The USDA records all the plants that you would normally encounter in natural setting and will indicate whether they are native or introduced. We have a list of rare and endangered plants which you can look for on your hikes and check off on your life list. Here are lists that can be used to select native plants for the types of gardens you want to establish. In addition, we have lists of invasive plant that you want to avoid.
Going Native Guides
These downloadable guides are excellent places to start and can be obtained in print from most NPSNJ chapters at events.
Going Native Northern NJ
The Northern New Jersey Edition is based on the original brochure created by the Barnegat Bay Partnership for the Barnegat Bay watershed. Friends of Foote’s Pond Wood with the Native Plant Society of New Jersey modified the original to create the Northern New Jersey edition.
Going Native: A Guide to Landscaping with Native Plants in the Barnegat Bay Watershed
The original brochure from the Barnegat Bay Partnership and Jersey Friendly Yards.
Lists of Native Trees and Tall Shrubs by County
These lists can serve as a guide for selecting trees for your area. They were compiled from the US Department of Agriculture Plants Database.
In each Excel file, first tab (sheet) lists all the plants. Subsequent tabs each give plants only in the specified county. Each sheet gives the scientific name, common name, and list of all counties the plant is found in.
Counties – Atlantic to Essex
Counties – Gloucester to Morris
Counties – Ocean to Warren
Lists of All Native Vascular Plants by New Jersey County
New Jersey is a big state, with many diverse ecosystems displaying a wide variety of native flora. To help you navigate this vast array of plants, select the appropriate link below to find native plants for your New Jersey county. These lists are based on the USDA database.
Atlantic
Bergen County
Burlington County
Camden County
Cape May County
Cumberland County
Essex County
Gloucester County
Hudson County
Hunterdon County
Mercer County
Middlesex County
Monmouth County
Morris County
Ocean County
Passaic County
Salem County
Somerset County
Sussex County
Union County
Warren County
Native Plants for Gardens
Below are articles and lists giving guidance for native plants for various garden conditions or purposes. All suggested plants are native.
Beautiful Native Plants Year-Round
Native Groundcovers including Grasses & Sedges for Sun & Shade
Easy to Grow Native Field Plants
Plants for Semishade & Dry Sites
Easy Plants for Semi-shade & Moist Sites
NJ Native Butterfly Host Plants
NJ_Butterfly_Nectar_Plants.xls
Deer “Resistant” Native Plants
Plant Lists of Invasive Species
Invasive Plant Species by Hubert Ling, Ph.D. (2019)
Twenty Most Invasive Plant Species from IPCNYS (2/24/03)
What Are Invasive Plant Species Anyway?
Native Tree Recommendations
We have had many requests for native trees for landscaping. We have provided here lists to help start your search.
Small native trees for landscaping
Large and small native trees for landscaping
Street Trees for NJ outside the Pine Barrens
What Are Invasive Plant Species, Anyway?
List of NJ Native Threatened/Endangered Plants
NJDEP List of Endangered Plant Species and Plant Species of Concern June 2016
The USDA Plants Database
The USDA Plants Database is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source for native plant information. Here, you can search for plants by scientific and common name. The site indicates whether the plant is native to the lower 48 states and the plant’s distribution. It also provide the legal status of the plant as well as other information.
For convenience, lists from the USDA database have been compiled into Excel files which can be download from here.
Lists of All New Jersey Vascular Plants
both Native and Introduced.
All the plants are listed by:
- Scientific name
- Common name
- Native – Introduced Status
- Family
- Category
- National Wetland Indicator Status
The Excel files below are sortable/searchable/filterable.
NJ plants – sorted by Scientific Names(Excel .xlsx)
NJ plants – sorted by Common Names (Excel .xlsx)
NatureServe: Explorer
NatureServe is the definitive source for information on rare and endangered species and ecosystems in the Americas. This online guide provides information on the 100,000 species and ecosystems that we track.
This site provides an extensive online database of plants giving their distribution, native status, rarity status as well as other information which can be viewed in map form or downloaded in table form.
NatureServe: Conservation Status Ranks
Another comprehensive site for plant distribution: BONAP
The Biota of North America Program-North American Vascular Flora. The site provides distribution maps of the plants