# Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens)

> The native pachysandra of the Southeast, a slow, low ground cover for shade with mottled leaves and fragrant white flower spikes in early spring.

Family: Buxaceae (boxwood family). Also called Allegheny pachysandra, mountain pachysandra, mountain spurge. Category: Native Shrubs. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-spurge/

![Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) white flower spikes rising among mottled blue-green leaves](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/allegheny-spurge-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: Homoarborea, CC0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3APachysandra_procumbens_in_bloei.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 1 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 5 to 9
- Grows wild in: The forest understory, rich moist slopes, stream banks and rocky ground
- Native range: 10 states, north to [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), south to [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL) and west to [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA) ([Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC) and [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN)). Also recorded, not native, in [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY) and [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA)
- Sun: Part, Shade
- Soil moisture: Average
- Growth rate: Slow
- Flowers: March to April
- Fruit: Capsules, July to August
- First crop: —
- Mature spread: 2 ft
- Traits: Tolerates shade, Showy flowers, Rare
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md) or [in a pot](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/a-sapling-in-a-pot/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

## Notes

Allegheny spurge is the native pachysandra of the Southeast, a low, spreading ground cover of rich, shady woods on limestone. It is not the Japanese pachysandra so common in yards, and it spreads slowly instead of taking over. Its leaves are broader, duller and more coarsely toothed, and its flowers rise from the base of the stem, not the top. Florida, Indiana and North Carolina list it as endangered, and Georgia lists it as rare. Mass it in shade under trees or along a woodland walk, where it forms a soft carpet.

## Size, growth and what to expect

Allegheny spurge grows slowly, a few inches a year in our growth estimator, and spreads by underground stems into a carpet 6 to 12 inches high. Each plant reaches 1 to 2 feet across, and two Arnold Arboretum plantings untended for 36 years covered only 3 by 4.5 and 3 by 7 feet. Its broad leaves, 2 to 4 inches long and toothed near the tip, gather at the top of each stem, mottled silver and purple.

The leaves are evergreen in the South, though worn by midwinter. Farther north they turn bronze in fall and brown by spring, and new shoots replace them by May or June. Fragrant white to pinkish spikes, 2 to 4 inches long, rise from the base of the stems in March and April, often before the new leaves. The small capsules, ripe in July and August, seldom form in gardens.

It grows wild from Kentucky and western North Carolina south to Louisiana and northern Florida. Its home is rich, moist woods on limestone, often on slopes along streams. North of that, as in Pennsylvania, it is thought to have been brought in.

## How to grow Allegheny Spurge

Allegheny spurge grows in part shade to deep shade, as under tall trees, and too much sun bleaches its leaves. It wants a loose, moist soil that drains well and is rich in organic matter, slightly acid to neutral. Established plants ride out dry spells. Shelter from north winds helps it keep its leaves in winter. Set plants 2 feet apart, or 6 to 12 inches apart for a quicker carpet, and keep them 2 feet from a wall. At its size it can go within 15 feet of overhead wires.

Saplings ship bare-root or potted. Plant them in spring or fall, in a hole wider than the roots and no deeper. Set the crown at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch with leaves, clear of the stems. It seldom sets fruit in gardens, so it is raised from cuttings or by dividing clumps. Treat any sowing of its seed as a trial.

Water it every day for the first two weeks after planting, then every two to three days until week 12. Before each watering, push a finger a few inches into the soil, and wait if it is still wet. After that, soak the bed weekly through the first two summers, and water the soil rather than the leaves. Thin crowded plants now and then so air moves through them, and cut out yellowed or dead growth.

Each spike carries many male flowers above and a few female flowers at its base, so there are no male and female plants to pair. It is usually trouble free, though leaf blight can be serious, and root and stem rot, aphids, slugs, scale and mites can turn up. Boxwood blight, a fungus disease of boxwood, also infects it. It can poison animals that eat it, sometimes fatally.

## Sources

- [NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Pachysandra procumbens](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pachysandra-procumbens/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Pachysandra procumbens](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PAPR7)
- [Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Finder: Pachysandra procumbens](https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=278318&isprofile=0)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 10: Pachysandra procumbens, Boufford](http://floranorthamerica.org/Pachysandra_procumbens)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society), after Bean: Pachysandra procumbens](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/pachysandra/pachysandra-procumbens/)
- [Dirr and Alexander 1991, The Allegheny Pachysandra, Arnoldia 51(4): 43-46, from Arnoldia 39(1), 1979](https://doi.org/10.5962/p.250765)
- [LaMondia and Li 2013, Calonectria pseudonaviculata can Cause Leaf Spot and Stem Blight of Pachysandra procumbens, Plant Health Progress](https://doi.org/10.1094/php-2013-0226-01-br)
- [Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Pachysandra procumbens](https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:353207-1)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Pachysandra procumbens](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.160013/Pachysandra_procumbens)
- [Florida Natural Areas Inventory: Element Tracking Summary](https://www.fnai.org/PDFs/tracking/element_tracking_summary_current.pdf)
- [Indiana Department of Natural Resources: Endangered, Threatened, and Extirpated Plants of Indiana, 2025](https://www.in.gov/dnr/nature-preserves/files/np-etrplants.pdf)
- [North Carolina Natural Heritage Program: 2024 List of Rare Plant Species](https://www.ncnhp.org/media/833/open)
- [Georgia Biodiversity Portal: rare plants table, exported July 7, 2026](https://georgiabiodiversity.org/portal/table/plants)
- [Rutgers NJAES Plant of the Month: Pachysandra procumbens](https://njaes.rutgers.edu/plant-of-the-month/pachysandra.php)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Low native shrubs and groundcovers for sun, shade, sand and bog](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/low-native-shrubs-and-groundcovers/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)
- [What a young tree looks like: first-year seedlings of oak, walnut, hickory, chestnut, maple and redbud, and the weed trees to pull](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/what-a-young-tree-looks-like/index.html.md)

## Related

- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Wild Hydrangea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/wild-hydrangea/index.html.md), [Alabama Snow-wreath](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/alabama-snow-wreath/index.html.md), [Roseshell Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roseshell-azalea/index.html.md) and [Softleaf Arrowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/softleaf-arrowwood/index.html.md)
- Trees to plant it under: [Florida Maple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-maple/index.html.md), [Eastern Hemlock](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-hemlock/index.html.md) and [Rock Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/rock-elm/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Piedmont Rhododendron](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/piedmont-rhododendron/index.html.md), [Hobblebush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/hobblebush/index.html.md), [Granite Gooseberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/granite-gooseberry/index.html.md) and [Blue Ridge St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/blue-ridge-st-johns-wort/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Allegheny Spurge, add ?species=allegheny-spurge with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 5, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge&zone=5&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Allegheny Spurge](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Allegheny Spurge as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Allegheny Spurge is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Allegheny Spurge needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 1 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=allegheny-spurge:1
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Allegheny Spurge where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Allegheny Spurge goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=allegheny-spurge&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Allegheny Spurge flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=allegheny-spurge