Culver's-root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Found in streambanks, bogs, wet meadows, moist prairies, dryish soils in areas with prairie affinities, woodlands on high pH soils. FloraQuest, phone app (app page) What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 4–7 feet
- Spread
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Usually 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
- June to September
Recorded in 38 Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Habitats
Streams, rivers and their banks; wet meadows; prairies and grasslands; forests and woodlands.
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. All habitats
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA
Genus host records with ranges including VA · Veronicastrum
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Papaipema cataphractaBurdock Border, Potato-Stalk Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
11BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Veronicastrum
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
—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
- Plantaginaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–8b
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Blue, pink, purple or white
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “June to September” · FloraQuest: Carolinas, Georgia (Southeastern Flora Team), phone app (app page) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Blue, pink, purple or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “4–7 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- 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)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil · “Occasionally wet” · 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
Also known as
Culver's root; Culvers Physic; Culvers Root
Conservation status
| Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4 |
| 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.
Growing cautions
- Spreads slowly. Self-seeds slowly. Tennessee Smart Yards
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
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)
- 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