butterfly flower

…are attracted to highly colored flowers that may or may not be fragrant. Butterflies tend to be somewhat erratic fliers and, lacking the ability to hover, usually land on the flower. The flowers are, therefore, usually erect and provide platforms for landing. Often the platform simply consists of a head…

Butterfly flowers—e.g., those of butterfly bush, milkweed, and verbena—are conspicuously colored, often red, generally smaller than moth flowers, but grouped together in erect, flat-topped inflorescences that provide landing space for the butterflies.