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Common Boneset

Eupatorium perfoliatum

Found in marshes, swamps, bogs, wet pastures, and other wet habitats. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

85
Keystone

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

Profile 94%

Height
4–6 feet
Spread
3–4 feet
Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Moist to wet

Space about 3.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 8 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Bloom
Summer and fall

Not yet recorded · Leaves

Recorded in 99 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 3

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 73 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

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
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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
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
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Eupatorium

  • Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
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

Beetles 2
  • Centrinus scutellum album
  • Epicauta pennsylvanica

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Flies 16
  • Archytas analis
  • Archytas aterrima
  • Archytas hystrix
  • Cistogaster occidua
  • Conops xanthopareus
  • Ennyomma globosa
  • Exoprosopa fasciata
  • Nemotelus glaber
  • Phormia regina
  • Sarcophaga assidua
Show all 16
  • Scepsis fulvicollis
  • Siphoplagia anomala
  • Spilomyia longicornis
  • Stomoxys calcitrans
  • Syrphus ribesii
  • Xanthomelana arcuata

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Adult butterflies / moths 5
  • Ancyloxypha numitor
  • Anosia plexippus
  • Drasteria erechtea
  • Pamphila dion
  • Phyciodes tharos

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 21
  • Ammobia ichneumonea
  • Ammobia nuda
  • Anacrabro ocellatus
  • Ancistrocerus tigris
  • Cerceris clypeata
  • Cerceris prominens
  • Eucerceris zonatus
  • Eumenes fraternus
  • Isodontia apicalis
  • Philanthus punctatus
Show all 21
  • Polistes annularis
  • Polistes pallipes
  • Polistes rubiginosus
  • Polistes variatus
  • Porizon albipennis
  • Sphex gracilis
  • Sphex nigricans
  • Sphex procera
  • Sphex vulgaris
  • Tachysphex acutus
  • Vespula maculata

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

No records yet · Ants · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Hardiness
Zones 3a–9b
Flower color
White

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

Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “Summer and fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
  • Flower color · “White” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder differs)
  • Height · “4–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
  • Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Light · “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; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
  • primary_flower_color · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasional flooding; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; NC Extension Plant Toolbox, Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Virginia DCR Coastal Plain, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
  • Spread · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox

Conservation status

Virginia rankS5
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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