This plant list, always a work in progress, identifies all known plants used as caterpillar food by the butterflies occurring in Florida from Lake Okeechobee south to the Florida Keys. It includes many little-known plant species that cannot be found commercially, but that may be located in the wild. They may point to the presence of the butterflies that use them. If you find butterfly plants growing in the wild, remember that it is illegal to take plants, cuttings or even seeds from national, state and county parks and preserves. Moreover, many wild plants are difficult to transplant successfully, even if you have permission to collect them on private lands.
Plants, like butterflies, may be specialists -- occurring exclusively in certain habitats such as a pine rockland -- or they may be generalists -- widely distributed in many different kinds of habitats. You will need other reference books to learn where to look for plants or you can read up on a plant at www.regionalconservation.org.
This list can be sorted by butterfly families and species, or by plant scientific name. Any updates or errors should be reported to miamiblue@bellsouth.net.
