Vine · Fabaceae
Groundnut
Apios americana
Groundnut is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,202 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Groundnut at a glance
- Native in
- 1,202 counties, across 35 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −23°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −23°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Groundnut is recorded as native to 35 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,202 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,202 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 3 counties
- Arkansas 43 counties
- Colorado 2 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Florida 45 counties
- Georgia 31 counties
- Illinois 75 counties
- Indiana 55 counties
- Iowa 8 counties
- Kansas 38 counties
- Kentucky 54 counties
- Louisiana 51 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 35 counties
- Minnesota 30 counties
- Mississippi 36 counties
- Missouri 96 counties
- Nebraska 19 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 71 counties
- Ohio 53 counties
- Oklahoma 14 counties
- Pennsylvania 58 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- Tennessee 54 counties
- Texas 31 counties
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 86 counties
- West Virginia 30 counties
- Wisconsin 47 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
- Forb/herb, Vine
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Climbing
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 28 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 8 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −23°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- Medium
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fabaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- APAM
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
- Apios americana (PLANTS symbol APAM).
- 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