Shrub · Rosaceae
Black raspberry
Rubus occidentalis
Black raspberry is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,030 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Black raspberry at a glance
- Native in
- 1,030 counties, across 34 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b PLANTS minimum temperature −28°F
- Mature height
- 6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 4b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −28°F; zone 4b winters bottom out at −25°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Black raspberry is recorded as native to 34 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,030 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,030 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 6 counties
- Arkansas 11 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Georgia 7 counties
- Illinois 80 counties
- Indiana 54 counties
- Iowa 19 counties
- Kansas 52 counties
- Kentucky 78 counties
- Maine 8 counties
- Massachusetts 14 counties
- Michigan 19 counties
- Minnesota 35 counties
- Mississippi 1 county
- Missouri 94 counties
- Nebraska 33 counties
- New Hampshire 7 counties
- New Jersey 20 counties
- New York 40 counties
- North Carolina 39 counties
- North Dakota 4 counties
- Ohio 88 counties
- Oklahoma 5 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 2 counties
- South Dakota 10 counties
- Tennessee 35 counties
- Vermont 10 counties
- Virginia 93 counties
- West Virginia 41 counties
- Wisconsin 52 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
- 6 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Thicket Forming
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 24 to 45 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.2 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- High
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −28°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 129
- Fire tolerance
- High
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- White
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Purple
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Rosaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RUOC
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 occidentalis (PLANTS symbol RUOC).
- 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