Wildflower (forb) · Caryophyllaceae
Longleaf starwort
Stellaria longifolia · includes its varieties and subspecies
Longleaf starwort is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 653 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Longleaf starwort at a glance
- Native in
- 653 counties, across 36 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Longleaf starwort is recorded as native to 36 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 653 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 653 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 15 counties
- Arizona 2 counties
- California 2 counties
- Colorado 25 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Idaho 14 counties
- Illinois 41 counties
- Indiana 55 counties
- Kentucky 8 counties
- Maine 14 counties
- Massachusetts 9 counties
- Michigan 52 counties
- Minnesota 63 counties
- Missouri 8 counties
- Montana 16 counties
- Nebraska 4 counties
- Nevada 2 counties
- New Hampshire 5 counties
- New Jersey 15 counties
- New Mexico 5 counties
- New York 40 counties
- North Dakota 21 counties
- Ohio 48 counties
- Oregon 11 counties
- Pennsylvania 63 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Dakota 4 counties
- Tennessee 3 counties
- Vermont 5 counties
- Virginia 23 counties
- Washington 10 counties
- West Virginia 7 counties
- Wisconsin 51 counties
- Wyoming 9 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
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1.5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Decumbent
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Caryophyllaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- STLO
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
- Stellaria longifolia (PLANTS symbol STLO), including 1 variety or 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