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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> culver's root

Enhancing Beneficial Insects with Native Plants
 Culver’s root
Veronicastrum virginicum (L.) Farw.

Group: Dicot
Family: Scrophulariaceae (figwort)
Growth Habit: Forb/herb
Duration: Perennial
U.S. Nativity: Native

Natural Enemies Attracted: Medium numbers of Orius insidiosus. Small numbers for Chalcidoidea, Dolichopodidae, Thomisidae, Salticidae, Syrphidae, Empididae and Braconidae.

Pests Attracted: Large numbers of lygus bugs. Small numbers of aphids, leaf beetles, leafhoppers, thrips and Japanese beetles.

Species Notes: This plant has small white flowers on thin, long stalks. Flowering stalks grow to 3-5 ft tall, sometimes falling over without support. Culver’s root bloomed from late July through early August. This was one of the less attractive mid season native plants to natural enemies, with fewer natural enemies than the grass control.

Bees attracted: High numbers (more than 5 bees per meter square in a 30 second sample) of bees including sweat bees, small carpenter bees, and bumble bees; also highly attractive to honey bees.
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). Culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum) 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: Tolerance includes full sun to partial shade, and average to wet soil. Naturally occurring in fens, prairie remnants and meadows, along riverbanks, roadsides, and in deciduous woodlands. Map indicates plant distribution by state.

Cultivation and Management: Difficult to establish when direct sown, but flowers in second or third year when grown from seed. Also can be grown from plug material (flowers in first or second year).

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
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