Seashore Mallow
Kosteletzkya pentacarpos
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in brackish to freshwater tidal marshes. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 3–6 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 3 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 11 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
- July to October
Recorded in 17 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Marshes along tidal rivers where the water is fresh but rises and falls with the tide.
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Kosteletzkya
- Tarache terminimaculataCurve-Lined Bird-Dropping Moth, Curve-Lined Acontia
- Chionodes hibiscella
10BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Kosteletzkya
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
- Malvaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–9b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to neutral
- Flower color
- Pink
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Pink” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differ)
- Soil pH · “Acidic to neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Spread · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Kosteletzkya virginica
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| 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
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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