Tree · Symplocaceae
Common sweetleaf
Symplocos tinctoria
Common sweetleaf is recorded as native to 13 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 349 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Common sweetleaf at a glance
- Native in
- 349 counties, across 13 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a PLANTS minimum temperature −22°F
- Mature height
- 20 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −22°F; zone 5a winters bottom out at −20°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Common sweetleaf is recorded as native to 13 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 349 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 349 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 44 counties
- Arkansas 27 counties
- Delaware 1 county
- Florida 31 counties
- Georgia 70 counties
- Louisiana 39 counties
- Maryland 2 counties
- Mississippi 7 counties
- North Carolina 57 counties
- South Carolina 26 counties
- Tennessee 5 counties
- Texas 15 counties
- Virginia 25 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
- 20 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Rhizomatous
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 100 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Not recorded
- Minimum root depth
- Not recorded
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −22°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 178
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Yellow-Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- Not recorded
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Symplocaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- SYTI
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
- Symplocos tinctoria (PLANTS symbol SYTI).
- 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