Shrub · Rosaceae
Bristly dewberry
Rubus hispidus
Bristly dewberry is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 395 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Bristly dewberry at a glance
- Native in
- 395 counties, across 21 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) High 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.
Bristly dewberry is recorded as native to 21 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 395 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 395 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 3 counties
- Illinois 18 counties
- Indiana 22 counties
- Kentucky 12 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Michigan 48 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 33 counties
- Ohio 20 counties
- Pennsylvania 61 counties
- Rhode Island 5 counties
- South Carolina 1 county
- Tennessee 18 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- West Virginia 19 counties
- Wisconsin 33 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
- Subshrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 70 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Low
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Gray-Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RUHI
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
- Rubus hispidus (PLANTS symbol RUHI).
- 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