Virginia Virgin's-bower
Clematis virginiana
Found in a wide variety of moist forests, thickets, and openings. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
53
Strong
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 15–20 feet
- Spread
- 3–6 feet
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 4.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 5 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- July to September
- Fruiting season
- Fall
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Recorded in 88 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
1 of 2
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
12CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Clematis
- Alcathoe caudataClematis Borer, Clematis Clearwing Moth
- Eupithecia misturataInsignificant Pug
- Eupithecia satyrataSatyr Pug
- Eutrapela clematariaCurved-Tooth Geometer, Purplish Brown Looper
- Horisme intestinataBrown Bark Carpet
- Hyphantria cuneaFall Webworm
- Orgyia leucostigmaWhite-Marked Tussock Moth
- Platynota idaeusalisTufted Apple-Bud Moth
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Pseudothyris sepulchralisMournful Thyris
Show all 12
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Thyris maculataSpotted Thyris
9BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Clematis
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 claimFlies 19
- Archytas analis
- Archytas aterrima
- Belvosia unifasciata
- Calliphora erythrocephala
- Calythea albicincta
- Ennyomma globosa
- Graphomyia americana
- Limnophora narona
- Lucilia sericata
- Musca domestica
Show all 19
- Nemopoda minuta
- Phorantha purpurascens
- Piophila casei
- Protocalliphora splendida
- Senotainia trilineata
- Sepsis violacea
- Siphona geniculata
- Sphaerophoria cylindrica
- Stratiomyia unilimbata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 6
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Isodontia apicalis
- Lindenius errans
- Nysson plagiatus
- Oxybelus 4-notatus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Lopidea media
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Adult butterflies / moths
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 6a–8b
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Fall
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Species profile fruit display season; not a local ripening date
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox · Species profile fruit display season; not a local ripening date
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 6a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “15–20 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Spread · “3–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Common Virgins Bowert; Virginia Virgin's bower; Virgins Bower
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- 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