Virginia Spiraea
Spiraea virginiana
Found in riverbanks, riverside shrub thickets, where occasionally flood-scoured. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1 foot 4 inches–8 feet 2 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
Federally threatened. Excluded from routine garden suggestions. Consult conservation guidance before obtaining or planting this species. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- August to September
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
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.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 142 animals.
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Black-crowned Night-heronNycticorax nycticorax
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Double-crested CormorantPhalacrocorax auritus
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
Who uses this plant?
40CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Spiraea
- Acronicta noctivagaNight-Wandering Dagger, Burglar Dagger
- Acronicta oblinitaSmeared Dagger
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Automeris ioIo Moth
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Cecrita guttivittaMaple Prominent, Saddled Prominent
- Cenopis reticulatanaReticulated Fruitworm Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
Show all 40
- Crocigrapha normaniNorman's Quaker
- Euchlaena irrariaLeast-Marked Euchlaena
- Euchlaena johnsonariaJohnson's Euchlaena
- Euchlaena marginariaOchre Euchlaena
- Euchlaena serrataThe Saw-Wing
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Glena cognatariaBlueberry Gray
- Harrisimemna trisignataHarris's Three-Spot
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Melanolophia canadariaCanadian Melanolphia, Variable Redmarked Looper
- Metarranthis duariaRuddy Metarranthis
- Metarranthis obfirmariaYellow-Washed Metarranthis
- Morrisonia evictaBicolored Woodgrain
- Olethreutes permundanaRaspberry Leafroller
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Paonias excaecataBlinded Sphinx, Blind Eyed Sphinx
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pero morrisonariaMorrison's Pero
- Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
- Probole amicariaFriendly Probole
- Prochoerodes lineolaLarge Maple Spanworm Moth
- Pyrrharctia isabellaIsabella Tiger Moth, Banded Woolybear
- Rheumaptera prunivorataFerguson's Scallop Shell, Cherry Scallop Shell
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Smerinthus jamaicensisTwin-Spotted Sphinx
- Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
- Xanthotype urticariaFalse Crocus Geometer
- Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
6BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Spiraea
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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Spiraea
- Falcipennis canadensisSpruce Grouse
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
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Flower color
- White
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- September
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “1 foot 4 inches–8 feet 2 inches” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Appalachian Meadowsweet; Appalachian Spiraea; Virginia Meadowsweet
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G2? |
| AL status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Threatened (US Fish and Wildlife Service) |
Conservation source Global rank source Federal status source: US Fish and Wildlife Service
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- FloraQuest: South Central (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- Alabama occurrence source
- 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