Native range
Native plants of Illinois
56 wild species and 19 plant groups in the BloomsEye library grow wild somewhere in Illinois, read from Kew's World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS. The 126 garden forms of them are listed apart below, each naming its wild parent.
Showing 1 to 60 of 75 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; Illinois 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 75 plants, 57 have been checked against outside sources (2 fully verified); 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.
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Recorded across Illinois
How many of the state's 102 counties record each wild species growing wild, from USDA PLANTS: a plant recorded in many counties is widespread in Illinois; one recorded in few may be local, or simply under-recorded. A county's absence is not evidence a plant is absent. 55 of the wild species carry a county record here.
- American Elderberry
- Bottlebrush Grass
- Maidenhair Fern
- Honeylocust
- False Sunflower
- Carolina Rose
- Sugar Maple
- Buttonbush
- Little Bluestem
- New England Aster
- Virginia Bluebells
- Eastern Redbud
- Switchgrass
- Butterfly Weed
- Blackhaw
- Cardinal Flower
- Wild Ginger
- Eastern Red Columbine
- Flava (Yellow Trumpet)
- Trumpet Vine
- Christmas Fern
- Garden Phlox
- Pennsylvania Sedge
- Lady Fern
- River Birch
- Flowering Dogwood
- Smooth Hydrangea
- Goatsbeard
- Fragrant Sumac
- Northern Sea Oats
- Palm Sedge
- Shrubby St. John's Wort
- Purple Coneflower
- Aromatic Aster
- Red Maple
- Arrowwood
- Hardy Hibiscus
- Royal Fern
- Ninebark
- Cinnamon Fern
- Staghorn Sumac
- Tulip Tree
- Winterberry
- Queen of the Prairie
- Bald Cypress
- Black Chokeberry
- Ostrich Fern
- Celandine Poppy
- Eastern White Pine
- Prairie Smoke
- Potentilla
- Virginia Sweetspire
- Arborvitae
- Bunchberry
- Kalm's St. John's Wort
Garden forms of Illinois natives
126 garden forms, each a named selection of a species that grows wild in Illinois 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
- Alba Gayfeather
- Alma Pötschke
- Alpine Carpet Juniper
- Amber Jubilee
- Amethyst Falls Wisteria
- Annabelle
- Appalachian Red
- Aquavita Juniper
- Arctic Fire Red Twig Dogwood
- Arctic Fire Yellow Dogwood
- Athena Gold False Sunflower
- Autumn Colors
- Baby Joe Dwarf Joe Pye Weed
- Bailey Compact American Cranberrybush
- Bar Harbor Juniper
- Berry Heavy
- Berry Poppins
- Blackhawks Big Bluestem
- Blackjack Gold Black-Eyed Susan
- Blaze
- Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass
- Blue Blaze Viburnum
- Blue Chip Juniper
- Blue Moon Wisteria
- Blue Moon Woodland Phlox
- Blue Muffin Viburnum
- Blue Paradise
- Blue Rug Juniper
- Bright Eyes
- Bubblegum Pink Garden Phlox
- Cheer Drops Arborvitae
- Cherokee Brave
- Cherokee Chief
- Cherokee Princess
- Cherry Berries Wintergreen
- Cherry Brandy
- Claire Grace
- Cloud Nine
- Cobalt-n-Gold Hypericum
- Coconut Lime
- Columnar White Pine
- Coppertina
- Coral Flame
- Crimson Trumpet
- Danica
- David
- DeGroot's Spire
- Denver Daisy
- Diabolo
- Dwarf White Pine
- Emerald Green
- Falling Waters
- Fire Chief
- Flame Thrower
- Forest Pansy
- Golden Globe
- Goldfinger
- Goldilocks
- Goldsturm
- Green Jewel
- Gro-Low Fragrant Sumac
- Happy Face Yellow
- Hearts of Gold
- Heavy Metal
- Henry's Garnet Sweetspire
- Holmstrup
- Incrediball Hydrangea
- Indian Summer
- Invincibelle Spirit II Hydrangea
- Jeana
- Laura
- Lavender Twist
- Lemony Lace Elderberry
- Little Devil
- Little Henry Sweetspire
- Luminary Ultraviolet
- Luna Pink Swirl
- Luna White
- Magnus
- Mango Tango
- McKay's White
- New England Aster 'Barr's Pink'
- New England Aster 'Harrington's Pink'
- Nicky
- Northwind
- Nugget
- October Skies
- Orange Perfection
- Orange Whisper
- Peve Minaret
- Pink Beauty
- Pink Double Delight
- Pink Whisper
- PowWow Wild Berry
- Prairie Sun
- Purple Dome
- Purple Phlox
- Raydon's Favorite
- Red Ace
- Red Sprite
- Rheingold
- River Mist
- Robert Poore
- Royal White Redbud
- Ruby Falls
- Shawnee Brave
- Shenandoah
- Snow Flurry
- Starfire
- Sugar Shack Buttonbush
- Summer Wine
- Sunny Boulevard St. John's Wort
- Tangerine
- Techny
- The Rising Sun
- Tiger Eyes Sumac
- Tiny Wine
- Toto Gold
- Twilight Zone
- Weeping White Pine
- White Flame
- White Swan
- Winter Gold
- Winter Red
Plant groups native to Illinois
19 plant groups sold under one name whose wild species grow in Illinois; the count beside each is how many of its wild species the record finds in the state.
Keep exploring
Growing natives in Illinois
This list is the library's cut of Illinois's flora, not a planting guide. For sources, plant sales and local advice, Illinois has its own native plant society, the Illinois Native Plant Society, and its extension office, University of Illinois Extension; 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.