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Plant profile · Austin & Hill Country

Illinois Bundleflower

Desmanthus illinoensis
native · Hill Country

Illinois Bundleflower is a shrub native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 1–3 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun and medium water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white in early summer. Good for butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

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The facts

6 sources
Type
Shrub
Sun
Full sun (6–8 hrs of direct sun)
Water
Medium
Height
1–3 ft
Spread
3 ft
Bloom
Early Summer · white
Foliage
Deciduous or dies back in winter
Soil
Takes caliche and clay · recorded on caliche, clay, moist, sand
Deer
Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth
Wildlife
Supports butterflies

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsLlano UpliftEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

618 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Also grows here — hard to find. Native and recorded growing in Central Texas, but not on the grower stock lists we read. Sourcing varies: some are stocked widely, others you will have to hunt for.

also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.