Xanthium strumarium
Xanthium strumarium
Found in ballast, waste areas near ports. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 59%
- Height
- 2–4 feet
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Annual
- Leaves
- Deciduous
Not yet recorded · Spread · Bloom
Recorded in 5 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Who uses this plant?
13CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Xanthium
- Adaina ambrosiaeAmbrosia Plume Moth, Ragweed Plume Moth
- Epiblema strenuanaRagweed Borer
- Eucosma ochrocephalaPale-Headed Phaneta
- Euxoa detersaRubbed Dart, Sandhill Cutworm
- Feltia subterraneaSubterranean Dart, Granulate Cutworm
- Helicoverpa zeaCorn Earworm Moth
- Ogdoconta cinereolaCommon Pinkband Groundling
- Ostrinia obumbratalisSmartweed Borer
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Rachiplusia ouGray Looper
Show all 13
- Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
- Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
- Vanessa carduiPainted Lady, Cosmopolite
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
5BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim
Recorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claim · Xanthium
- Agelaius phoeniceusRed-winged Blackbird
- Molothrus aterBrown-headed Cowbird
- Ortalis vetulaPlain Chachalaca
- Quiscalus quisculaCommon Grackle
- 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
Plant details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Soil pH
- Acidic to alkaline
- Flower color
- Green or purple
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Green or purple” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center differs)
- Height · “2–4 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Fire Effects Information System: Xanthium strumarium, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Minnesota Wildflowers differ)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Annual” · 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
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally wet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil pH · “Acidic to alkaline” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S5 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | Not available |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Native alternatives
Find natives for your gardenSources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- NatureServe Explorer
- 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