Prairie Red Root
Ceanothus herbaceus
Native to Arkansas. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 71%
- Height
- 2–3 feet
- Spread
- 1–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 18 Arkansas counties.
Who uses this plant?
35CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Ceanothus
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Ancylis semiovanaHalf-Oval Ancylis
- Archips argyrospilaFruit-Tree Leafroller Moth
- Biston betulariaSalt-and-Pepper Geometer, Cleft-Headed Looper
- Calycopis cecropsRed-Banded Hairstreak, Cecrops Hairstreak
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Choristoneura rosaceanaOblique-Banded Leafroller Moth, Rosaceous Leaf Roller
- Choristoneura zapulataZapulata Moth
- Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
- Ectropis crepusculariaThe Small Engrailed, Saddleback Looper
Show all 35
- Erastria colorariaBroad-Lined Erastria
- Erastria cruentariaThin-Lined Erastria
- Euchlaena marginariaOchre Euchlaena
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Gesta martialisMottled Duskywing
- Haploa leconteiLeconte's Haploa
- Harrisimemna trisignataHarris's Three-Spot
- Hyalophora cecropiaCecropia Silkmoth, Cecropia Moth
- Hypena bijugalisDimorphic Bomolocha, Dimorphic Snout
- Hypena scabraGreen Cloverworm Bomolocha, Black Snout
- Malacosoma americanaEastern Tent Caterpillar
- Nematocampa resistariaFilament Bearer, Horned Spanworm Moth
- Nemoria rubrifrontariaRed-Fronted Emerald
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Orthosia hibisciSpeckled Green Fruitworm Moth, Speckled Green Quaker
- Palthis angulalisDark-Spotted Palthis
- Phyllodesma americanaLappet Moth, American Lappet Moth, Southern Lappet Moth
- Platynota idaeusalisTufted Apple-Bud Moth
- Redectis vitreaWhite-Spotted Redactis
- Schizura ipomaeaeMorning-Glory Prominent, Checkered-Fringe Prominent
- Strymon melinusGray Hairstreak
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Zale minereaColorful Zale
- Lithacodes fiskeanus
46BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ceanothus
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
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Ceanothus
- Protandrena pauper
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Ceanothus
- Coccothraustes vespertinusEvening Grosbeak
- Zonotrichia leucophrysWhite-crowned Sparrow
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
- Rhamnaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4–8
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Hardiness · “Zones 4–8” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “2–3 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Soil · “Dry to medium” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Spread · “1–2 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Prairie Ceanothus
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| 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)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition
- 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