Cuthbert's Turtlehead
Chelone cuthbertii
Found in bogs, sphagnous swamps, seeps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- Up to about 3 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
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
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- July to September
- Fruiting season
- September to October
Not yet recorded · Spread
Recorded in 15 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.


Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 123 animals.
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Horned GrebePodiceps auritus
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Magnolia WarblerDendroica magnolia
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern Rough-winged SwallowStelgidopteryx serripennis
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Chelone
- Euphydryas phaetonBaltimore Checkerspot
- Cepphis armatariaScallop Moth
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
- Eupithecia satyrataSatyr Pug
3BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Chelone
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 4.0No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Flower color
- White, pink or purple
- Fruit begins
- September
- Fruit ends
- October
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late July to September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, pink or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Height · “Up to about 3 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S2 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G3 |
| VA 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
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia 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

























