Pink Centaurium (Centaurium venustum)
Accepted name: Zeltnera venusta
Common name: Pink Centaurium
Artist Name: Mary Vaux Walcott
Date: 1925
Our Native Plants
Focused on the beauty, research, and
restoration of plants that are closest to home.
Explore Plants
This website is dedicated to the Native Plants of North America (currently listing Canada, all US states, and Mexico). We are a new website, launched July 2024. While our taxonomy lists are fairly complete, we are working daily to update images and content. If you have questions or want to send us a listing, please contact us through the About page.
If you are a nursery or native plant-related business, you can make a profile under My Account and submit or edit a listing. Thanks for visiting!
What are Native Plants?
Native plants have evolved and occur naturally in a specific region or habitat. Our Native Plants include all species from the Kingdom Plantae which includes mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and vascular plants like ferns, conifers, and flowering plants. We have also started to import the recent Plantae additions of red and green algae (moved over from former Kingdom Protista).
Find Organizations
Herbariums
These facilities collect and study plants near you. Use this facility for their resources, a place to research, or volunteer your time.
Conservation Groups
Find conservation efforts in your area. Learn about land trusts, land restoration, or find a group to volunteer or work with.
Native Plant Societies
Plant societies provide a ton of free resources and events for your area. They are usually focused on research, conservation, and education.
Plant Clubs & Training
Explore other plant groups and not-for-profit training or certifications near you.
Find Business & Service Providers
Nursery, Sells seedlings
Location: Based in Cibolo, South Texas; shipping live plants nationwide.
Nursery, Sells seedlings, Landscape design
Location: Spokane County and surrounding areas
Landscape design, Land or environmental consulting, Invasive species removal, Restoration service
Location: Vashon and Maury Islands, WA
Wholesale nursery, Sells seeds, Sells seedlings
Location: Based in Illinois with nationwide shipping
Looking back in history
Looking at illustrations from before the 1930s (or so) is valuable for many reasons. These beautiful illustrations serve as important historical records of plant species, some of which have changed names or become extinct over time. The attention to detail in the drawings provides insights into plant morphology, complementing modern scientific descriptions.
Additionally, early 20th-century botanical art reflects the era’s scientific knowledge, including when fungi were still classified as plants! Studying them inspires a deeper appreciation for the science and art of botany, connecting us to the historical journey of plant discovery and documentation.
View Public Domain Artwork
We love looking through the old diagrams of botanical illustrations, but sometimes they can be hard to find. If we’ve found them, we’ll post them here! All the items are either in the Public Domain (because of age) or they’ve been voluntarily added.
Yucca (Yucca baileyi)
Accepted name: Yucca baileyi
Common name: Navajo Yucca
Artist Name: Mary Vaux Walcott
Date: 1928
Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata)
Accepted name: Wyethia sagittata
Common name: Balsamroot
Artist Name: Mary Vaux Walcott
Date: 1923
Sweet Trillium (Trillium vasyi)
Accepted name: Trillium vaseyi
Common name: Sweet Trillium
Artist Name: Mary Vaux Walcott
Date: 1934
Why study plants?
Studying botany and native plants can be rewarding because it can help us understand how plants keep our ecosystems running smoothly and can create a sense of place to an area. You can learn about anything from plant growth and reproduction to how plants develop features in order to adapt to an environment. Focusing on native plants helps us learn about our unique flora that supports local wildlife and helps maintain soil and water health. Whatever your reason, Our Native Plants is collecting resources to help you find the right information!
131 Books
View books now31,455 Publications
Search articles and publicationsFrom the Blog
This is a crossposted article from another publisher
Photo from iNaturalist, Photo 369991750, (c) ritirene, some rights reserved (CC BY) A recent global review of the tropical plant genus Acalypha (in the family of Euphorbiaceae) gathered more than 200 years of research and traditional knowledge to better understand its medicinal potential. Researchers found that many published studies contained outdated names or identification issues, […]
This is a crossposted article from another publisher
A Washington Sea Grant-funded study shows that nature, not just nurture, explains whether eelgrass flowers. Native Washington eelgrass (Zostera marina) is in trouble. Due to declines in some areas of the Salish Sea and Pacific coast over the last 20 years, restoring eelgrass – and the crucial habitat and ecosystem services it provides – is […]
This is a crossposted article from another publisher
Springtime has us thinking about the magic of seeds. They hold all the material needed to start a new plant—DNA, food and the start of new leaves and a root—all within a convenient, compact package. For many species, their durable coat offers them protection from the elements while they await suitable conditions to set down […]
This is a crossposted article from another publisher
Showy stickseed (Hackelia venusta) is one of Washington’s most imperiled plants. Its only known population occurs in sandy soils on steep, sliding slopes in Tumwater Canyon near Leavenworth, WA. With only a few hundred individuals left, it is at significant risk of extinction without tenacious attention and stewardship. To that end, Rare Care recently completed […]
This is a crossposted article from another publisher
Belonging to the sunflower family, the tiny plant was found in Big Bend National Park, Texas. Researchers have discovered the first new genus and species of plant in a U.S. national park for nearly 50 years. Described in the OA journal PhytoKeys, the new-to-science woolly devil (Ovicula biradiata) is a member of the sunflower family, […]
Conservation stories often highlight recovery, but success isn’t always permanent. Bradshaw’s lomatium (Lomatium bradshawii), a rare native plant with yellow flowers, recently faced a major setback. A large portion of its habitat at Camas Meadows Golf Course was tilled in Camas, WA, potentially wiping out 90% of its global population. From Recovery to Risk Bradshaw’s […]
About OurNativePlants
Learn more about this site, when it was started, how it is ran, how it’s funded – AND where we’re headed in the future.