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Forked Bluecurls

Trichostema dichotomum

Found in dry woodlands, longleaf pine sandhills and dry flatwoods, disturbed areas, roadsides, thin soils around rock outcrops. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

32
Good

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

Profile 100%

Height
1–3 feet
Spread
1–2 feet
Light
Full sun
Soil moisture
Somewhat dry to moist

Space about 1.5 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 44 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

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At a glance

Life cycle
Annual
Leaves
Deciduous
Bloom
August to November

Recorded in 91 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 5

Pine flatwoods

Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer
Wet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits

Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop
Rock outcrop on a mountain summit. Shown: Sassafras Mountain, on the North Carolina and South Carolina line, a neighboring state.Sassafras Mountain rock outcrop, Alan M. Cressler / U.S. Geological Survey, undated. Public domain. Source record. Faithful JPEG display decode of embedded JP2; no AI or color enhancement. Phone derivative resized proportionally.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Sandhills

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.

All habitats

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Trichostema

  • Manduca rusticaRustic Sphinx
  • Eteobalea sexnotella
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
4BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Trichostema

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
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
1BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim

Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Trichostema

  • Cyrtonyx montezumaeMontezuma Quail
Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)

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

1AntsRecorded seed interactions
  • Pogonomyrmex badius

Pogonomyrmex badius: Seed predation.

No records yet · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Lamiaceae
Hardiness
Zones 7a–11b
Soil pH
Neutral
Flower color
Blue, purple or white

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

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Common Blue Curls

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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Sources