States
North CarolinaTennesseeGeorgiaSouth CarolinaKentuckyAlabamaFloridaVirginia
Menu

Mountain Andromeda

Pieris floribunda

Found in acid wooded slopes, heath balds at high elevations, summits of Piedmont monadnocks, sometimes escaped from cultivation. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

45
Good

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.

Mountain balds

Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020
Grassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. 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. 102 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Pieris

  • Cecrita biundataWavy-Lined Heterocampa
  • Phlogophora periculosaBrown Angle Shades
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
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

Pollen specialists · Pieris

  • Andrena bradleyi
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
—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 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
Also known as

Mountain Fetterbush; Red Twig Doghobble

Conservation status

Virginia rankS4
Global rankG4
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

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.

How to check your spot

Sources