Oakleaf Fleabane

Erigeron quercifolius

Found in sandy roadsides, disturbed areas. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

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Not native

Not native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 65%

Height: Up to about 2 feet
Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Soil moisture: Dry to moist

Erigeron quercifolius — bloom photograph — (c) Patrick Belk, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Annual

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

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

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 2 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.

All habitats

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)

—BeesSoutheastern regional records

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, pink, yellow or blue

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

Growing sources and scope

Flower color · “White, pink, yellow or blue” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Height · “Up to about 2 feet” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Life cycle · “Annual” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
Soil · “Dry; Moist (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia

Conservation status

Virginia rank	SNA
Global rank	G5
VA status	Not verified
Federal status	Not verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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