Wildflower (forb) · Campanulaceae
Cardinalflower
Lobelia cardinalis
Cardinalflower is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,385 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cardinalflower at a glance
- Native in
- 1,385 counties, across 41 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −34°F
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −34°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cardinalflower is recorded as native to 41 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,385 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,385 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 42 counties
- Arizona 11 counties
- Arkansas 55 counties
- California 4 counties
- Colorado 4 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 33 counties
- Georgia 30 counties
- Illinois 84 counties
- Indiana 66 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 56 counties
- Kentucky 58 counties
- Louisiana 55 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 64 counties
- Minnesota 7 counties
- Mississippi 33 counties
- Missouri 66 counties
- Nebraska 7 counties
- Nevada 3 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New Mexico 8 counties
- New York 50 counties
- North Carolina 79 counties
- Ohio 63 counties
- Oklahoma 34 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 34 counties
- Tennessee 58 counties
- Texas 66 counties
- Utah 4 counties
- Vermont 7 counties
- Virginia 100 counties
- West Virginia 32 counties
- Wisconsin 41 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
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5.9 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 28 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium
- pH range
- 5.8 to 7.8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −34°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 130
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Red
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Blue
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Campanulaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- LOCA2
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
- Lobelia cardinalis (PLANTS symbol LOCA2).
- 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