Ironweed – Tall or Giant (3.25″ pot)

Description

Tall or Giant Ironweed (Vernonis gigantea). In prime conditions, this Ironweed gets gigantic – 8 foot tall and forms a thick stand. This is a very showy native plant with torch-like magenta flowers topping the tall stalks in fall.  A rich pollinator-supporting plant. Leaves are dark green, quite smooth, but with a lightly hairy underside. Stems get a purplish tint. Flowers are large, prolific, and a striking magenta color.

Foliage is bitter and repels mammals from browsing, but plants in the Vernonia genus are host plants for a variety of moth and butterfly larvae and other insects, including: American Lady butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis), Parthenice Tiger Moth (Grammia parthenice), Ironweed Borer Moth (Papaipema cerussata and Papaipema limpida), Eupatorium Borer Moth (Carmenta bassiformis), Red Groundling moth (Perigea xanthioides), Pyralid Moths (Polygrammodes flavidalis and Polygrammodes langdonalis), Ironweed Plume Moth (Hellinsia paleaceus), Ironweed Curculio Weevil (he larvae of this weevil feed on the pith of ironweeds), Midges (including Asphondylia vernoniae and Youngomyia podophyllae) which form galls on the plant’s buds and flower heads. Many of the larval species bore into / eat the roots and stems, perhaps helping to balance the aggressive nature of Common Ironweed’s rhizomes.