Spreading Dogbane
Apocynum androsaemifolium
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in forests, woodlands, prairies, flood-scour, roadsides, pastures. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 2–3 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
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?
Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- June to August
- Fruiting season
- September to October
Recorded in 4 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Apocynum
- Acronicta impressaImpressive Dagger, Printed Dagger
- Acronicta noctivagaNight-Wandering Dagger, Burglar Dagger
- Argyrotaenia velutinanaRed-Banded Leafroller Moth, Jack Pine Tube Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Cycnia oregonensisOregon Cycnia
- Cycnia teneraDelicate Cycnia, Dogbane Tiger Moth
- Melanchra pictaPainted Arches, Zebra Caterpillar Moth
- Ostrinia penitalisAmerican Lotus Borer, Lily Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Pyrrhia exprimensPurple-Lined Sallow, Purple-Lined Sun Moth
Show all 13
- Saucrobotys futilalisDogbane Saucrobotys
- Spargaloma sexpunctataSix-Spotted Gray
- Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
18BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Apocynum
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 4.0Flies 3
- Graphomyia americana
- Lucilia sylvarum
- Trichophora ruficauda
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 1
- Sphex vulgaris
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Apocynaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–9b
- Flower color
- Pink or white
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- October
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “2–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Fire Effects Information System: Apocynum androsaemifolium, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| AR 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
- Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Arkansas (2013)
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- Arkansas 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

