Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in marshes, swamps, bogs, wet pastures, and other wet habitats. 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
- 4–6 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
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
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- Summer and fall
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 47 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Who uses this plant?
33CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Eupatorium
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Carmenta bassiformisEupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Clearwing Moth
- Carmenta pyralidiformisBoneset Borer Moth
- Carmenta texanaTexana Clearwing Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
- Condica vecorsDusky Groundling
- Dichomeris setosellaHairy Dichomeris
- Digrammia continuataCurve-Lined Angle
Show all 33
- Dysodia oculatanaEyed Thyris
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eugnosta erigeronanaFleabane Cochylid
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
- Haploa clymeneClymene Moth
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Oidaematophorus eupatoriiEupatorium Plume Moth
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Patania silicalisHerbivorous Patania, Herbivorous Pleuroptya
- Perigea xanthioidesRed Groundling
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Schinia trifasciaThree-Lined Flower Moth
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Tornos scolopacinariaDimorphic Gray
- Chionodes pseudofondella
- Dichomeris washingtoniella
- Platynota nigrocervina
34BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Eupatorium
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
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Eupatorium
- Colletes simulans
- Megachile xylocopoides
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Eupatorium
- Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
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
Beetles 2
- Centrinus scutellum album
- Epicauta pennsylvanica
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 16
- Archytas analis
- Archytas aterrima
- Archytas hystrix
- Cistogaster occidua
- Conops xanthopareus
- Ennyomma globosa
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Nemotelus glaber
- Phormia regina
- Sarcophaga assidua
Show all 16
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Siphoplagia anomala
- Spilomyia longicornis
- Stomoxys calcitrans
- Syrphus ribesii
- Xanthomelana arcuata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 5
- Ancyloxypha numitor
- Anosia plexippus
- Drasteria erechtea
- Pamphila dion
- Phyciodes tharos
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 21
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Ammobia nuda
- Anacrabro ocellatus
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Cerceris clypeata
- Cerceris prominens
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Eumenes fraternus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Philanthus punctatus
Show all 21
- Polistes annularis
- Polistes pallipes
- Polistes rubiginosus
- Polistes variatus
- Porizon albipennis
- Sphex gracilis
- Sphex nigricans
- Sphex procera
- Sphex vulgaris
- Tachysphex acutus
- Vespula maculata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–9b
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Summer and fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Height · “4–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “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 (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasional flooding; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox, Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Arkansas rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| 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)
- 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