Poorjoe
Hexasepalum teres
Found in dunes, sandy roadsides, glades, hardpans, other dry habitats. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- Up to about 10 inches
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist

At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- June to December
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 63 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
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 Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 143 animals.
- Eastern KingbirdTyrannus tyrannus
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- Field SparrowSpizella pusilla
- Forster's TernSterna forsteri
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- Gray KingbirdTyrannus dominicensis
- Great Black-backed GullLarus marinus
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
- Gull-billed TernGelochelidon nilotica
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Horned LarkEremophila alpestris
- KilldeerCharadrius vociferus
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Laughing GullLeucophaeus atricilla
- Le Conte's SparrowAmmodramus leconteii
- Least TernSternula antillarum
- Little GullHydrocoloeus minutus
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Diodia
- Spodoptera latifasciaOrange-Striped Armyworm, Velvet Armyworm Moth
- Xylophanes tersaTersa Sphinx
9BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Hexasepalum
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
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Diodia
- 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
1AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Pogonomyrmex badius
Pogonomyrmex badius: Seed predation.
No records yet · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Flower color
- White or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to December” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 10 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Diodia teres; Diodia teres var. teres; buttonweed
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| 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
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Florida edition
- 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

























