Mountain Pimpernel
Taenidia montana
Found in shale barrens and rocky woodlands over shale, greenstone, calcareous sandstone, and other calcareous and mafic rocks. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 24%
Will it fit your yard?No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Light · Soil · Life cycle · Leaves · Bloom
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 17 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Habitats
Shale barrens; glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone; glades, barrens and outcrops on mafic or serpentine rock; forests and woodlands.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 129 animals.
- Ruby-crowned KingletRegulus calendula
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Spotted SandpiperActitis macularius
- Tufted TitmouseBaeolophus bicolor
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- Yellow-billed CuckooCoccyzus americanus
- Yellow-breasted ChatIcteria virens
- Yellow-rumped WarblerDendroica coronata
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Blue-gray GnatcatcherPolioptila caerulea
- Brown ThrasherToxostoma rufum
- Carolina ChickadeePoecile carolinensis
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Pine SiskinCarduelis pinus
- Red-bellied WoodpeckerMelanerpes carolinus
- Red-winged BlackbirdAgelaius phoeniceus
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Ruffed GrouseBonasa umbellus
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Taenidia
- Papilio polyxenesBlack Swallowtail, Celery Caterpillar, Fennel Worm, Desert Black Swallowtail, Parsnip Swallowtail
- Agonopterix clemensella
- Agonopterix flavicomella
- Epermenia pimpinella
0BeesSoutheastern regional records
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Family not recorded
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S3 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| 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
- Virginia DCR Natural Heritage rare plant list
- Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
- FloraQuest: Northern Tier (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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