Crown flower, also known as giant milkweed, is a beautiful shrubby perennial or shrub of southeast Asia, Malaysia, India and parts of Africa. Its kinship to milkweeds can be seen in the softly fuzzy, opposite, oblong leaves with tapering bases and in the lavender to white flower clusters with a complex structure. Each floret has five stiff reflexed petals and a lavender-blue crown. Like milkweeds, it produces pod-like follicles filled with numerous flat seeds attached to silky hairs. The leaves and stems contain a toxic milky sap, which has been used as an arrow poison and an emetic. Numerous species of butterflies and bees visit the flowers, which are not toxic to them. In their native habitat, they grown in sandy soils and woodland margins. They prefer full sun and moderate watering.