Virginia Bugleweed
Lycopus virginicus
Found in swamps, bottomlands, tidal marshes, other wet habitats. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 94%
- Height
- About 4 feet
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to wet
No photograph yet. Looking for an old drawing…
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- July to November
- Fruiting season
- Fall to winter
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves
Recorded in 24 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forested wetlands with standing water much of the year, such as cypress and gum swamps.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 119 animals.
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Golden-crowned KingletRegulus satrapa
- Golden-winged WarblerVermivora chrysoptera
- Gray CatbirdDumetella carolinensis
- Great Blue HeronArdea herodias
- Great Crested FlycatcherMyiarchus crinitus
- Great EgretArdea alba
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Green HeronButorides virescens
- Hairy WoodpeckerPicoides villosus
- Hermit ThrushCatharus guttatus
- Hooded MerganserLophodytes cucullatus
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Indigo BuntingPasserina cyanea
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Least FlycatcherEmpidonax minimus
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Mourning DoveZenaida macroura
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Northern FlickerColaptes auratus
- Northern MockingbirdMimus polyglottos
Who uses this plant?
2CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Lycopus
- Lintneria eremitusHermit Sphinx
- Orthotaenia undulanaDusky Leafroller
3BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Lycopus
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 · Lycopus
- Sturnus vulgarisEuropean Starling
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
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Flower color
- White
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth habit
- Spreads by runners
- Foliage color
- Dark green
- Fruit begins
- Fall
- Fruit ends
- Winter
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “July to November” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs) · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “White” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Foliage color · “Dark green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Fall” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Winter” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Spreads by runners” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Moderate” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Height · “About 4 feet” · USDA PLANTS (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs) · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “white” · USDA PLANTS
- Soil · “Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Virginia Water Horehound
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| WV 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 by runners. USDA PLANTS lists its growth form as stoloniferous. USDA PLANTS
For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- West Virginia occurrence source
- 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