Thousands of milkweed plants are already producing dense clusters of five-sided buds and open blooms. In 2023, FDOT awarded Daniels’ laboratory a $150,000 grant to select, grow, install and track 9,000 milkweed plants along Florida roads over three years. In 2011, scientists reported that the world’s only poisonous rodent collects its toxin from a species of East African milkweed. Before that can happen, the researchers must evaluate several factors, including which milkweed species are best suited to roadside conditions. A custom supply chain fills roadsidesTo secure enough pinewoods milkweed, Daniels’ group built its own production system.