Tree · Caprifoliaceae
Red elderberry
Sambucus racemosa · includes its varieties and subspecies
Red elderberry is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 711 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Red elderberry at a glance
- Native in
- 711 counties, across 37 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 18 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.
Red elderberry is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 711 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 711 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 15 counties
- Arizona 4 counties
- California 30 counties
- Colorado 31 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Georgia 1 county
- Idaho 31 counties
- Illinois 7 counties
- Indiana 9 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kentucky 2 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Massachusetts 9 counties
- Michigan 72 counties
- Minnesota 44 counties
- Missouri 1 county
- Montana 19 counties
- Nevada 10 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 10 counties
- New Mexico 17 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 11 counties
- North Dakota 2 counties
- Ohio 27 counties
- Oregon 32 counties
- Pennsylvania 58 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Dakota 3 counties
- Tennessee 9 counties
- Utah 26 counties
- Vermont 13 counties
- Virginia 30 counties
- Washington 31 counties
- West Virginia 20 counties
- Wisconsin 55 counties
- Wyoming 14 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record of a variety (SARAR3). “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Shrub, Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 18 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- 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
- 24 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.2 to 7.2
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 24 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 200
- 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
- Red
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Contracting Only
- Family
- Caprifoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SARA2
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
- Sambucus racemosa (PLANTS symbol SARA2), 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