Common Golden-Alexanders
Zizia aurea
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in moist forests, forested floodplains, moist prairies, and shady roadsides. 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
- 1–2 feet
- Spread
- 1–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
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?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Spring and summer
- Fruiting season
- June to July
Recorded in 40 Arkansas counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
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.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Arkansas. Shared habitat, not food. 114 animals.
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Blue GrosbeakPasserina caerulea
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Cliff SwallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonota
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common YellowthroatGeothlypis trichas
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Harris's SparrowZonotrichia querula
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Rough-legged HawkButeo lagopus
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including AR
Genus host records with ranges including AR · Zizia
- Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Papilio joanaeOzark Swallowtail, Ozark Woodland Swallowtail
- Agonopterix clemensella
- Epermenia pimpinella
10BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Zizia
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
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimBeetles 7
- Acmaeops nigripennis
- Centrinites strigicollis
- Centrinus picumnus
- Coccinella sanguinea
- Diabrotica 12-punctata
- Hister americanus
- Onthophagus pennsylvanicus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 37
- Agromyza aeneoventris
- Aldrichia ehrmanii
- Bibio albipennis
- Calythea albicincta
- Ceratomyiella conica
- Chilosia petulca
- Chlorops assimilis
- Chlorops proxima
- Chlorops pulverea
- Cistogaster occidua
Show all 37
- Coenosia lacteipennis
- Empis distans
- Empis loripedis
- Eristalis latifrons
- Helophilus latifrons
- Hippelates plebejus
- Lucilia sylvarum
- Meromyza americana
- Morellia micans
- Nemotelus glaber
- Phorantha magna
- Phorantha purpurascens
- Phorbia cinerella
- Phormia regina
- Rivellia pallida
- Sarcophaga sinuata
- Sciara atrata
- Sepsis violacea
- Simulium pecuarum
- Siphona geniculata
- Siphonella cinerea
- Sphaerophoria cylindrica
- Sturmia nigrita
- Syrphus ribesii
- Tachina rustica
- Trichopoda pennipes
- Zodion fulvifrons
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 3
- Heodes hypophlaeas
- Phyciodes tharos
- Plusia simplex
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 13
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Anoplius illinoensis
- Ectemnius atriceps
- Eumenes fraternus
- Leionotus clypeatus
- Leionotus illinoensis
- Leionotus megaera
- Leionotus perennis
- Leionotus scrophulariae
- Leionotus vagus
Show all 13
- Oxybelus 4-notatus
- Polistes variatus
- Tiphia clypeata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 2
- Lygus pratensis
- Plagiognathus obscurus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants
Plant details
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- June
- Fruit ends
- July
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Spring and summer” · 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 · “Yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “June” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- 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, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally dry; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Spread · “1–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Common Golden Alexanders; Golden Alexanders; Golden Zizia
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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads. Will naturalize. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
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
- 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