Native range
Native plants of California
17 wild species and 12 plant groups in the BloomsEye library grow wild somewhere in California, read from Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS. The 44 garden forms of them are listed apart below, each naming its wild parent.
29 plants
How this list is made
Derived from each plant's native-range record, checked against Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS with every decision on a ledger; California is read off the record's own range, and the order is how many of the state's counties record each plant, as stored in the BloomsEye library, which was written with AI assistance. Of these 29 plants, 24 have been checked against outside sources; the rest have not been checked yet, and each plant's own page says which. The cards are AI-generated illustrations.
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.
Foliage
Foliage
Recorded across California
How many of the state's 58 counties record each wild species growing wild, from USDA PLANTS: a plant recorded in many counties is widespread in California; one recorded in few may be local, or simply under-recorded. A county's absence is not evidence a plant is absent. 14 of the wild species carry a county record here.
Garden forms of California natives
44 garden forms, each a named selection of a species that grows wild in California and each naming its wild parent. A garden form is not the wild plant, so it is listed here and never counted above.
- Abbotswood
- Adams Elderberry
- Alpine Carpet Juniper
- Arctic Fire Red Twig Dogwood
- Arctic Fire Yellow Dogwood
- Autumn Beauty
- Autumn Colors
- Blaze
- Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass
- California Poppy (Cream/White)
- California Poppy (Rose/Pink Mix)
- Cherry Brandy
- Denver Daisy
- Giant Sunflower
- Goldfinger
- Goldilocks
- Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac
- Happy Face Yellow
- Indian Summer
- Ivory Castle
- Lemon Queen
- Lemony Lace Elderberry
- Mammoth
- Mango Tango
- McKay's White
- Mikado
- Moulin Rouge
- Orange Whisper
- Pink Beauty
- Pink Whisper
- Prairie Sun
- Purple Gleam
- Red Ace
- Regent Serviceberry
- Ring of Fire
- Rose Chiffon
- Soraya
- Strawberry Blonde
- Sugar Shack Buttonbush
- Tangerine
- Teddy Bear
- Toto Gold
- Twilight Zone
- Velvet Queen
Plant groups native to California
12 plant groups sold under one name whose wild species grow in California; the count beside each is how many of its wild species the record finds in the state.
Keep exploring
Growing natives in California
This list is the library's cut of California's flora, not a planting guide. For sources, plant sales and local advice, California has its own native plant society, the California Native Plant Society, and its extension office, UC Agriculture and Natural Resources; both are linked below and neither is connected to BloomsEye.
Native to your own county
This page is the whole state. In the free garden planner, enter your ZIP and Garden Check lists these same plants for your location, marks the ones recorded growing wild in your county, and places any of them in your plan; its Browse tab answers for any of the 65 states, provinces and territories with no account.
Design your garden
Drop plants onto a 3D plan, see how they fill in, and watch the whole garden bloom across the year.