Tree · Rutaceae
Common hoptree
Ptelea trifoliata · includes its varieties and subspecies
Common hoptree is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 805 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common hoptree at a glance
- Native in
- 805 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 25 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade High 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.
Common hoptree is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 805 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 805 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 23 counties
- Arizona 14 counties
- Arkansas 47 counties
- Colorado 6 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 25 counties
- Georgia 33 counties
- Illinois 85 counties
- Indiana 56 counties
- Kansas 17 counties
- Kentucky 34 counties
- Louisiana 28 counties
- Massachusetts 10 counties
- Michigan 18 counties
- Minnesota 1 county
- Mississippi 8 counties
- Missouri 76 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 8 counties
- New Mexico 23 counties
- New York 18 counties
- North Carolina 11 counties
- Ohio 59 counties
- Oklahoma 26 counties
- Pennsylvania 12 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Carolina 6 counties
- Tennessee 35 counties
- Texas 63 counties
- Utah 7 counties
- Virginia 30 counties
- West Virginia 10 counties
- Wisconsin 12 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
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 25 ft
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Long
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.8 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 30 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 165
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Early Summer
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- Yes
- Fruit color
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Rutaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- PTTR
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
- Ptelea trifoliata (PLANTS symbol PTTR), including 3 varieties and 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