Tree · Fabaceae
Eastern redbud
Cercis canadensis · includes its varieties and subspecies
Eastern redbud is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,324 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Eastern redbud at a glance
- Native in
- 1,324 counties, across 31 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 30 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Eastern redbud is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,324 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,324 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 59 counties
- Arkansas 75 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 25 counties
- Georgia 35 counties
- Illinois 88 counties
- Indiana 81 counties
- Iowa 5 counties
- Kansas 47 counties
- Kentucky 116 counties
- Louisiana 49 counties
- Massachusetts 3 counties
- Michigan 14 counties
- Mississippi 55 counties
- Missouri 114 counties
- Nebraska 9 counties
- New Jersey 11 counties
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 7 counties
- North Carolina 46 counties
- Ohio 73 counties
- Oklahoma 46 counties
- Pennsylvania 32 counties
- South Carolina 33 counties
- Tennessee 62 counties
- Texas 96 counties
- Virginia 91 counties
- West Virginia 47 counties
- Wisconsin 2 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
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 20 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.9
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 170
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Fabaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- CECA4
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
- Cercis canadensis (PLANTS symbol CECA4), 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