American Bugleweed
Lycopus americanus
Found in marshes, bottomlands. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- 1–3 feet
- Light
- Full to part sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- June to November
- Fruiting season
- Summer to fall
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 81 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Lycopus
- Lintneria eremitusHermit Sphinx
- Orthotaenia undulanaDusky Leafroller
3BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lycopus
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
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Lycopus
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
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 20
- Archytas analis
- Archytas aterrima
- Archytas hystrix
- Conops xanthopareus
- Distichona auriceps
- Exoprosopa fasciata
- Exoprosopa fascipennis
- Gymnosoma fuliginosa
- Limnophora narona
- Lucilia sericata
Show all 20
- Lucilia sylvarum
- Orthoneura nitida
- Peleteria robusta
- Physocephala texana
- Sarcophaga sinuata
- Scepsis fulvicollis
- Siphoplagia anomala
- Spallanzania hesperidarum
- Sphaerophoria cylindrica
- Trichophora ruficauda
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 4
- Ancyloxypha numitor
- Limochores taumas
- Pholisora catullus
- Phyciodes tharos
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 24
- Ammobia ichneumonea
- Ammobia pennsylvanica
- Bicyrtes ventralis
- Ceropales bipunctata
- Eucerceris zonatus
- Eumenes fraternus
- Isodontia apicalis
- Leionotus vagus
- Philanthus punctatus
- Philanthus ventilabris
Show all 24
- Poecilopompilus interruptus
- Poecilopompilus navus
- Polistes annularis
- Polistes pallipes
- Polistes variatus
- Pompiloides marginatus
- Priononyx atrata
- Priononyx thomae
- Sphex gracilis
- Sphex nigricans
- Sphex procera
- Stizus unicinctus
- Tachytes mandibularis
- Vespula maculata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Single crown
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Fall
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single crown” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “1–3 feet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; USDA PLANTS, Minnesota Wildflowers, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Full to part sun” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “wet to moderately wet” · Tennessee Smart Yards (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs) · Published Tennessee growing guidance; exact cached scientific heading
Also known as
American Water Horehound
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| 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. Spreads at a moderate rate 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)
- 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