Smooth False-buttonweed
Spermacoce glabra
Found in moist shores, bottomlands, riverside drawdowns, rocky riversides in the mountains, disturbed areas in the Coastal Plain. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Florida. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 2 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to moist
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- May to October
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 10 Florida counties.
Habitats
Floodplain and bottomland forests; roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
7CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including FL
Genus host records with ranges including FL · Spermacoce
- Cyclophora nanariaDwarf Tawny Wave
- Herpetogramma bipunctalisSouthern Beet Webworm, Two-Spotted Herpetogramma
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Syngamia florellaOrange-Spotted Flower Moth
- Xylophanes tersaTersa Sphinx
- Conchylodes diphteralis
25BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Spermacoce
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
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Flower color
- White
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “May to October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Smooth False Buttonweed
Conservation status
| Florida rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4G5 |
| 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