Vine · Asteraceae
Climbing hempvine
Mikania scandens
Climbing hempvine is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 643 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Climbing hempvine at a glance
- Native in
- 643 counties, across 27 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Climbing hempvine is recorded as native to 27 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 643 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 643 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 28 counties
- Arkansas 39 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 58 counties
- Georgia 25 counties
- Illinois 6 counties
- Indiana 4 counties
- Kentucky 11 counties
- Louisiana 61 counties
- Maine 1 county
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 1 county
- Mississippi 67 counties
- Missouri 8 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New York 22 counties
- North Carolina 67 counties
- Pennsylvania 14 counties
- Rhode Island 3 counties
- South Carolina 42 counties
- Tennessee 22 counties
- Texas 65 counties
- Virginia 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
- Forb/herb, Vine
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Climbing
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.7 to 8.7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Blue
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MISC
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
- Mikania scandens (PLANTS symbol MISC).
- 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