Showy Milkwort
Asemeia grandiflora
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in longleaf pine sandhills, especially in moist flats and transition areas; dry sandy soils of roadsides and fields. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
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
- Annual
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
Bloom: NC species account not read yet.
Spread and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 1 Louisiana parish.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Asemeia
- Dypterygia patinaBlack Bird's-Wing
10BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Polygala
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
2BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Polygala
- Ammospiza leconteiiLeConte's Sparrow
- Bonasa umbellusRuffed Grouse
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
13AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Brachymyrmex depilis
- Crematogaster lineolata
- Cyphomyrmex rimosus
- Dorymyrmex bureni
- Forelius pruinosus
- Monomorium unknown
- Nylanderia arenivaga
- Nylanderia unknown
- Pheidole dentata
- Pheidole unknown
Show all 13
- Solenopsis carolinensis
- Solenopsis invicta
- Tapinoma sessile
Solenopsis invicta: Seed dispersal.
Brachymyrmex depilis: Seed dispersal.
Crematogaster lineolata: Seed dispersal.
Cyphomyrmex rimosus: Seed dispersal.
Dorymyrmex bureni: Seed dispersal.
Forelius pruinosus: Seed dispersal.
Monomorium unknown: Seed dispersal.
Nylanderia arenivaga: Seed dispersal.
Nylanderia unknown: Seed dispersal.
Pheidole dentata: Seed dispersal.
Pheidole unknown: Seed dispersal.
Solenopsis carolinensis: Seed dispersal.
Solenopsis invicta: Seed dispersal.
Tapinoma sessile: Seed dispersal.
No records yet · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Polygalaceae
- Flower color
- White, pink, yellow or purple
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “White, pink, yellow or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Asemeia violacea; Polygala grandiflora
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5? |
| LA 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
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- Louisiana 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