Orthosia scoparia | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Gentianales |
Family: | Apocynaceae |
Genus: | Orthosia |
Species: | O. scoparia
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Binomial name | |
Orthosia scoparia |
Orthosia scoparia, commonly known as the leafless swallow-wort, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Orthosia. It is an herbaceous vine with narrow opposite leaves. It is a host plant for the caterpillars of various butterfly species as well as Sephina gundlachii. It is in the Apocynaceae (Dogbane) family. [2] It grows in the Southeastern U.S. and Caribbean and is native in the Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Florida, Georgia, Haiti, Jamaica, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and South Carolina. [3] A perennial it has yellowish / greenish white flowers. Caterpillars of the faithful beauty moth ( Composia fidelissima) are thought to feed on it. [4]
A climbing milkweed vine it reaches about 5 feet tall. [5] It has six homotypic synonyms and twenty heterotypic synonyms. [3]