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Coastal Doghobble

Leucothoe axillaris

Found in pocosins, blackwater swamp forests, and moist and acid slopes. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

25
Good

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

Profile 100%

Height
3–4 feet
Spread
4–6 feet
Light
Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist

Space about 5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 4 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Woody perennial
Leaves
Evergreen
Bloom
March to May
Fruiting season
September to October

Recorded in 10 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

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense low pocosin
Dense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

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.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 113 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Care

  • Keep the soil moist; this plant does not tolerate drought.
Care sources
Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Leucothoe

  • Catocala gracilisGraceful Underwing
  • Lithophane viridipallensPale Green Pinion
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
1BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Leucothoe

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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Ericaceae
Hardiness
Zones 5a–9b
Soil pH
Acidic
Flower color
Pink or white
Growth rate
Slow
Growth habit
Several stems
Foliage color
Green
Fruit begins
September
Fruit ends
October

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Leucothoe axillaris var. axillaris

Conservation status

Virginia rankS3S4
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.

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How to check your spot

Sources