Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, clearings, and other open, disturbed habitats; also scattered in varied natural woodlands and barrens. Common throughout Virginia.
Wildlife Value: Seed heads are a food source for birds and mammals. This is a larval host plant that supports various skipper larvae and Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala). Adult Common Wood-Nymph butterflies feed on rotting plant matter. This species is also the larval host of a number of butterflies and moths, including Crossline Skipper (Polites origenes), Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna), and Broad-winged Skipper (Poanes viator). It provides excellent cover year-round.
Notes: Has attractive reddish-purple seed heads that appear in the late summer and persist into fall and are especially impactful when planted en masse.