Danaus plexippus, Monarch
The classic, beloved migrating butterfly.

Our 2023 database contains 1490 Monarch entries, including 219 genera. The genera on which Monarch's were most frequently found nectaring include: Cirsium, Lantana, Bidens, Verbena, Salvia, and Buddleja. They favorite plant family is Compositae. Most of the genera contain native plants that can be grown in the Monarch's range -- a range that includes all continental US states, and in Hawaii.

It is shown here nectaring on Roldana petasitis, in the CA's Bay Area. It nectared on this plant for 34 minutes. Didn't budge its legs – simply moved its proboscis from one nectar pool to another on the plant’s branching inflorescence. The other image is a close-up of a Zinnia blossom, as viewed by a butterfly.

Some invasive plants to avoid: Lantana camara, Echium plantagineum and Echium pininaba, Osteospermum ecklonis, Scabiosa atropurpurea, three Senecios (S. inaequidens, linearifolius, and quadridentatus), and Trifolium angustifolium.

Below is a partial list of nectar plants on which adult Monarch's have been documented feeding:
Abelia
Aesculus
Agastache
Ageratina
Ageratum
Anisacanthus
Apocynum
Asclepias
Aster
Baccharis
Bebbia
Begonia
Bidens
Bougainvilla
Buddleja
Caesalpinia
Callistemon
Calotropis
Camellia
Carduus
Carphephorus
Ceanothus
Cephalanthus
Cirsium
Conoclinium
Coreopsis
Daucus carota
Dichelostemma
Duranta
Echinacea
Echium
Erigeron
Eriogonum
Eupatorium
Euphorbia
Fallopia
Gaillardia
Gerbera
Gomphrena
Hamelia
Helianthus
Iris
Justicia
Kniphofia
Lantana
Leucanthemum
Liatris
Lilium
Lonicera
Lythrum
Malvaviscus
Monarda
Origanum
Osteopermum
Pentas
Pontederia
Prunus
Pseudogynoxys
Raphanus
Ratibida
Roldana
Rudbeckia
Salvia
Scabiosa
Sedum
Senecio
Silphium
Solidago
Stachytarpheta
Symphyotrichum
Taraxacum
Tithonia
Trifolium
Verbena
Verbesina
Vernonia
Veronica
Vicia
Viola
Zinnia