Common Horseweed
Erigeron canadensis
Found in old fields, disturbed areas, roadsides, gardens. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. Not suggested for planting. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 88%
- Height
- 6 inches–7 feet
- Spread
- 6 inches–2 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Good drainage
Very weedy. Can be difficult to manage in a garden. Hidden from planting suggestions by default; wildlife value remains unchanged. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Summer and fall
Recorded in 98 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
29CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Erigeron
- Abagrotis magnicupidaOne-Dotted Dart
- Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
- Autographa precationisCommon Looper Moth
- Bucculatrix angustataNarrow Bucculatrix
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Chlosyne nycteisSilvery Checkerspot
- Ctenoplusia oxygrammaSharp-Stigma Looper Moth
- Cucullia alfarataCamphorweed Cucullia, Halloween Paint, Camphorweed Cucullia
- Cucullia floreaGray Hooded Owlet
- Cucullia speyeriSpeyer's Cucullia, Speyer's Paint
Show all 29
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
- Hyles lineataWhite-Lined Sphinx
- Leuconycta diphteroidesGreen Leuconycta
- Lioptilodes albistriolatusMousy Plume Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Phyciodes tharosPearl Crescent, Crescentspot
- Platynota stultanaOmnivorous Leafroller
- Schinia arcigeraArcigera Flower Moth
- Schinia lynxLynx Flower Moth
- Schinia obscurataObscure Schinia Moth, Erigeron Flower Moth
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Xenotemna pallorana
74BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Erigeron
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
9Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Erigeron
- Andrena asteris
- Andrena fulvipennis
- Andrena nubecula
- Andrena simplex
- Colletes americanus
- Colletes simulans
- Melissodes illatus
- Perdita boltoniae
- Protandrena aestivalis
4BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Erigeron
- Callipepla californicaCalifornia Quail
- Dendragapus obscurusDusky Grouse
- Meleagris gallopavoWild Turkey
- Tympanuchus pallidicinctusLesser Prairie-Chicken
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
Flies 4
- Eristalis tenax
- Musca domestica
- Pollenia rudis
- Senotainia trilineata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 5
- Anacrabro ocellatus
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Cerceris clypeata
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Polistes variatus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Cream or white
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Summer and fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) differs)
- Flower color · “Cream or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “6 inches–7 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “6 inches–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Conyza canadensis; Horseweed
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| 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
- 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