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Virginia Bunchflower

Melanthium virginicum

Found in pine savannas, bogs, fens, seeps, wet seepage-fed forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), South Central edition What its natural habitat tells you

26
Good

Native to Mississippi. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 88%

Height
3–5 feet
Spread
1–2 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet

Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Bloom
May to August
Fruiting season
August to October

Not yet recorded · Life cycle · Leaves

Recorded in 22 Mississippi counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Pine savannas

Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including MS

Genus host records with ranges including MS · Veratrum

  • Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
6BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Melanthium

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 claim
Beetles 4
  • Centrinites strigicollis
  • Mordella melaena
  • Photinus pyralis
  • Trichius piger

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Flies 8
  • Archytas aterrima
  • Calythea albicincta
  • Cistogaster occidua
  • Musca domestica
  • Paradidyma singularis
  • Sphaerophoria cylindrica
  • Stratiomyia meigenii
  • Trichopoda pennipes

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 1
  • Ammobia ichneumonea

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

No records yet · Ants · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Melanthiaceae
Hardiness
Zones 4–8
Fruit begins
August
Fruit ends
October

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Bog Bunchflower; Veratrum virginicum; Virginia Bunch Flower; false hellebore; false-hellebore

Conservation status

Mississippi rankS3S4
Global rankG5
MS statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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How to check your spot

Sources