Goatsbeard is a native wildflower of moist woods in eastern North America and the Pacific Northwest, also grown in shade gardens for its creamy, feathery flower plumes. It looks like a giant astilbe, but it belongs to the rose family. Male and female flowers grow on separate plants, and the male plants put on the showier display.
Appearance
- Growth form
- A clump-forming perennial, 3–6 ft (1–1.8 m) tall and 2–4 ft (0.6–1.2 m) wide.
- Leaves
- Large compound leaves made of sharply toothed leaflets.
- Flowers
- Tiny creamy-white flowers in branching plumes 6–24 in (15–60 cm) long. Male flowers have many stamens and look fluffier than female flowers.
- Flowering time
- Late spring to early summer, usually May–June.
- Fruit
- Female plants produce small brown seed capsules from June to September.
Look-alikes
False goat's beard (Appalachian false goatsbeard)Astilbe biternata
Look at the leaflet at the tip of each leaf: on false goat's beard it is usually three-lobed like a maple leaf, while goatsbeard leaflets are not lobed.
Why they get mixed upBoth are tall Appalachian woodland plants with similar creamy flower plumes.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- moist woods
- mountain slopes
- shade gardens
- Range
- Native to temperate Europe, Asia, and both eastern and western North America. In the US it is native in about 28 states, from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest and the Appalachians, and it is also widely planted in gardens.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers moist, rich soil that doesn't dry out. It grows in part shade to full sun, but in the South it needs shelter from hot afternoon sun.
- Flowering
Flowers May–Jun
Flowers May–Jun
Growing it
- Care
- Hardy in USDA zones 3–7. Deer and rabbits tend to leave it alone. Expect it to take 2–3 seasons to reach full size. You can divide clumps in early spring. Sawflies and leaf spot are its main problems.
- Propagation
- Grows from seed or from divisions of the clump.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Goatsbeard is one species spread across Europe, Asia, and North America, and botanists split it into regional varieties. The plants of Korea and Japan are usually written as var. kamtschaticus, and American plants include regional varieties such as var. pubescens in the Midwest.
- Varieties and forms
- Compact or shorter garden selections such as 'Glasnevin' and 'Child of Two Worlds' are sold for smaller spaces.
More species to explore
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