Wildflower (forb) · Euphorbiaceae
Virginia threeseed mercury
Acalypha virginica
Virginia threeseed mercury is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 847 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Virginia threeseed mercury at a glance
- Native in
- 847 counties, across 30 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b PLANTS minimum temperature 33°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 10b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 33°F; zone 10b winters bottom out at 35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Virginia threeseed mercury is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 847 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 847 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 19 counties
- Arkansas 64 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 5 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 40 counties
- Iowa 11 counties
- Kansas 48 counties
- Kentucky 70 counties
- Louisiana 37 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 2 counties
- Mississippi 24 counties
- Missouri 73 counties
- Nebraska 15 counties
- New Hampshire 5 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 9 counties
- North Carolina 27 counties
- Ohio 83 counties
- Oklahoma 25 counties
- Pennsylvania 33 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 5 counties
- Tennessee 41 counties
- Texas 19 counties
- Virginia 42 counties
- West Virginia 14 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 13 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.9 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Euphorbiaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ACVI
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Acalypha virginica (PLANTS symbol ACVI).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources