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Home / Browse / Eupatorium / Hyssopleaf Thoroughwort (var. calcaratum)
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Pictured: Eupatorium hyssopifolium — the species. This variety isn’t separately illustrated.
Asteraceae family

Hyssopleaf Thoroughwort (var. calcaratum) Eupatorium hyssopifolium var. calcaratum variety

Native

Hyssopleaf Thoroughwort (var. calcaratum) is a perennial wildflower native to the lower 48 states.

More about this plant

Eupatorium hyssopifolium, also known as hyssopleaf thoroughwort, is a fall-blooming herbaceous plant native to North America. Like other members of the genus Eupatorium it has inflorescences containing a large number of very small flower heads, each with 5 white disc florets but no ray florets. At 0.5 to one meter tall, it is towards the shorter end of the range of heights found in Eupatorium species. Wikipedia →

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Hardiness
≥ zone 7 derived from its U.S. range
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Lifespan
Perennial
In the garden
Herb layer — Sits in the herb of a layered food forest or polyculture.Open guide →
derived roles
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~41 caterpillar species

Eupatorium supports ~41 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a strong genus.

Recorded feeding on Eupatorium in North America, including:

Agonopterix atrodorsella · concealer moth Agonopterix eupatoriiella · concealer moth Agonopterix pulvipennella · concealer moth Anavitrinella pampinaria · Common Gray Arctia caja · Garden Tiger Bucculatrix eupatoriella · ribbed cocoon-maker moth
+ 8 more species →
Calephelis perditalis · Rounded Metalmark Calephelis rawsoni · Rawson's Metalmark Carmenta bassiformis · Eupatorium Borer Moth Carmenta pyralidiformis · The Boneset Borer Carmenta texana · Texana Clearwing Moth Celastrina argiolus · Holly Blue Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria · geometer (inchworm) moth Chlosyne lacinia · Bordered Patch
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0).
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
Sources for this entry (12) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503) — native status
[06] Description — Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[08] Conservation rank — NatureServe Explorer (CC BY)
[09] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[10] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
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