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Virginia Spiraea

Spiraea virginiana

Found in riverbanks, riverside shrub thickets, where occasionally flood-scoured. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

69
Strong

Native to Alabama (estimated). 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
Will it fit your yard?

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.

1 of 2

Forest edges and thickets

Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields
Named place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Alabama. Shared habitat, not food. 142 animals.

All wildlife of Alabama

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

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
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Rosaceae
Flower color
White
Fruit begins
August
Fruit ends
September
Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Appalachian Meadowsweet; Appalachian Spiraea; Virginia Meadowsweet

Conservation status

Alabama rankSNR
Global rankG2?
AL statusNot verified
Federal statusThreatened (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Conservation source Global rank source Federal status source: US Fish and Wildlife Service

In your garden

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Sources