Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Spotted joe pye weed
Eutrochium maculatum · includes its varieties and subspecies
Spotted joe pye weed is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 581 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Spotted joe pye weed at a glance
- Native in
- 581 counties, across 29 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Spotted joe pye weed is recorded as native to 29 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 581 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 581 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 3 counties
- Colorado 8 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 2 counties
- Illinois 43 counties
- Indiana 36 counties
- Iowa 5 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 7 counties
- Massachusetts 8 counties
- Michigan 75 counties
- Minnesota 72 counties
- Nebraska 20 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New Mexico 2 counties
- New York 42 counties
- North Carolina 9 counties
- North Dakota 17 counties
- Ohio 28 counties
- Pennsylvania 41 counties
- South Dakota 13 counties
- Utah 8 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 8 counties
- Washington 1 county
- West Virginia 4 counties
- Wisconsin 69 counties
- Wyoming 5 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (EUMAM4). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- EUMA9
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
- Eutrochium maculatum (PLANTS symbol EUMA9), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- 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