Obedient-plant
Physostegia virginiana
27
Good
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 3–4 feet
- Spread
- 2–3 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 2.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 16 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- August to September
JFMAMJJASOND
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 39 Virginia counties.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 118 animals.
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Orange-crowned WarblerVermivora celata
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- OspreyPandion haliaetus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Red-headed WoodpeckerMelanerpes erythrocephalus
- Red-shouldered HawkButeo lineatus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Ring-necked DuckAythya collaris
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Ruffed GrouseBonasa umbellus
- Rusty BlackbirdEuphagus carolinus
- Scarlet TanagerPiranga olivacea
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Song SparrowMelospiza melodia
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Physostegia
- Endothenia hebesanaVerbena Bud Moth
15BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Physostegia
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 claimAdult butterflies / moths 1
- Anosia plexippus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Other wasps · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 2a–9b
- Soil pH
- Neutral to alkaline
- Flower color
- Pink, purple or white
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “August to September” · Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide · Nursery cultural guide; height in flower; moisture categories retained as printed
- Flower color · “Pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differs)
- Hardiness · “Zones 2a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; 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, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Virginia DCR Piedmont, Prairie Moon 2026 Cultural Guide differ)
- Soil pH · “Neutral to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–3 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Dracocephalum virginianum; Obedient Plant; dragonhead
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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads aggressively. Spreads aggressively 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