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Canadian Clearweed

Pilea pumila

Found in swamp forests, bottomlands, freshwater marshes, tidal marshes, disturbed wet ground. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you

23
Good

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

Profile 82%

Height
4–20 inches
Light
Dappled sunlight, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Usually moist
Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Fruiting season
September to November

Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: recorded only in the FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) phone app (app page).

Spread and leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 98 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

Swamps

View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina
Named place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)

Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 190 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Pilea

  • Cosmopterix pulchrimellaBeautiful Cosmopterix Moth, Chamber's Cosmopterix
  • Heterophleps refusariaThree-Patch Bigwing
  • Spodoptera eridaniaSouthern Armyworm Moth
  • Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—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
Urticaceae
Hardiness
Zones 3a–10b
Soil pH
Acidic to alkaline
Flower color
Yellow, green or white
Fruit begins
September
Fruit ends
November

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

Growing sources and scope
  • Flower color · “Yellow, green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
  • Fruit begins · “September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Fruit ends · “November” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
  • Hardiness · “Zones 3a–10b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Height · “4–20 inches” · Minnesota Wildflowers
  • Life cycle · “Annual” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
  • Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
  • Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
  • Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as

Clearweed

Conservation status

Virginia rankS5
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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How to check your spot

Sources