Wildflower (forb) · Phytolaccaceae
American pokeweed
Phytolacca americana · includes its varieties and subspecies
American pokeweed is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,440 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American pokeweed at a glance
- Native in
- 1,440 counties, across 39 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 7.3 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −33°F; zone 4a winters bottom out at −30°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American pokeweed is recorded as native to 39 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,440 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,440 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 13 counties
- Arizona 3 counties
- Arkansas 67 counties
- California 10 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 59 counties
- Georgia 35 counties
- Illinois 89 counties
- Indiana 78 counties
- Iowa 2 counties
- Kansas 67 counties
- Kentucky 66 counties
- Louisiana 63 counties
- Maine 5 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 32 counties
- Mississippi 58 counties
- Missouri 111 counties
- Nebraska 5 counties
- New Hampshire 6 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New Mexico 1 county
- New York 46 counties
- North Carolina 92 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 30 counties
- Oregon 7 counties
- Pennsylvania 64 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 45 counties
- Tennessee 50 counties
- Texas 47 counties
- Vermont 5 counties
- Virginia 99 counties
- West Virginia 46 counties
- Wisconsin 9 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
- 7.3 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 65 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.7 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 16 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 100
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- Slight
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Phytolaccaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PHAM4
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
- Phytolacca americana (PLANTS symbol PHAM4), including 1 variety or subspecies folded into the species.
- 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