Sourwood Tree Information


Images of Sourwood:



Sourwood grows in the following 14 states and provinces:

Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia


Information about Sourwood:


More information about Sourwood may be found here.

The Oxydendrum Arboreum is commonly known as the Lily-of-the-valley-tree, Sorrel-tree as well as Sourwood.

The currently accepted scientific name for sourwood is Oxydendrum arboreum (L.) DC. . Oxydendrum is a monotypic genus . There are no recognized subspecies, varieties, or forms.

Sourwood grows in upland forests of the southeastern United States.  It is found from southern Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, to southeastern Louisiana and the panhandle of Florida.  It also grows in the mountainous regions of Kentucky and Tennessee and along the Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Virginia.  The main range of sourwood lies between 30 and 40 degrees N. and 75 and 92 degrees W.  Sourwood reaches its largest size on the western slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee .

Some of the information provided here is attributed to:Coladonato, Milo. 1992. Oxydendrum arboreum. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). , available at the USDA Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) website