Savanna Cowbane
Oxypolis ternata
Found in wet pine savannas, sandhill seepages. 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 88%
- Height
- Up to about 2.5 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water
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Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- September to October
- Fruiting season
- October to November
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 9 Florida counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Florida. Shared habitat, not food. 136 animals.
- Wood StorkMycteria americana
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
- Yellow-bellied SapsuckerSphyrapicus varius
- American BitternBotaurus lentiginosus
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Bank SwallowRiparia riparia
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black RailLaterallus jamaicensis
- Black VultureCoragyps atratus
- Black-necked StiltHimantopus mexicanus
- Blue-winged TealAnas discors
- Boat-tailed GrackleQuiscalus major
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Carolina WrenThryothorus ludovicianus
- Common Ground-doveColumbina passerina
- Common MynaAcridotheres tristis
- DunlinCalidris alpina
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Oxypolis
- Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail
- Depressaria cinereocostella
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Apiaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Fruit begins
- October
- Fruit ends
- November
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “September to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 2.5 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Oxypolis denticulata
Conservation status
| Florida rank | S2S3 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3 |
| 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
- 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

























