Tree · Betulaceae
American hornbeam
Carpinus caroliniana · includes its varieties and subspecies
American hornbeam is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,287 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American hornbeam at a glance
- Native in
- 1,287 counties, across 30 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −34°F
- Mature height
- 30 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −34°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American hornbeam is recorded as native to 30 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,287 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,287 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 64 counties
- Arkansas 72 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- Florida 38 counties
- Georgia 11 counties
- Illinois 72 counties
- Indiana 80 counties
- Kentucky 105 counties
- Louisiana 47 counties
- Maine 8 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 58 counties
- Minnesota 10 counties
- Mississippi 56 counties
- Missouri 66 counties
- New Hampshire 7 counties
- New Jersey 18 counties
- New York 44 counties
- North Carolina 82 counties
- Ohio 85 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 33 counties
- Tennessee 59 counties
- Texas 19 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 98 counties
- West Virginia 13 counties
- Wisconsin 45 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, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 30 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- 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
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 23 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4 to 7.4
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −34°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Orange
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid 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
- Betulaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CACA18
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
- Carpinus caroliniana (PLANTS symbol CACA18), including 2 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