Late-flowering Thoroughwort
Eupatorium serotinum
Found in interdune swales, bottomland forests and openings, fields, open forests, powerline rights-of-way, tidal marshes, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 3–6 feet
- Light
- Part shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 64 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 123 animals.
- Acadian FlycatcherEmpidonax virescens
- Alder FlycatcherEmpidonax alnorum
- American Black DuckAnas rubripes
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-and-White WarblerMniotilta varia
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Brown-headed CowbirdMolothrus ater
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
Who uses this plant?
36CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Eupatorium
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Carmenta bassiformisEupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Clearwing Moth
- Carmenta pyralidiformisBoneset Borer Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
- Condica vecorsDusky Groundling
- Dichomeris setosellaHairy Dichomeris
- Digrammia continuataCurve-Lined Angle
- Dysodia oculatanaEyed Thyris
Show all 36
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eugnosta erigeronanaFleabane Cochylid
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
- Feltia tricosaConfused Dart, Tricose Dart
- Haploa clymeneClymene Moth
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Oenobotys vinotinctalisWine-Tinted Oenobotys Moth
- Oidaematophorus eupatoriiEupatorium Plume Moth
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema harrisiiHeracleum Stem Borer Moth, Cow Parsnip Borer
- Patania silicalisHerbivorous Patania, Herbivorous Pleuroptya
- Perigea xanthioidesRed Groundling
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Schinia trifasciaThree-Lined Flower Moth
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Tornos scolopacinariaDimorphic Gray
- Dichomeris aglaia
- Hellinsia habecki
- Niasoma metallicana
34BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Eupatorium
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Eupatorium
- Colletes simulans
- Megachile xylocopoides
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Eupatorium
- Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
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
Beetles 1
- Diabrotica 12-punctata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 24
- Archytas aterrima
- Belvosia bifasciata
- Cistogaster occidua
- Conops xanthopareus
- Eristalis tenax
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Exoprosopa fascipennis
- Geron rufipes
- Gymnosoma fuliginosa
- Leskia analis
Show all 24
- Milesia ornata
- Musca domestica
- Neofischeria flava
- Orthoneura nitida
- Physocephala texana
- Physocephala tibialis
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Siphoplagia anomala
- Spallanzania hesperidarum
- Spilomyia longicornis
- Systoechus vulgaris
- Systropus macer
- Trichopoda pennipes
- Xanthomelana arcuata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 7
- Argynnis cybele
- Carmenta pyralidiformis
- Feltia subgothica
- Limochores taumas
- Phyciodes tharos
- Pontia protodice
- Vanessa cardui
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 26
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Anoplius illinoensis
- Bicyrtes 4-fasciata
- Cerceris fulvipes
- Cerceris prominens
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Eumenes fraternus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Isodontia macrocephala
- Leionotus arvensis
Show all 26
- Leionotus dorsalis
- Leionotus scrophulariae
- Monobia 4-dens
- Philanthus punctatus
- Philanthus ventilabris
- Polistes annularis
- Polistes pallipes
- Polistes rubiginosus
- Polistes variatus
- Pompiloides marginatus
- Porizon albipennis
- Sphex gracilis
- Sphex nigricans
- Sphex procera
- Sphex vulgaris
- Tiphia robertsoni
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Euschistus variolarius
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “3–6 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Part shade” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “moderately wet to moderately dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
Also known as
Late flowering Thoroughwort; Lateflowering Thoroughwort
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by rhizomes. Spreads by rhizomes. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- 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