Shrub · Ericaceae
Eastern teaberry
Gaultheria procumbens
Eastern teaberry is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 600 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Eastern teaberry at a glance
- Native in
- 600 counties, across 23 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 6 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Eastern teaberry is recorded as native to 23 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 600 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 600 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 2 counties
- Illinois 4 counties
- Indiana 18 counties
- Kentucky 35 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 74 counties
- Minnesota 24 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 16 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 37 counties
- Ohio 44 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- Tennessee 19 counties
- Vermont 11 counties
- Virginia 72 counties
- West Virginia 37 counties
- Wisconsin 55 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, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 32 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ericaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- GAPR2
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 procumbens (PLANTS symbol GAPR2).
- 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