Shrub · Grossulariaceae
Virginia sweetspire
Itea virginica
Virginia sweetspire is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 561 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Virginia sweetspire at a glance
- Native in
- 561 counties, across 20 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −24°F
- Mature height
- 10 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −24°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Virginia sweetspire is recorded as native to 20 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 561 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 561 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 59 counties
- Arkansas 32 counties
- Delaware 3 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 57 counties
- Georgia 57 counties
- Illinois 6 counties
- Indiana 3 counties
- Kentucky 26 counties
- Louisiana 52 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Mississippi 36 counties
- Missouri 6 counties
- New Jersey 11 counties
- North Carolina 64 counties
- Pennsylvania 2 counties
- South Carolina 34 counties
- Tennessee 43 counties
- Texas 20 counties
- Virginia 47 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
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 10 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 14 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −24°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 180
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- ITVI
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
- Itea virginica (PLANTS symbol ITVI).
- 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