wetland wildflower
Obedient plant
Physostegia virginiana
Also known as Fall Obedient Plant, False Dragonhead, Virginia Lions-heart
1 of 2Native to much of the USA and southern Canada
Quebec to Minnesota and eastern South Dakota, south to Florida, Texas, and Coahuila in northern Mexico; reported in Montana
- Light Full sun to shade Sun tolerance
- Moisture Moist Moisture preference
- Zones 3–9 Cold to heat range
- Bloom Aug–Nov Flowering time
- Height up to 5 ft to 1.5 m
- Life cycle Perennial Annual to perennial
In the garden
A wetland wildflower for sun through shade and evenly moist soil. At up to 5 ft, it needs room in rain gardens, pond edges, and damp low spots. Hardy in USDA zones 3–9.
Growing conditions
Light
Full sun Partial shade Full shade
Moisture
Dry Moist Wet
Hardiness zones
Find your zone:
Pollinators & wildlife
- Bees Common Eastern Bumble Bee
also Western Honey Bee, Eastern Carpenter Bee, Brown-belted Bumble Bee +36 more
Two-spotted Bumble Bee, American Bumble Bee, Tricolored Bumble Bee, Bicolored Striped Sweat Bee, Pure Green Sweat bee, Bombus fervidus, Two-spotted Longhorn Bee, Perplexing Bumble Bee, European Woolcarder Bee, Black-and-gold Bumble Bee, Half-black Bumble Bee, Southern Carpenter Bee, Lemon Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Northern Amber Bumble Bee, Sculptured Resin Bee, Oblong Woolcarder Bee, Rusty-patched Bumble Bee, Modest Masked Bee, Spurred Ceratina, Blue Orchard Bee, Southern Plains Bumble Bee, Orange-tipped Wood-digger, Megachile brevis, Ceratina dupla, Thistle Longhorn-Cuckoo, Small Willow Miner Bee, Sonoran Bumble Bee, Pseudopanurgus labrosiformis, Coelioxys modesta, Denticulate Nomad, Eastern Cuckoo Sweat Bee, Diverse Bumble Bee, Bellflower Resin Bee, Appendiculate Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa virginica virginica, Lasioglossum coriaceum - Butterflies Monarch
also Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Fiery Skipper +21 more
Silver-spotted Skipper, Pipevine Swallowtail, Gray Hairstreak, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Spicebush Swallowtail, Zabulon Skipper, Cloudless Sulphur, Peck's Skipper, Red-banded Hairstreak, Least Skipper, Long-tailed Skipper, American Red Admiral, Nymphalis c-aureum, Chinese Yellow Swallowtail, Danaus plexippus plexippus, Japanese Peacock Swallowtail, Clossiana toddi ammiralis, Polites coras, Anosia plexippus, Panoquina ocola, Brazilian Skipper - Flower flies Eastern Calligrapher
also Oblique Streaktail, Long-tailed Aphideater, Dusky-winged Hover Fly +4 more
Orange-legged Drone Fly, Band-winged Bee Fly, Black Spur Fly, Palpada meigenii - Also visited by
- Moths:
White-lined Sphinx, Yellow-collared Scape Moth +7 more
Hummingbird Clearwing, Corn Earworm Moth, Tobacco Budworm Moth, Purple-backed Cabbageworm Moth, Eurasian Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Tersa Sphinx, Hawaiian Beet Webworm Moth - Beetles:
Goldenrod Soldier Beetle, Mournful Long-horned Beetle +3 more
Amorpha Borer, Ornated Tumbling Flower Beetle, Scymnus consobrinus - Hummingbirds: Ruby-throated Hummingbird
- Wasps: Common Aerial Yellowjacket, Tapered Mason Wasp
- Moths:
Butterflies that use this plant
Documented host and nectar records. Each links to a planting guide for that butterfly.
- Banded hairstreaknectar
- Black swallowtailnectar
- Cloudless sulphurnectar
- Eastern tailed-bluenectar
- Eastern tiger swallowtailnectar
- Fiery skippernectar
- Gray hairstreaknectar
- Monarch butterflynectar
- Pipevine swallowtailnectar
- Red admiralnectar
- Red-banded hairstreaknectar
- Silver-bordered fritillarynectar
- Silver-spotted skippernectar
- Spicebush swallowtailnectar
Full plant details
Where it grows
- Habitat
- WetlandThe wild plant community it grows in.
- Native range
- Much of the USA and southern CanadaUnited States (39): AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI, WV. Canada (3): MB, ON, QC. Where it grows wild on its own, by state and province.
- Native distribution
- Quebec to Minnesota and eastern South Dakota, south to Florida, Texas, and Coahuila in northern Mexico; reported in MontanaThe same native range, usually more exact than the state list, and often noting where it has spread beyond it.
Growing conditions
- Light
- Full sun to shadeHow much sun it takes, from full sun to full shade.
- Moisture
- MoistThe soil dampness it prefers, from dry to wet.
- Hardiness zones
- USDA 3–9 · Canadian 3–7The cold-to-heat climate range it survives.
- Soil
- Moist, humus-rich soilsThe soils it grows in naturally.
Growth & form
- Height
- up to 5 ft (to 1.5 m)Typical mature height.
- Life cycle
- PerennialWhether it lives a single season (annual), two (biennial), or returns for years (perennial).
Flowers, foliage & fruit
- Type
- WildflowerWhat kind of plant it is.
- Bloom
- Aug–NovWhen it flowers.
- Flower color
- White, Pink, PurpleThe bloom color, or colors.
- Toxicity
- None knownWhether any part is poisonous to people or pets.