Michigan State University

Return to home

About the project

Why native plants?

Which plants are best?

Create your own native planting

Plant fact sheets

Biological control &
Natural enemies

Pollination and bees

Field days

Publications and teaching tools

 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> sweet alyssum

Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
Sweet alyssum
 Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv. variety Snow Crystals

Group: Dicot
Family: Brassicaceae (mustard)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Annual/Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Introduced

Natural Enemies Attracted: A large number of Orius insidiousus, Chalcidoidea and Cynipoidea. Medium numbers of Braconidae. Small numbers of Plagiognathus politus, Chlamydatus associatus, Carabidae, Thomisidae, Sphecidae, Dolichopodidae, Ichneumonidae, Coccinellidae, Cantharidae, Syrphidae and Nabidae.

Pests Attracted: Large numbers of leaf beetles. Medium number of lygus bugs. Small numbers of leafhoppers, aphids and froghoppers .

Bees attracted: Moderate numbers (between 1-5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including yellow-faced bees and sweat bees.

Species Notes: This nonnative annual is originally from the Mediterranean. It grows from 3-10 inches tall and forms a carpet of flowers. It has been recommended for its attractiveness to natural enemy insects. Our white variety filled in well, and bloomed from date of planting in mid May into mid September. This species was the third most attractive plant to natural enemies in the late season, as well as over the entire growing season.
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). Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) 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.
graph

Habitat: Full sun to partial shade. Does not tolerate drought, also requires good drainage. Plants spread to about 12 inches across.

Cultivation and Management: Grows as an annual in Michigan, and can be grown from seed or plug material. We saw no evidence of deer or other vertebrate browsing on this species.

Availability: Species is available as seed or plug material from many home and garden stores, as well as plant nurseries.

For more information: USDA-NRCS PLANTS database
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.
Web site information prepared by: Doug Landis, Anna Fiedler, Rufus Isaacs and Julianna Tuell, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Funding support: USDA SARE with Project GREEEN, the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, MSU Extension, and the MSU IPM Program.
Web developer: J.N. Landis, MSU IPM Program. Updated: 11/21/06