Illinois Bundleflower
Desmanthus illinoensis
Found in prairies, open woodlands, barrens, marsh edges, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- About 3 feet
- Spread
- 2–3 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to average
Space about 2.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 16 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
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- June to July
- Fruiting season
- August to November
Recorded in 3 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Desmanthus
- Hemiargus ceraunusCeraunus Blue, Antillean Blue
- Pyrisitia lisaLittle Yellow, Little Sulphur, Lisa Yellow
- Pyrisitia niseMimosa Yellow, Blacktip Sulphur, Jamaican Sulphur
4BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Desmanthus
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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Desmanthus
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
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
- Fabaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 5–8
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Several stems
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- August
- Fruit ends
- November
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to July” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Growth habit · “Several stems” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 5–8” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
- Height · “About 3 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Leaf retention · “Deciduous” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full sun” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Soil · “Dry to medium” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Spread · “2–3 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as
Bundle Flower; Prairie Mimosa
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| FL 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 Florida Plants
- USDA PLANTS
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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