Common Hoptree
Ptelea trifoliata
40
Good
Native to Louisiana (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 100%
- Height
- 15–20 feet
- Spread
- 10–20 feet
- Light
- Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Somewhat dry to moist
Space about 15 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count
Will it fit your yard?
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Woody perennial
- Leaves
- Deciduous
- Bloom
- Early summer
- Fruiting season
- Summer
Recorded in 23 Louisiana parishes.
Ecological relationships
Who uses this plant?
4CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Ptelea
- Papilio glaucusEastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Dichomeris citrifoliellaOrange Webworm Moth
- Eupithecia miserulataCommon Eupithacia, Common Pug
- Papilio cresphontesEastern Giant Swallowtail
1BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ptelea
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
0Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimFlies 7
- Archytas analis
- Archytas aterrima
- Empis distans
- Sphaerophoria cylindrica
- Stratiomyia meigenii
- Trichopoda pennipes
- Volucella vesiculosa
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Adult butterflies / moths 1
- Alypia octomaculata
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
Other wasps 8
- Ancistrocerus tigris
- Ancistrocerus unifasciatus
- Cerceris compar
- Eumenes fraternus
- Leionotus clypeatus
- Leionotus scrophulariae
- Notoglossa inornata
- Sphex vulgaris
Flower visits · Carlinville, Illinois, USA
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Other insects
Growing and identification
Plant details
- Family
- Rutaceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 3a–9b
- Flower color
- Brown/copper, yellow, green or white
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Growth habit
- Single stem
- Foliage color
- Green
- Fruit begins
- Summer
- Fruit ends
- Summer
What its natural habitat tells you
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “Early summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Flower color · “Brown/copper, yellow, green or white” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Foliage color · “Green” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit begins · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Fruit ends · “Summer” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth habit · “Single stem” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Growth rate · “Slow” · USDA PLANTS · Nationwide species characteristics; local growing conditions may vary
- Hardiness · “Zones 3a–9b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “15–20 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; USDA PLANTS differs)
- Leaves · “Deciduous” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Life cycle · “Woody perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Light · “Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Soil · “Moist; Occasionally dry” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Tennessee Smart Yards differs)
- Spread · “10–20 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Also known as
Hop Tree; Wafer Ash
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | SNR |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
In your garden
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Sources
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications