Tree · Rhamnaceae
Beechleaf frangula
Frangula betulifolia · includes its varieties and subspecies
Beechleaf frangula is recorded as native to 3 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 23 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Beechleaf frangula at a glance
- Native in
- 23 counties, across 3 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −15°F
- Mature height
- 7 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −15°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Beechleaf frangula is recorded as native to 3 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 23 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 23 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arizona 9 counties
- New Mexico 9 counties
- Texas 5 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (FRBEB). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 7 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Not recorded
- Shape
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Not recorded
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Not recorded
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 33 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 6 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −15°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 168
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- Not recorded
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- FRBE2
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
- Frangula betulifolia (PLANTS symbol FRBE2), including 1 variety or 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