Mountain Andromeda
Pieris floribunda
Found in acid wooded slopes, heath balds at high elevations, summits of Piedmont monadnocks, sometimes escaped from cultivation. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 4–6 feet
- Spread
- 3–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Space about 3.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 8 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Bloom
- May to June
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Recorded in 20 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 102 animals.
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- American Tree SparrowSpizella arborea
- Bald EagleHaliaeetus leucocephalus
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythropthalmus
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Blue JayCyanocitta cristata
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- BobolinkDolichonyx oryzivorus
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- Brown CreeperCerthia americana
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Canada GooseBranta canadensis
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Cedar WaxwingBombycilla cedrorum
- Chimney SwiftChaetura pelagica
- Downy WoodpeckerPicoides pubescens
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern TowheePipilo erythrophthalmus
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Pieris
- Cecrita biundataWavy-Lined Heterocampa
- Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
10BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Pieris
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
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–6b
- Soil pH
- Acidic
- Flower color
- Cream or white
- 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 June” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Cream or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- 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 4a–6b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “4–6 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Evergreen” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- 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 differs)
- primary_flower_color · “white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil pH · “Acidic” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “3–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Mountain Fetterbush; Red Twig Doghobble
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| 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.
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

























