Poiret's Copperleaf
Acalypha poiretii
Found in dry sandy or gravelly areas (s. TX); eastwards in our region as a waif on ballast, perhaps in other disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 18%
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to average
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 Alabama county.
Habitats
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
6CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Acalypha
- Acharia stimuleaSaddleback Caterpillar Moth
- Diaphania hyalinataMelonworm Moth
- Orthonama obstipataThe Gem
- Oxydia vesuliaSpurge Spanworm Moth
- Scopula limboundataLarge Lace-Border
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
10BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Acalypha
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Ammospiza leconteiiLeConte's Sparrow
- Anthus rubescensAmerican Pipit
- Catharus guttatusHermit Thrush
- Columbina passerinaCommon Ground Dove
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Peucaea aestivalisBachman's Sparrow
- Spizella passerinaChipping Sparrow
- Spizella pusillaField Sparrow
- Zenaida macrouraMourning Dove
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
Plant details
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- NatureServe Explorer
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications