Finding out what is native and what isn’t native is a bit harder than it should be. In 2024, NPSNJ hopes to make this a lot easier for everyone in our state, but this is a work in progress.
This page aims to collect information about what plants are appropriate to plant in New Jersey and what plants are native to New Jersey. We are actively developing it and will be updating it periodically. Specifically, we hope to replace the USDA lists with lists from BONAP (see the difference between these resources below) and to also provide ecoregion-specific guides. Ultimately, the Native Plant Society of New Jersey hopes to be involved in drawing up lists of what is and what isn’t native in our state.
The page is organized around a series of guides for recommended plants for gardeners and landscapers, followed by lists of native plants. The list of invasive plants has moved to the page with information on invasive plants and insects.
Overview
- Going Native Guides
- Native Plants for Gardens
- Lists of Native Trees and Tall Shrubs by County
- Recommended Trees Native to New Jersey
- Lists of All Native Vascular Plants by New Jersey County
- NJDEP Natural Lands Trust and Natural Heritage Program Lists
- NJ DEP LIST of Endangered and Threatened Plants
- Plant Databases
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: A Guide to Landscaping with Native Plants in the Barnegat Bay Watershed
The original brochure from the Barnegat Bay Partnership and Jersey Friendly Yards.
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, together with the Society, modified the original to create the Northern New Jersey edition.
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
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 USDA 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
Recommended Trees Native to New Jersey
We have had many requests for native trees for landscaping. Here are some resources to help start your search.
Small native trees for landscaping
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 PLANTS database.
Vascular plants are like the trees, flowers, and grasses you see around—these are the ones with a system inside them, kind of like our veins, which helps move water and food from one part to another. Nonvascular plants, on the other hand, are simpler plants like mosses and liverworts that don’t have these internal tubes; they rely more directly on their surroundings to get water and nutrients. It is entirly possible to plant nonvascular plants. We will update this page with information on the nonvascular plants of New Jersey in the future.
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
NJDEP Natural Lands Trust and Natural Heritage Program Lists
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Natural Lands Trust and Natural Heritage Program has created a list of 1519 native plants in PDF and Excel form. Here is a guide to these documents.
- Scientific Name: Identifies each plant’s official scientific nomenclature. There are no common names listed on this spreadsheet.
- Do Not Plant: This column highlights species that, while they may be familiar and even popular among gardeners, are not recommended for planting in certain contexts, particularly in efforts aimed at conservation and natural land management. Some plants are on this list because they are globally endangered and thus should never be planted while there are other plants that are abundant in nearby states, widely propagated and sold, and are at the edge of their natural range. As this list is aimed at natural areas, it does not make that distinction. There is potential that planting these plants in areas near wild populations will have a negative impact on the wild population. If you decide to plant these, always aim to find outlets that sell local ecotypes.
- NWPL National Wetland Indicator Status: Uses abbreviations like FAC (Facultative), UPL (Upland), and OBL (Obligate Wetland) to indicate a plant’s wetland association, which is crucial for understanding its natural habitat preferences. Facultative plants can grow in wet or non-wet areas, showing adaptability. Obligate plants are almost always found in wetlands, requiring moist conditions to thrive. Upland, or non-wetland plants, prefer dry environments and are rarely found in wet areas.
- Distribution by Ecoregion: Shows which plants are found in specific New Jersey ecoregions, the Northern Highlands, Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain, Northern Piedmont, Ridge and Valley, and Atlantic Coast Pine Barrens. Match the plant to your region. See this map. (not included in this email).
- FQA Coefficient of Conservatism (CoC) and NJ CoC Statewide: The Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) Coefficient of Conservatism (CoC) rates plants on a scale, reflecting their tendency to occur in less disturbed, more natural environments. Higher CoC values indicate plants less tolerant of disturbance and that need well-preserved habitats to thrive. For gardening and restoration efforts, understanding CoC can help in choosing plants that contribute to a more native, ecologically stable garden. Although plants with high CoC values have great importance in the ecosystem, they are likely to thrive in conditions that mimic their natural, undisturbed habitats and may not survive in cultivation.
- Growth Form: Describes the plant’s general physical form, which can help gardeners in planning their landscapes In the document, plants are categorized by their growth forms which include forbs/herbs, graminoids, shrubs, trees, and subshrubs. Forbs/herbs are broad-leaved, non-woody plants. Graminoids are grass-like plants including grasses, sedges, and rushes. Shrubs are smaller, woody plants usually with multiple stems. Trees are large, woody plants typically with a single main stem or trunk. Subshrubs are low-growing, woody plants that may die back to the ground in winter, distinguishing them from full shrubs. These categories also help in understanding plant habits and their roles in ecosystems.
NJDEP LIST of Endangered and Threatened Plants
New Jersey’s Natural Heritage Program tracks the status of 800 plant species of concern, 356 of which are listed as endangered in the state.
The Heritage Program’s Biotics Database has lists of plants, including lists broken down by county.
Plant Databases
There are a number of competing databases of plants native to the United States. Botanists typically recommend BONAP, although it can be difficult to learn and you do need to learn the scientific (latin) names for plants, but NPSNJ always recommends using scientific names as they are standards accepted worldwide. The USDA PLANTS Database is less accurate, but easier to use. Bplant is a new project that classifies plants based on ecoregions, not on arbitrary political boundaries.
The Biota of North America (BONAP)
BONAP (BONAP.org) focuses on recording the distribution of all plants in North America, offering the most detailed and accurate range maps for plants in the USA through its North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). BONAP excels in addressing specific shortcomings of other databases like the USDA’s maps by including additional plant populations and distinguishing between native and introduced plants. BONAP also communicates with State Natural Heritage Programs (NHP), state-specific initiatives designed to inventory, monitor, and manage ecologically significant habitats and endangered species within that state.
The search interface and color-coding system can be daunting for beginners, but is worth learning.
BONAP’s Taxonomic Data Center (search by scientific name)
BONAP search by genus–>county level maps
BONAP search by genus–>state level maps
BONAP Map Color Key (warning: BONAP maps can be difficult for individuals with color blindness).
The USDA PLANTS Database
The USDA PLANTS Database is an extensive online resource managed by the United States Department of Agriculture. It provides standardized information about a wide range of plants found across the U.S. and its territories, covering vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens. The database is designed to serve a broad audience, offering access to data on plant names, characteristics, distribution maps, images, and ecological information.
A significant feature of the USDA PLANTS Database is its distribution maps, which are valuable for understanding the geographical spread of plant species within the United States. These maps, however, are based on BONAP but have not been renewed in some years and are critiqued for sometimes lacking the finer details provided by specialized databases such as BONAP’s North American Plant Atlas.
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)
bplant
bplant.org aims to serve as a comprehensive resource for understanding plant distribution and ecology, emphasizing ecological boundaries over political ones. It provides links and comparisons with other databases like the Flora of North America (FNA) and NatureServe Explorer, acknowledging the strengths and limitations of these resources. BPlant.org offers a unique perspective by integrating various sources and attempting to fill gaps in the available data, especially regarding plant range and distribution.
NatureServe Explorer
NatureServe Explorer is primarily focused on conservation, providing detailed conservation status, taxonomy, distribution, and life history information for a vast array of species, including plants. It’s known for its color-coded maps denoting the conservation status of species in each region, which is a unique feature. The platform stands out for offering extensive species coverage. It also provides historical notes on taxonomic changes and discovery of new plant populations, alongside habitat, abundance, threats, and conservation strategies. However, NatureServe Explorer’s main limitation is the incompleteness of its data, especially at finer spatial resolutions. While it offers state- and province-level data consistently, more detailed geospatial data on plant occurrences is not always available or complete.
The Flora of North America
The Flora of North America (FNA) project aims to describe all native and naturalized plants in North America north of Mexico, covering both bryophytes and vascular plants. It is intended as a comprehensive source, expected to fill 30 volumes, detailing the plants’ names, taxonomic relationships, continent-wide distributions, and morphological characteristics. FNA is recognized for its extensive coverage and the quality of its botanical treatments, which allow for examination of taxonomic and geographical traits across the continent.