Florida Hobblebush
Agarista populifolia
Found in blackwater swamps, wet hammocks, marly spring runs and seepage ravines. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- 8–12 feet
- Spread
- 5–6 feet
- Light
- Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- April to May
- Fruiting season
- September to October
Recorded in 2 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Agarista
- Cenopis directanaChokecherry Leafroller Moth
- Zomaria interruptolineanaBroken-Lined Zomaria
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 7a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Cream or white
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “April to May” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 7a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “8–12 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “5–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Leucothoe populifolia; doghobble
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | Not available |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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