Trailing Fuzzy-bean
Strophostyles helvola
Found in Coastal dunes, beaches, dry sandy woodlands, disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Bloom
- June to September
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 68 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Strophostyles
- Apatelodes torrefactaSpotted Apatelodes
- Cecropterus bathyllusSouthern Cloudywing
- Telegonus cellusGolden Banded-Skipper , Golden-Banded Skipper
- Macrosaccus morrisella
- Porphyrosela desmodiella
5BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Strophostyles
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
2Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Strophostyles
- Megachile integra
- Trachusa dorsalis
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Strophostyles
- Colinus virginianusNorthern Bobwhite
Direct food only: birds recorded eating this genus across North America. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
3AntsRecorded seed interactions
- Formica fusca
- Formica schaufussi
- Lasius niger
Beetles 1
- Coccinella 9-notata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Flies 9
- Drosophila varia
- Helicobia 4-setosa
- Metoposarcophaga pachyprocta
- Paradidyma singularis
- Rivellia 4-fasciata
- Sarcophaga assidua
- Sarcophaga hunteri
- Sarcophaga marginata
- Sepsis violacea
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 9
- Astatus unicolor
- Cerceris clypeata
- Cerceris kennicottii
- Chalybion caeruleum
- Leionotus vagus
- Oxybelus 4-notatus
- Philanthus punctatus
- Polistes variatus
- Zanysson aurinotus
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other insects 1
- Lygus pratensis
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Adult butterflies / moths
Plant details
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Flower color
- White, pink or purple
- 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 · “June to September” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White, pink or purple” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Fruit begins · “August” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Life cycle · “Annual” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Strophostyles helvula; Trailing Fuzzy Bean
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| 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)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- 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