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What do "small," "medium" and "large" numbers mean?
They refer to how many insects were collected per meter square in a 30 second sample. Small means less than 2 insects; medium indicates 2 to 10 insects, and large suggests greater than 10 insects. |
home> native plant fact sheets> virginia waterleaf
Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Virginia waterleaf
Hydrophyllum virginianum L.
Group: Dicot
Family: Hydrophyllaceae (waterleaf)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native
Natural Enemies Attracted: Small numbers of Chalcidoidea,
Thomisidae, Empididae, Braconidae and Chlamydatus associatus.
| Pests Attracted: Small numbers of lygus bugs, root-maggot flies, leafhoppers and thrips.
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Bees attracted: Moderate numbers (more than 1 bee per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including yellow-faced bees, Andrenid bees, sweat bees, and small carpenter bees.
Species Notes: Blooms are lavender bell-shaped clusters, with many hairlike structures inside the flower. Virginia waterleaf is low growing, reaching 1-2 ft tall, with attractive foliage that looks water-marked. This plant bloomed from late May through early June. Foliage remains green throughout the growing season. This was one of the less attractive early season native plants to natural enemies. |
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| About the Plant Species Graph: Average number of beneficial insects collected at each plant species the week before, during, and after peak bloom, for plant species blooming from mid-August through early October (+ standard error). Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum) boxed in red. Bars for natural enemies are in green, bars for bees are in yellow. Bars for native plants are solid and nonnative plants are striped. The black line on the top graph shows the number of natural enemies in grass with no flowering plants (grass control). Plants are listed in order of peak bloom. |
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Habitat: Tolerance includes full sun to partial shade, and fairly dry to very wet soil conditions. Naturally occurring in thickets, deciduous woods, and marshy areas.
Cultivation and Management: Sown seed flowers in second or third year. Also can be grown from plug material (flowers in first or second year). This species spreads readily and makes a good groundcover in moist areas.
Availability: Species is available as seed, plug or container grown material from various native plant nurseries. Michigan Native Plant Producers Association
For more information: USDA-NRCS PLANTS database |
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This fact sheet prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Please note: The information presented at this web site should be considered a guideline to be adapted for your situation. MSU makes no warranty about the use of the information presented here. Read disclaimer. |
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