Swamp Pink

Helonias bullata

Found in bogs, usually under dense shrubs in peaty soils, in the VA Coastal Plain in acidic sandy seepage swamps. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

Modest

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

Profile 82%

Height: 10–16 inches
Spread: 1–1.5 feet
Light: Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
Soil moisture: Usually moist

Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

Helonias bullata — bloom photograph — Nieminen, Gene Publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service · Public domain · Original photograph

Federally threatened. Excluded from routine garden suggestions. Consult conservation guidance before obtaining or planting this species. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial, from a bulb
Leaves: Evergreen
Bloom: April to May
Fruiting season: June to July

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Recorded in 4 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 2

Groundwater seep. Shown: Gum Swamp Trail, Weymouth Woods, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC BY 2.0. Source record.

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.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 117 animals.

Dark-eyed Junco
Junco hyemalis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Double-crested Cormorant
Phalacrocorax auritus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eastern Screech-owl
Megascops asio
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eastern Wood-pewee
Contopus virens
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Eurasian Collared-dove
Streptopelia decaocto
Birds. 1 shared habitat
European Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Golden-winged Warbler
Vermivora chrysoptera
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Great Cormorant
Phalacrocorax carbo
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Hairy Woodpecker
Picoides villosus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Hooded Warbler
Wilsonia citrina
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Horned Grebe
Podiceps auritus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Indigo Bunting
Passerina cyanea
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Kentucky Warbler
Oporornis formosus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Least Flycatcher
Empidonax minimus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Little Blue Heron
Egretta caerulea
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Louisiana Waterthrush
Seiurus motacilla
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Magnolia Warbler
Dendroica magnolia
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Mourning Dove
Zenaida macroura
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Contopus cooperi
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pileated Woodpecker
Dryocopus pileatus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Pine Siskin
Carduelis pinus
Birds. 1 shared habitat