Missouri Ironweed
Vernonia missurica
Found in wet hammocks, prairies, glades. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Alabama. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 3–6 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 3.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 8 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Bloom
- July to September
Not yet recorded · Life cycle · Leaves
Recorded in 16 Alabama counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
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.
Who uses this plant?
24CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AL
Genus host records with ranges including AL · Vernonia
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Apantesis partheniceParthenice Tiger Moth
- Archips rileyanaSouthern Ugly-Nest Caterpillar Moth
- Carmenta bassiformisEupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Clearwing Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Dichomeris setosellaHairy Dichomeris
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Hellinsia paleaceusOne-Spotted Plume Moth
- Papaipema baptisiaeWild Indigo Borer, Indigo Stem Borer
Show all 24
- Papaipema cerussataIronweed Borer Moth
- Perigea xanthioidesRed Groundling
- Phlogophora irisOlive Angle Shades
- Platynota idaeusalisTufted Apple-Bud Moth
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Polygrammodes flavidalisIronweed Root Moth, Vernonia Root-Borer
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Paralobesia sambuci
- Paralobesia vernoniana
- Thyraylia bunteana
46BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Vernonia
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
9Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Vernonia
- Andrena placata
- Melissodes denticulatus
- Melissodes druriellus
- Melissodes microstictus
- Melissodes niveus
- Melissodes subillatus
- Melissodes trinodis
- Melissodes vernoniae
- Perdita octomaculata
—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
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–9
- Flower color
- Purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Purple” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Hardiness · “Zones 4–9” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “3–6 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Light · “Full sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “purple” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide
- Soil · “moderately wet to moderately dry” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Conservation status
| Alabama rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| 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 slowly. Spreads primarily by rhizomes but also slowly by self-seeding. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Alabama Plant Atlas
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- 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