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Colombian Waxweed

Cuphea carthagenensis

Found in marshes, ditches, floodplain forests, wet hammocks, other wet places. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 59%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet

At a glance

Bloom
June to September

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Life cycle · Leaves

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 35 Alabama counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 4

Freshwater marshes

Georgia pond and emergent wetland
Regional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Coastal Plain hammocks

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.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL

Genus host records with ranges including AL · Cuphea

  • Ozarba aeriaAerial Brown
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Lythraceae

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Cuphea carthagensis

Conservation status

Alabama rankSNA
Global rankG5?
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

Native alternatives

Find natives for your garden

Sources