Tree · Aceraceae
Boxelder
Acer negundo · includes its varieties and subspecies
Boxelder is recorded as native to 49 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,828 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Boxelder at a glance
- Native in
- 1,828 counties, across 49 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −46°F
- Mature height
- 60 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −46°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Boxelder is recorded as native to 49 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,828 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,828 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 51 counties
- Arizona 12 counties
- Arkansas 75 counties
- California 36 counties
- Colorado 19 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 20 counties
- Georgia 21 counties
- Idaho 23 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 71 counties
- Iowa 19 counties
- Kansas 87 counties
- Kentucky 116 counties
- Louisiana 56 counties
- Maine 9 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 48 counties
- Minnesota 71 counties
- Mississippi 40 counties
- Missouri 108 counties
- Montana 24 counties
- Nebraska 37 counties
- Nevada 3 counties
- New Hampshire 7 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New Mexico 16 counties
- New York 31 counties
- North Carolina 40 counties
- North Dakota 33 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 63 counties
- Oregon 13 counties
- Pennsylvania 54 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 20 counties
- South Dakota 22 counties
- Tennessee 48 counties
- Texas 58 counties
- Utah 27 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 91 counties
- Washington 8 counties
- West Virginia 41 counties
- Wisconsin 57 counties
- Wyoming 16 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
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 60 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 75 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 40 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −46°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Aceraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ACNE2
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
- Acer negundo (PLANTS symbol ACNE2), including 4 varieties and 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