Illustration
Cascara
Frangula purshiana
Also called cascara buckthorn, cascara sagrada and chittam
Also comes in yellow.
Cascara blooms from May through May.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Cascara
Plant it in part sun. It prefers moderate water. It is hardy in USDA zones 4–9. Expect it to reach about 30 ft tall and 19 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 10 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Cascara. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Cascara
Plant Cascara in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 6, the middle of its hardy zones 4 to 9, spring means March to May and fall means August or September. Once settled, it blooms in May.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 6, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 6 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Cascara get?
30 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult19 ftwideSee Cascara in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Cascara
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Cascara about 19 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Cascara to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Cascara's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 7 published sources on November 5, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- spencercreeknursery.comSpencer Creek Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- calfloranursery.comCalifornia Flora Nurseryheight, spread, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- Oregon State Universityheight, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- cwelwnp.usu.eduWestern Native Plants, Utah State University host; William R. Graves,...height, sun, water and bloom months and color
- plantdatabase.kpu.caKwantlen Polytechnic University, School of Horticultureheight, spread, sun and bloom months and color
- seattle.govCity of Seattle, Trees for Seattleheight, spread, sun and bloom months and color
- uwb.eduUniversity of Washington Bothell, North Creek Wetlandheight, bloom months and color and trait tags
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
Native to 5 states and 1 province
United States: California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington
Canada: British Columbia
Recorded growing wild in 85 counties.
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.