Broadleaf Ironweed
Vernonia glauca
Found in pastures, bottomlands, streamsides, roadsides, dry woods and slopes, powerlines and cleared forests. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 3–5 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 3 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 11 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Summer and fall
- Fruiting season
- August to October
Recorded in 72 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Who uses this plant?
28CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Vernonia
- Acleris subnivanaBent-Wing Acleris, Common Acleris
- Anavitrinella pampinariaCommon Gray, Cranberry Spanworm
- Apantesis partheniceParthenice Tiger Moth
- Archips rileyanaSouthern Ugly-Nest Caterpillar Moth
- Carmenta bassiformisEupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Clearwing Moth
- Chlorochlamys chloroleucariaBlackberry Looper Moth
- Dichomeris setosellaHairy Dichomeris
- Estigmene acreaSalt Marsh Moth, Acrea Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Hellinsia paleaceusOne-Spotted Plume Moth
Show all 28
- Lophocampa maculataSpotted Tussock Moth, Yellow-Spotted Tiger Moth
- Papaipema baptisiaeWild Indigo Borer, Indigo Stem Borer
- Papaipema cerussataIronweed Borer Moth
- Perigea xanthioidesRed Groundling
- Phlogophora irisOlive Angle Shades
- Platynota idaeusalisTufted Apple-Bud Moth
- Pleuroprucha insulsariaCommon Tan Wave
- Polygrammodes flavidalisIronweed Root Moth, Vernonia Root-Borer
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Synchlora aerataWavy-Lined Emerald, Camouflaged Looper
- Synchlora frondariaSouthern Emerald
- Thyridopteryx ephemeraeformisEvergreen Bagworm Moth
- Vanessa virginiensisAmerican Lady, American Painted Lady
- Coleophora vernoniaeella
- Dichomeris washingtoniella
- Paralobesia sambuci
- Paralobesia vernoniana
- Thyraylia bunteana
46BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Vernonia
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
9Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Vernonia
- Andrena placata
- Melissodes denticulatus
- Melissodes druriellus
- Melissodes microstictus
- Melissodes niveus
- Melissodes subillatus
- Melissodes trinodis
- Melissodes vernoniae
- Perdita octomaculata
—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
- Asteraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- 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 · “Summer and fall” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team) differs)
- Flower color · “Purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Fruit begins · “August” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Fruit ends · “October” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “3–5 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- primary_flower_color · “purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Good drainage; Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
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)
- FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Weakley), phone app (app page)
- 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