Tree · Betulaceae
Hophornbeam
Ostrya virginiana
Hophornbeam is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,421 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Hophornbeam at a glance
- Native in
- 1,421 counties, across 38 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 45 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Low 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.
Hophornbeam is recorded as native to 38 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,421 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,421 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 62 counties
- Arkansas 70 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 16 counties
- Georgia 33 counties
- Illinois 102 counties
- Indiana 69 counties
- Iowa 14 counties
- Kansas 24 counties
- Kentucky 86 counties
- Louisiana 39 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 70 counties
- Minnesota 51 counties
- Mississippi 49 counties
- Missouri 109 counties
- Nebraska 16 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 14 counties
- New York 52 counties
- North Carolina 37 counties
- North Dakota 10 counties
- Ohio 86 counties
- Oklahoma 9 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 17 counties
- South Dakota 13 counties
- Tennessee 72 counties
- Texas 18 counties
- Vermont 14 counties
- Virginia 72 counties
- West Virginia 31 counties
- Wisconsin 59 counties
- Wyoming 1 county
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
- 45 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Low water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 18 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.2 to 7.6
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- 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
- Betulaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- OSVI
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
- Ostrya virginiana (PLANTS symbol OSVI).
- 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