Shrub · Ericaceae
Creeping snowberry
Gaultheria hispidula
Creeping snowberry is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 226 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Creeping snowberry at a glance
- Native in
- 226 counties, across 17 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 6 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium 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.
Creeping snowberry is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 226 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 226 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 2 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 11 counties
- Michigan 48 counties
- Minnesota 17 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 4 counties
- New York 38 counties
- Ohio 4 counties
- Pennsylvania 17 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- Vermont 13 counties
- Washington 1 county
- West Virginia 7 counties
- Wisconsin 37 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, Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6 in
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ericaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GAHI2
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
- Gaultheria hispidula (PLANTS symbol GAHI2).
- 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