Tree · Rhamnaceae
Carolina buckthorn
Frangula caroliniana
Carolina buckthorn is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 473 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Carolina buckthorn at a glance
- Native in
- 473 counties, across 16 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −27°F
- Mature height
- 20 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −27°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Carolina buckthorn is recorded as native to 16 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 473 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 473 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 33 counties
- Arkansas 62 counties
- Florida 16 counties
- Georgia 26 counties
- Illinois 10 counties
- Indiana 7 counties
- Kentucky 63 counties
- Louisiana 41 counties
- Mississippi 26 counties
- Missouri 48 counties
- North Carolina 6 counties
- Ohio 3 counties
- South Carolina 15 counties
- Tennessee 64 counties
- Texas 47 counties
- Virginia 6 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
- 20 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Not recorded
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 51 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −27°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 168
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- Not recorded
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Rhamnaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- FRCA13
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 caroliniana (PLANTS symbol FRCA13).
- 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