Wildflower (forb) · Malvaceae
Comfortroot
Hibiscus aculeatus
Comfortroot is recorded as native to 8 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 88 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Comfortroot at a glance
- Native in
- 88 counties, across 8 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b PLANTS minimum temperature 15°F
- Mature height
- 3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 8b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 15°F; zone 8b winters bottom out at 15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Comfortroot is recorded as native to 8 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 88 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 88 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 5 counties
- Florida 27 counties
- Georgia 16 counties
- Louisiana 11 counties
- Mississippi 12 counties
- North Carolina 3 counties
- South Carolina 13 counties
- Texas 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
- 3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 160 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6 to 8.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 15°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 260
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Green
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Malvaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- HIAC
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
- Hibiscus aculeatus (PLANTS symbol HIAC).
- 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