Tree · Rosaceae
Hollyleaf cherry
Prunus ilicifolia · includes its varieties and subspecies
Hollyleaf cherry is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 18 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Hollyleaf cherry at a glance
- Native in
- 18 counties, across 1 state or territory
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b PLANTS minimum temperature 32°F
- Mature height
- 40 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 10b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 32°F; zone 10b winters bottom out at 35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Hollyleaf cherry is recorded as native to 1 state or territory in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 18 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 18 where it is listed.
- Los Angeles County, CA
- San Diego County, CA
- San Bernardino County, CA
- Orange County, CA
- Riverside County, CA
- Santa Clara County, CA
- Alameda County, CA
- Kern County, CA
- Monterey County, CA
- San Mateo County, CA
- Ventura County, CA
- San Francisco County, CA
- Santa Barbara County, CA
- San Luis Obispo County, CA
- Santa Cruz County, CA
Native counties by state
- California 18 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (PRILL). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 40 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring, Summer, Fall
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- High
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 15 to 40 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 7 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 32°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 10b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 365
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PRIL
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
- Prunus ilicifolia (PLANTS symbol PRIL), 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