# Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus)

> Coralberry, Symphoricarpos orbiculatus: a shrub of 2 to 6 feet for zones 2 to 7, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/coralberry/

![Arching coralberry stems hung with clusters of small coral-red berries among dry tan prairie grass](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/coralberry-1000.jpg?v=dcae7b71 "Coralberry in fruit among prairie grasses in Saline County, Kansas, on November 16, 2008. Its fruit stays on the plant until the next spring, unless birds and mammals eat it.")
*Photo: Dehaan, [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACoral_berries_in_prairie.JPG))*

Shrub, 2 to 6 feet, zones 2 to 7; full sun, part shade or shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow coralberry, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Coralberry |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Indian currant, Indiancurrant coralberry |
| Form | Shrub |
| Height, feet | 2 to 6 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 8 |
| Zones | 2 to 7 |
| Sun | Full sun, part shade or shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Wildlife value, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, winter interest, erosion control |
| Flowers | July to August |
| Fruit | Drupes, September to March |
| Pollination | Needs a second, unrelated plant. Coralberry sets fruit only with pollen from a second, unrelated plant, so plant seedlings from different parents. |
| Black walnut | Not named on the Morton Arboretum's lists |
| Toxicity | The fruit is poisonous to people. |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, the forest understory, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 26 states |

Coralberry is native in 26 states: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA) and [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=coralberry&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=coralberry): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=coralberry:2): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its height](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores by the champion-tree formula](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=coralberry): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md) (*Viburnum lentago*): shrub, 12 to 18 feet, zones 2 to 8. Shares the forest understory, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Limber Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/limber-honeysuckle/index.html.md) (*Lonicera dioica*): shrub, 3 to 10 feet, zones 3 to 7. Shares the forest understory, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Gray Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gray-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus racemosa*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 4 to 8. Shares the forest understory, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Roughleaf Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roughleaf-dogwood/index.html.md) (*Cornus drummondii*): shrub, 6 to 15 feet, zones 5 to 8. Shares floodplain forests, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Needle Palm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/needle-palm/index.html.md) (*Rhapidophyllum hystrix*): shrub, 3 to 6 feet, zones 6 to 10. Shares floodplain forests and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Dwarf Palmetto](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dwarf-palmetto/index.html.md) (*Sabal minor*): shrub, 4 to 10 feet, zones 7 to 10. Shares floodplain forests and the forest understory in the wild.
- [Every companion of coralberry in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=coralberry)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database and the University of Connecticut's plant database.