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Prairie Dock

Silphium terebinthinaceum

Found in mafic or calcareous glades, barrens, woodlands, prairies, and roadsides and powerline-rights-of-ways with remnant historical vegetation of those types. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

60
Strong

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

Profile 88%

Height
4–10 feet
Spread
1–3 feet
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Somewhat dry to moist

Space about 2 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 25 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source

Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.

At a glance

Life cycle
Perennial
Leaves
Deciduous
Bloom
July to September

Recorded in 1 Virginia county.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 5

Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone

Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County
Limestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

Prairies and grasslands

Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020
Barrens grassland after a prescribed fire. Shown: Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Barrens native plants returning after prescribed fire, September 2020, NPS Photo / Rick Olson, September 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock

Open, thin-soil openings, outcrops and cliffs on dark, magnesium- or iron-rich rock such as serpentine, diabase or gabbro.

Forests and woodlands

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

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 61 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Silphium

  • Eucosma giganteanaGiant Eucosma
  • Hydraecia immanisHop Borer, Hop Vine Borer
  • Papaipema baptisiaeWild Indigo Borer, Indigo Stem Borer
  • Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
  • Tricholita notataX
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
36BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Silphium

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
7Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Silphium

  • Dianthidium curvatum
  • Dieunomia heteropoda
  • Megachile parallela
  • Melissodes dentiventris
  • Melissodes vernoniae
  • Melissodes wheeleri
  • Paranthidium jugatorium
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
Flies 1
  • Systoechus vulgaris

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

Other wasps 1
  • Sphex procera

Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA

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

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Asteraceae
Hardiness
Zones 4a–8b
Flower color
Yellow
Growing sources and scope

Conservation status

Virginia rankS1
Global rankG4G5
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