Tree · Aquifoliaceae
Yaupon
Ilex vomitoria
Yaupon is recorded as native to 10 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 254 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Yaupon at a glance
- Native in
- 254 counties, across 10 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8a PLANTS minimum temperature 7°F
- Mature height
- 25 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 8a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 7°F; zone 8a winters bottom out at 10°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Yaupon is recorded as native to 10 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 254 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 254 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 26 counties
- Arkansas 10 counties
- Florida 37 counties
- Georgia 25 counties
- Louisiana 55 counties
- Mississippi 27 counties
- North Carolina 10 counties
- South Carolina 10 counties
- Texas 50 counties
- Virginia 4 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
- 25 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- 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
- 36 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 20 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 7°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 8a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 200
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Aquifoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ILVO
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 vomitoria (PLANTS symbol ILVO).
- 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