Shrub · Rosaceae
Red chokeberry
Aronia arbutifolia
Red chokeberry is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 586 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Red chokeberry at a glance
- Native in
- 586 counties, across 23 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 5 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Red chokeberry is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 586 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 586 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 32 counties
- Arkansas 20 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 50 counties
- Georgia 55 counties
- Kentucky 11 counties
- Louisiana 27 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Mississippi 22 counties
- New Hampshire 1 county
- New Jersey 21 counties
- New York 28 counties
- North Carolina 83 counties
- Pennsylvania 51 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 36 counties
- Tennessee 35 counties
- Texas 9 counties
- Virginia 85 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
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Colonizing
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 34 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 130
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ARAR7
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
- Aronia arbutifolia (PLANTS symbol ARAR7).
- 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