Floss-flower
Ageratum houstonianum
Found in wet, disturbed areas. 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 76%
- Height
- 6 inches–1 foot
- Spread
- 10–12 inches
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- July to August
Recorded in 1 Alabama county.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Ageratum
- Argyrogramma verrucaGolden Looper
- Chloridea virescensTobacco Budworm Moth
- Condica sutorThe Cobbler, Cobbler Groundling
- Cyclophora nanariaDwarf Tawny Wave
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Pareuchaetes insulataYellow-Winged Pareuchaetes
- Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
Show all 13
- Trichoplusia niNi Moth, Cabbage Looper Moth
- Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
- Adaina bipunctatus
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 2a–11b
- Flower color
- Blue, pink or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue, pink or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 2a–11b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “6 inches–1 foot” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “10–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Floss flower
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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