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Virginia Bunchflower

Melanthium virginicum

Found in pine savannas, bogs, fens, seeps, wet seepage-fed forests. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

35
Good

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

Profile 88%

Height
3–5 feet
Spread
1–2 feet
Light
Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
Soil moisture
Moist to wet

Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Bloom
May to August
Fruiting season
August to October

Not yet recorded · Life cycle · Leaves

Recorded in 44 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 4

Pine savannas

Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype
Sandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Seeps and springs

Weymouth Woods Gum Swamp Trail seep
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.

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

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

3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Veratrum

  • Feltia jaculiferaDingy Cutworm
  • Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
  • Xestia smithiiSmith's Dart
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
6BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Melanthium

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
Beetles 4
  • Centrinites strigicollis
  • Mordella melaena
  • Photinus pyralis
  • Trichius piger

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Flies 8
  • Archytas aterrima
  • Calythea albicincta
  • Cistogaster occidua
  • Musca domestica
  • Paradidyma singularis
  • Sphaerophoria cylindrica
  • Stratiomyia meigenii
  • Trichopoda pennipes

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 1
  • Ammobia ichneumonea

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

No records yet · Ants · Adult butterflies / moths · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Melanthiaceae
Hardiness
Zones 4–8
Fruit begins
August
Fruit ends
October

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

Growing sources and scope
  • Bloom · “May to August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Hardiness · “Zones 4–8” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
  • Height · “3–5 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
  • Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Spread · “1–2 feet” · Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder
Also known as

Bog Bunchflower; Veratrum virginicum; Virginia Bunch Flower; false hellebore; false-hellebore

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Sources