspot Butterfly |
| |
|
Arachne Checkerspot Butterfly |
| Penstemon sp. | |
Monache Checkerspot Butterfly |
| |
|
Checkerspot butterfly |
| Penstemon azureus | |
Buckeye |
| |
|
Cinereous Blue Butterfly |
| Petrophytum caespitosum | |
|
| |
|
Spring Azure Butterfly |
| |
|
Great Purple Hairstreak Butterfly |
| |
|
Pine White Butterfly |
| Phorodendron flavescens | |
Western Brown Elfin Butterfly |
|
Pinus jeffreyi, Pinus murrayana, Pinus ponderosa, Pinus radiata |
|
Pine White Butterfly |
| |
Western Banded Elfin Butterfly | |
| |
|
Gray Hairstreak |
| |
Edith Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Plantago erecta | |
Buckeye Butterfly |
| Plantago lanceolata | |
Painted Lady |
| Plantago major | |
Buckeye Butterfly |
| Platanus racemosa | |
Western Tiger Swallowtail |
| Poa sp | Roadside skipper | |
| Poa pratensis | Field skipper | |
| Poa scabrella | Comma skipper | |
| Populus Spp. | Arizona Viceroy Butterfly | |
| |
Dreamy Dusky-wing | |
| |
Lorquin's Admiral Butterfly | |
| |
Mourning Cloak Butterfly | |
| |
Weidemeyer's Admiral | |
| |
Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
| |
Wide-banded Admiral | |
| Populus fremontii | Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
| Populus tremuloides | Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
| |
Weidemeyer's Admiral | |
| Populus trichocarpa | Wide-banded Admiral | |
| |
Western Tiger Swallowtail | |
| |
Persius Dusky-wing Butterfly |
| Prosopis glandulosa | Palmer's Metalmark Butterfly | |
| |
Long-tailed Skipper | |
| |
Henne Comstock's Hairstreak | |
| |
Cerunus Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Reakirt's Blue Butterfly | |
| Prosopis pubescens | Cerunus Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Palmer's Metalmark Butterfly | |
| Prunus sp | Coral Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Prunus ilicifolia | Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Prunus subcordata | Coral Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Prunus virginiana | Lorquin's Admiral Butterfly | |
| |
Two-tailed Swallowtail Butterfly |
| Pseudotsuga menziesii | |
Pine White Butterfly |
| Ptelea crenulata | |
Two-tailed Swallowtail |
| Pteryxia Spp. | Anise Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Purshia glandulosa | Behr's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Purshia tridentata | Behr's Hairstreak Butterfly |
| Quercus agrifolia | California Sister Butterfly | |
| |
Mournful Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| |
Propertius Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| Quercus chrysolepis | Canyon Oak Hairstreak | |
| |
California Sister Butterfly | |
| |
Boisduval's Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| Quercus douglasii | Gold-hunter's Hairstreak | |
| |
Mournful Duskywing butterfly | |
| Quercus dumosa | Gold-hunter's Hairstreak | |
| |
Nut Brown Hairstreak | |
| |
|
Santa Monica Mountains Hairstreak |
| Quercus durata | Sleepy Dusky-wing butterfly | |
| Quercus garryana | Propertius Dusky-wing Butterfly | |
| Quercus lobata | Mournful Duskywing butterfly | |
| Quercus suber | Mournful Duskywing butterfly | |
| Quercus spp. | California Hairstreak | |
| |
Echo Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Western Oak Duskywing | |
| |
California Sister Butterfly | |
| |
Canyon Oak Hairstreak | |
| Quercus vaccinifolia | California Sister Butterfly | |
| Quercus wislizenii | Gold-hunter's Hairstreak |
| Rhamnus California | Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Yellow Copper |
||
| Rhamnus crocea | Hermes Copper | |
| |
Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Rhamnus spp. | Pale Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| Painted
lady |
||
| Gray
Hairstreak |
||
| Rhododendron_occidental | Rustic Anglewing Butterfly | |
| |
|
Sylvan Anglewing Butterfly |
| |
|
Green Comma Butterfly |
| Rhus trilobata | Comstock's Hairstreak | |
| Ribes aureum | Tailed copper butterfly | |
| Ribes divaricatum | Oreas Anglewing | |
| Ribes Spp. | Tailed Copper butterfly | |
| |
Zephyr Anglewing | |
| |
Cloudy Copper Butterfly | |
| Rumex crispus | Great Copper Butterfly | |
| Rumex hymenosepalus | Great Copper Butterfly | |
| Salicornia ambigua | Pygmy Blue Butterfly |
| Salix spp. | Dryope Hairstreak Butterfly | |
| |
Lorquin's Admiral Butterfly | |
| |
Mourning Cloak Butterfly | |
| |
Arizona Viceroy Butterfly | |
| |
Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| |
||
| Weidemeyer's Admiral Butterfly | ||
| |
||
| Wide-banded Admiral Butterfly | ||
| |
||
| Sylvan Hairstreak Butterfly | ||
| Sarcostema cynanchoides | |
Striated Queen Butterfly |
| Sarcostema hirtellum | |
Striated Queen Butterfly |
| Salvia leucophyllaX clevelandii 'Pozo Blue' | Variable Checkerspot | |
| |
California Dog-face Butterfly | |
| |
Western tiger swallowtail butterfly | |
| |
Mournful Duskywing | |
| |
Fritillaries | |
| |
Snowberry Clearwing Moth | |
| |
Hairstreaks | |
| |
Skippers | |
| Scrophularia California | Common Checkerspot Butterfly | |
| Sedum spathulifolium | Moss's Hairstreak | |
| |
Emmel's Elfin Butterfly | |
| Sedum spp. | Small Apollo | |
| Senecio spp. | Lustrous Copper | |
| Sidalcea malvaeflora | West Coast Lady Butterfly | |
| Sphaeralcea spp. | West Coast Lady Butterfly | |
| |
Laviana Skipper | |
| Sphaeralcea ambigua | Large White skipper | |
| |
White Checkered Skipper Butterfly |
Yeah I know it's a moth, but it's a cutie.
| Stachys pycnantha | California Dogface Butterfly | |
| Stanleya spp. | Becker's White Butterfly | |
| Stipa nevadensis. | Uncas Skipper | |
| Stipa occidentalis | Nevada Skipper | |
| Stipa thurberiana | Comma Skipper Butterfly | |
| Symphoricarpos rivularis | Colon Checker Spot butterfly | |
| Snow berry Clearwing moth | ||
| Thamnosma montana | Wright's Swallowtail butterfly | |
| Alexandra Sulfur butterfly | ||
| Alfalfa
Butterfly |
||
| Thermopsis macrophylla | Persius Dusky-wing butterfly | |
| Thermopsis pinetorum | Persius Dusky-wing
butterfly |
|
| Tauschia spp. | Anise Swallowtail butterfly | |
| Trichostema lanatum | California Dogface Butterfly | |
| Checkerspot |
||
| |
Large White skipper Butterfly | |
| |
Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| |
Monarch Butterfly | |
| Trifolium sp. | |
Acmon Blue butterfly |
| |
Alfalfa butterfly | |
| |
Eastern tailed Swallowtail Butterfly | |
| |
Greenish Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Northern cloudy-wing butterfly | |
| |
Shasta Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Southern Dog-face butterfly | |
| Trifolium breweri | Greenish Blue Butterfly | |
| Trifolium longipes | Greenish Blue Butterfly | |
| Trifolium monanthum | Greenish Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Mexican cloudy-wing Butterfly | |
| Trifolium repens | Alexandra Sulfur | |
| Trifolium wormskjoldii | Greenish Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Diverse Cloudy-wing butterfly | |
| Urtica sp | ||
| Urtica holosericea | Satyr Anglewing | |
| |
|
Milbert's Tortoiseshell |
| |
|
Red Admiral Butterfly |
| Vaccinium caespitosum | Behr's Sulfur Butterfly | |
| Vicia spp | Alfalfa butterfly | |
| |
Northern Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Silvery Blue Butterfly | |
| |
Western Sulfur Butterfly | |
| Vicia gigantea | Western Tailed Blue | |
| |
Silvery Blue Butterfly |
| Viola pedunculata | Callippe Fritillary Butterfly | |
| Viola spp. | Apache Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Atlantis Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
|
Callippe Fritillary Butterfly |
| |
|
Crown Fritillary Butterfly |
| |
|
Egleis Fritillary Butterfly |
| |
Hydaspe Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Leto Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Mormon Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Nokomis Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Unsilvered Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Variegated Fritillary Butterfly | |
| |
Western Meadow Fritillary | |
| |
Zerene Fritillary Butterfly | |
| Yucca brevifolia | Common Giant skipper | |
| Yucca schidigera | Common Giant skipper | |
| Yucca semibaccata | Common Giant skipper | |
| Zauschneria californica | California Dogface Butterfly | White-lined Sphinx Moth |
General Butterfly Information
To attract butterflies to your garden you need to grow two types of plants or have them growing in your area. The first type provide food for the larva of the butterflies. The second type are the nectar plants for the adult butterflies.
The most important butterfly plants (they support the largest variety of butterflies in California) that we grow are Eriogonum spp., Lupinus spp., Salix spp., Quercus spp, and Ceanothus spp.
The plants that the butterfly larvae live on we do not grow in numbers at the moment but will have in the near future are Viola spp., Astragalus spp., Lotus scoparius , Arabis spp. If these are in your area, try to protect them. Violets alone support 11 different subspecies of butterflies.
The most popular perennials (with adult butterflies) are Eriodictyon
californicum, Salvia
mellifera, Monardella
antonina, Monardella
villosa, and Stachys
spp. Garth
and Tilden also state that Erysimum, Aesculus californica, and members of
the sunflower family and mint family are used as nectar sources by
adult butterflies. Remember, you will not see very many
butterflies in your garden if their larval food plants are not in your
garden or nearby.
The most popular butterfly plants (to butterflies, that is, that we have observed) of the second type (nectar plants for adult butterflies) are listed below. You need to have plants flowering throughout the season. Then you will see butterflies spring through summer. They are listed as they flower through the season (starting with spring flowering up to the end of summer flowering).
(our observations in the central coast ranges, and at the nursery)
The Santa Margarita nursery is on a Butterfly Flyway. In this little movie clip it can give you an idea of the numbers, about 100 butterflies per one hundred feet per minute.
Flowering period |
Butterfly Larval food plants |
Adult butterfly nectar plants |
|
From Spring
Summer |
||
|---|---|---|
References:
Comstock, John A. Butterflies of California. 1989 (old and ugly 1927
on new paper)
Garth, John S. and Tilden, J. W., California Butterflies, University of
California Press, 1986
Glassberg, Jefferey. Butterflies through Binoculars, The West. 2001
Heath, Fred. An Introduction to Southern California Butterflies., 2004
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