Perfoliate Horse-gentian
Triosteum perfoliatum
Found in woodlands and forests in circumneutral soils, particularly those over mafic or calcareous rocks. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Part shade, Shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to average
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 4 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Triosteum
- Hemaris diffinisSnowberry Clearwing
- Haploa leconteiLeconte's Haploa
- Sympistis chionanthiFringed-Tree Sallow, Grey O Moth
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae
- Flower color
- Red
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- October
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late May to early June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Red” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “2–4 feet” · Minnesota Wildflowers (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun (6+ hours); Part shade (3–6 hours); Shade (under 3 hours)” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- primary_flower_color · “red” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “Mesic; Dry-mesic” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
Also known as
Feverwort; Perfoliate Horse gentian; Perfoliate Horsegentian
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.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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