Wildflower (forb) · Asteraceae
New York ironweed
Vernonia noveboracensis
New York ironweed is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 355 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
New York ironweed at a glance
- Native in
- 355 counties, across 17 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a PLANTS minimum temperature −33°F
- Mature height
- 6.6 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium 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.
New York ironweed is recorded as native to 17 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 355 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 355 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 3 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 7 counties
- Georgia 22 counties
- Maryland 1 county
- Massachusetts 8 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 14 counties
- North Carolina 75 counties
- Pennsylvania 53 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 26 counties
- Tennessee 13 counties
- Virginia 88 counties
- West Virginia 24 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
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 6.6 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Medium
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 40 to 60 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −33°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 4a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 140
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Purple
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Asteraceae
- PLANTS symbol
- VENO
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
- Vernonia noveboracensis (PLANTS symbol VENO).
- 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