Georgia Wildlife Federation

Resources < Wildlife Habitats < Guide to Native Plants of Georgia for Wildlife < Vernonia gigantea

Giant Ironweed is a hulk of a perennial with a constitution to match. In fact, it might even be tougher than iron. Too aggressive for most small or formal garden, this plant truly comes into its own as a member of a natural field, roadside planting, rocky hillside, or a meadow or prairie landscape. Challenge it with any hard-to-deal-with spot and the fullest sun possible, and Ironweed will still amaze in late summer to fall with a stunning array of deeply purple flowers, without any supplemental irrigation or fertilizer. Make sure not to mow to allow the plant to bloom.

Horticulture professor and author Dr. Allan Armitage remarks on the consistent ability of this plant to make “native plant enthusiasts gush over their ironweeds because of the butterflies they attract.” Indeed, the spray of purple becomes dotted with the equally phenomenal iridescence of native butterflies during late summer and especially fall after many other plants have ceased blooming.

FAMILY: Asteraceae (Aster/Daisy/Sunflower)

DESCRIPTION: Herbaceous perennial plant, 3-7' tall and usually unbranched, except near the inflorescence. Stem is green to purplish green and hairy. Leaves are alternate, up to 10” long and 2 ½” wide, narrow, and lanceolate with serrated margins. Upper surfaces are dark green and hairless, undersides are lighter and hairy. Inflorescence terminates the stem in a flat-headed panicle of flower clusters. Each cluster has 10-30 magenta-purple disk florets and no ray florets, with recurved petals and a prominent, bifurcated style. Bloom time is late summer to fall. Fruits are small achenes with tufts of down and are wind-distributed.

HABIT: Tall, fall-blooming perennial

PLANTING AND CARE: Ironweed is easy to find and just as easy to grow, although its aggressive behavior makes it best suited to informal situations or natural areas. It is a spectacular treat in flower and is adaptable to any soil in full sun and away from standing water.

ORNAMENTAL USE: Ironweed fills the fall-blooming niche in gardens and provides an important food source for nectariferous insects. Its purple flower clusters are showy, interesting, and attract a great deal of insects which are just as beautiful. Its height is also an asset and allows it to be combined with other, shorter native perennials like Rudbeckia and Coneflowers.

LANDSCAPE USE: Perfect for drought tolerant gardens. Makes its best statement en masse or naturalized in a meadow.

HABITAT: Common throughout North America, both east and west of the Mississippi. Habitats include open woodlands, woodland borders, thickets, areas along woodland paths, swamps, river bottom prairies, seeps and springs, pastures, and abandoned fields.

WILDLIFE BENEFITS: Ironweed is host to a diverse variety of insect life. The nectar of the flowers attracts bee flies, butterflies like the Tiger Swallowtail, American Painted Lady, Diana, Great Spangled Fritillary, Monarch, Fiery Skipper, Yellowpatch Skipper, Carolina Roadside Skipper, and various bees. Some bees also collect pollen for their larvae. The caterpillars of various moths feed on pith of their stems and their roots. These species include Eupatorium Borer Moth, Ironweed Borer Moths, Red Groundling, and Pyralid Moths. The seeds are quickly devoured by flocks of migrating American Goldfinches. The foliage is bitter and rarely grazed by mammals.