Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
Jerusalem artichoke
Helianthus tuberosus
Jerusalem artichoke is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,088 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Jerusalem artichoke at a glance
- Native in
- 1,088 counties, across 41 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 9.8 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Jerusalem artichoke is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,088 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,088 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Arkansas 23 counties
- Colorado 3 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 4 counties
- Georgia 10 counties
- Idaho 2 counties
- Illinois 96 counties
- Indiana 64 counties
- Iowa 15 counties
- Kansas 71 counties
- Kentucky 54 counties
- Louisiana 17 counties
- Maine 5 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 30 counties
- Minnesota 48 counties
- Mississippi 1 county
- Missouri 68 counties
- Nebraska 45 counties
- New Hampshire 3 counties
- New Jersey 11 counties
- New York 27 counties
- North Carolina 53 counties
- North Dakota 31 counties
- Ohio 68 counties
- Oklahoma 11 counties
- Pennsylvania 56 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 18 counties
- South Dakota 16 counties
- Tennessee 58 counties
- Texas 2 counties
- Utah 1 county
- Vermont 6 counties
- Virginia 85 counties
- Washington 2 counties
- West Virginia 25 counties
- Wisconsin 38 counties
- Wyoming 1 county
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
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 9.8 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Yellow-Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- HETU
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
- Helianthus tuberosus (PLANTS symbol HETU).
- 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