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Common Sweetleaf

Symplocos tinctoria

Found in moist bottomland forests, pocosin edges, moist forests, ridgetop pine and oak/pine forests, pine flatwoods, longleaf pine sandhills. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

45
Good

Native to Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 100%

Height
15–35 feet
Spread
15–20 feet
Light
Deep shade, Full sun, Partial shade
Soil moisture
Somewhat dry to moist

Space about 17.5 ft apart from its recorded spread. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

At a glance

Life cycle
Woody perennial
Leaves
Deciduous or semi-evergreen
Bloom
March to May
Fruiting season
August to September

Recorded in 32 Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 6

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense low pocosin
Dense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Moist forests

Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland
Regional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Pine flatwoods

Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer
Wet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Sandhills

Dry, deep-sand ridges with longleaf pine and turkey oak, kept open by fire.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 147 animals.

All wildlife of Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

5CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including VA

Genus host records with ranges including VA · Symplocos

  • Callosamia prometheaPromethea Silkmoth, Promethea Moth
  • Coelodasys unicornisUnicorn Caterpillar Moth
  • Epimecis hortariaTulip-Tree Beauty
  • Satyrium kingiKing's Hairstreak
  • Cenopis lamberti
Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
4BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Symplocos

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 claim

No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects

Growing and identification

Plant details

Family
Symplocaceae
Hardiness
Zones 7a–9b
Soil pH
Acidic
Flower color
Cream or yellow
Growth rate
Moderate
Growth habit
Spreads by rhizomes
Foliage color
Yellow-green
Fruit begins
August
Fruit ends
September

Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.

Growing sources and scope
Also known as

Horsesugar; Sweetleaf

Conservation status

Virginia rankS5
Global rankG5
VA statusNot verified
Federal statusNot verified

Conservation source Global and federal source

In your garden

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Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.

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How to check your spot

Growing cautions

  • Spreads by rhizomes. USDA PLANTS lists its growth form as rhizomatous. USDA PLANTS

For planning only; these do not change the score or Fit.

Sources