Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Found in marshes, swamps, bogs, wet pastures, and other wet habitats. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition 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
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 73 animals.
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
Ecological relationships
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
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; Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition, 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 rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| VA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Choose a county to begin.
Sources
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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