Tall Thoroughwort
Eupatorium altissimum
Found in woodlands, old fields, woodland borders, and openings over mafic rocks (such as diabase) or calcareous rocks (such as limestone and calcareous sandstone). FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 2–6 feet
- Spread
- 2–3 feet
- Light
- Full to part sun
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 2.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 16 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to November
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 46 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
40CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Eupatorium
- Agonopterix pulvipennellaGoldenrod Leaffolder, Featherduster Agonopterix
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Carmenta bassiformisEupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Clearwing Moth
- Carmenta pyralidiformisBoneset Borer Moth
- Celastrina neglectaSummer Azure
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Chrysodeixis includensSoybean Looper Moth
- Cisseps fulvicollisYellow-Collared Scape Moth
- Condica vecorsDusky Groundling
- Dichomeris setosellaHairy Dichomeris
Show all 40
- Digrammia continuataCurve-Lined Angle
- Dysodia oculatanaEyed Thyris
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Feltia subgothicaSubgothic Dart
- Feltia tricosaConfused Dart, Tricose Dart
- Haploa clymeneClymene Moth
- Leucospilapteryx venustellaSnakeroot Leafminer
- Oedemasia concinnaRed-Humped Caterpillar, Red-Humped Appleworm
- Oidaematophorus eupatoriiEupatorium Plume Moth
- Orthodes majusculaRustic Quaker, Rustic Groundcat
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema eupatoriiJoe-Pye Weed Borer, Eupatorium Borer Moth
- Papaipema harrisiiHeracleum Stem Borer Moth, Cow Parsnip Borer
- Perigea xanthioidesRed Groundling
- Platynota flavedanaBlack-Shaded Platynota
- Platynota rostranaOmnivorous Platynota
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Schinia trifasciaThree-Lined Flower Moth
- Spoladea recurvalisHawaiian Beet Webworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Tornos scolopacinariaDimorphic Gray
- Agonopterix atrodorsella
- Agonopterix eupatoriiella
- Chionodes pseudofondella
- Dichomeris washingtoniella
- Dichrorampha leopardana
- Niasoma metallicana
34BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Eupatorium
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
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Eupatorium
- Colletes simulans
- Megachile xylocopoides
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Eupatorium
- Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
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 16
- Alophora fumosa
- Anthrax hypomelas
- Archytas analis
- Archytas aterrima
- Conops xanthopareus
- Ennyomma globosa
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Graphomyia americana
- Leskiomima secunda
- Milesia ornata
Show all 16
- Morellia micans
- Phorantha asteris
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Senotainia trilineata
- Spallanzania hesperidarum
- Spilomyia longicornis
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 3
- Limochores taumas
- Phyciodes tharos
- Pontia protodice
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 12
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Bicyrtes ventralis
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Eumenes fraternus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Philanthus ventilabris
- Polistes annularis
- Polistes pallipes
- Polistes variatus
- Sphex nigricans
Show all 12
- Sphex procera
- Zethus spinipes
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Soil pH
- Neutral
- Flower color
- Cream or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Late August to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
- Height · “2–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full to part sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil pH · “Neutral” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| 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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads by rhizomes. May spread vegetatively by rhizomes. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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