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Southern Horseweed

Erigeron pusillus

Found in dunes, brackish marsh edges, coastal sand flats, sand prairies, old fields, disturbed areas, barrens and glades. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

87
Keystone

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

Profile 71%

Light
Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Dry to wet
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual or biennial

Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Height, spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 50 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 4

Coastal dunes and beaches

Core Banks dunes, June 2013
Dune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Salt and brackish marshes

Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge
Brackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 88 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

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
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
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
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
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Flower color
White

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Barrilla; Canadian Horse Weed; Canadian Horseweed; Conyza canadensis var. pusilla; Erigeron canadensis var. pusillus; Southern Horse Weed

Conservation status

Virginia rankS5
Global rankG5T5 [G5]
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources