This plant is similar to Chaya, Tree Spinach, or Cnidoscolus chayamansa, depending on which nomenclature your prefer. As far as I can tell, it is NOT the edible Chaya. Darn! Oh well, it gets SO many butterflies that I love it anyway!

My butterflies absolutely love this bush. Above a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly is sipping from a flower, and to the right a Queen Butterfly nectars on it too.

Once again, I have to thank Mosaic at Current Events Garden Forum for giving me the ID on this plant: Thanks very much for all of your plant identifications!

This bush is very easy to share with your butterfly gardening friends. Just break off a branch, stick it in the ground, and it grows. That's how I got mine. I'm adding more to my yard this way, and so far so good, they're growing, and growing fast. I'm in South Florida, so I can't say how it will grow for you, but it's a very happy bush down here.

I needed a hedge to replace the Australian Pine Trees we're getting rid of, and I'm using this Chaya and Firebush to make it. They both grow fairly fast, neither should get tall enough to do serious damage when the next storm blows them over, they'll add privacy for us, shelter for the butterflies, make a nice trellis for more Passiflora host plant vines, and I can't wait to see the butterflies all over it when it matures. (The Firebush for that project is seeds in pots right now. Gardening is a process, just like my site, but little by little it evolves and matures.)

Notes: I'm still working on just which plant this is, Cnidoscolus chayamansa, aconitifolius, or a different species. It's a Cnidoscolus something though.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/MV045

http://132.236.163.181/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?family=Euphorbiaceae

Please email me if you know what species it is.