Tree · Aquifoliaceae
Common winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Common winterberry is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 841 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common winterberry at a glance
- Native in
- 841 counties, across 32 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 10 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High 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.
Common winterberry is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 841 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 841 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 30 counties
- Arkansas 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 6 counties
- Georgia 20 counties
- Illinois 19 counties
- Indiana 54 counties
- Kentucky 34 counties
- Louisiana 16 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 70 counties
- Minnesota 28 counties
- Mississippi 9 counties
- Missouri 5 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 21 counties
- New York 47 counties
- North Carolina 57 counties
- Ohio 69 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 16 counties
- Tennessee 32 counties
- Texas 1 county
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 92 counties
- West Virginia 25 counties
- Wisconsin 61 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
- 10 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Climbing
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 35 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Aquifoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ILVE
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
- Ilex verticillata (PLANTS symbol ILVE).
- 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