Native plants · Alaska

Native plants of Bristol Bay Borough

57 plant species are recorded as native to Alaska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Bristol Bay Borough by USDA PLANTS. 44 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 1 more species is listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska

Native species: 57 Typical Alaska county: 237 (median of 24 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 44 Typical Alaska county: 149
Share by type (all 57 native species): Percent of the 57 native species in each growth type

Tree 16% (9)
Shrub 19% (11)
Wildflower (forb) 44% (25)
Grass or grass-like 19% (11)
Vine 2% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (44%), followed by shrubs (19%).

Recorded native ranges can include long-established populations that spread from gardens; check your state’s native plant society list for local guidance. How native status is decided.

ZIP codes mainly in this county fall in USDA hardiness zone 4b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 44

Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.

Garden-ready native plants of Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
Alaska bog willow Salix fuscescens	Shrub	20 ft	—	—	Zone 11a
alpine bearberry Arctostaphylos alpina	Shrub	6 in	Sun–part shade	—	Zone 1a
Alpine Meadow-Foxtail Alopecurus magellanicus	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
arctic dock Rumex arcticus	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
arctic raspberry Rubus arcticus	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
balsam poplar Populus balsamifera	Tree	80 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1a
Barclay's willow Salix barclayi	Tree	15 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
beaked sedge Carex rostrata	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3b
black crowberry Empetrum nigrum	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
bog blueberry Vaccinium uliginosum	Shrub	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
fineleaf pondweed Stuckenia filiformis	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
fowl bluegrass Poa palustris	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
glaucous bluegrass Poa glauca	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	—	Zone 3a
gray alder Alnus incana	Tree	25 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
kinnikinnick Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	Shrub	6 in	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 4a
leatherleaf Chamaedaphne calyculata	Shrub	4 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea	Shrub	6 in	Sun	—	Zone 1a
littletree willow Salix arbusculoides	Tree	10 ft	Sun	—	—
livid sedge Carex livida	Grass or grass-like	1 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
longleaf starwort Stellaria longifolia	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3b
marsh grass of Parnassus Parnassia palustris	Wildflower (forb)	2.2 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
marsh Labrador tea Ledum palustre	Shrub	6 in	—	—	Zone 1a
Nootka lupine Lupinus nootkatensis	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
northern bedstraw Galium boreale	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
northern water-starwort Callitriche hermaphroditica	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 4a
paper birch Betula papyrifera	Tree	70 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1a
Richardson's willow Salix richardsonii	Tree	15 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
rough bentgrass Agrostis scabra	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
seep monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3b
snow arnica Arnica frigida	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	—	Zone 1a
squashberry Viburnum edule	Shrub	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	—	Zone 1a
sweetgale Myrica gale	Shrub	6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
tall cottongrass Eriophorum angustifolium	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
tall Jacob's-ladder Polemonium acutiflorum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	—	Zone 1a
tealeaf willow Salix pulchra	Tree	3 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
threepetal bedstraw Galium trifidum	Vine	10 in	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
thrift seapink Armeria maritima	Wildflower (forb)	11 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
tufted bulrush Trichophorum cespitosum	Grass or grass-like	1.3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
vernal water-starwort Callitriche palustris	Wildflower (forb)	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
water sedge Carex aquatilis	Grass or grass-like	2.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
white spruce Picea glauca	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 1a
wideleaf polargrass Arctagrostis latifolia	Grass or grass-like	1.8 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
woolly geranium Geranium erianthum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	—	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 13

PLANTS has no growing records for these, so light, moisture, height and zone filters cannot include them. Many are wild species seldom sold by nurseries.

barrenground willow Salix niphoclada
Bebb willow Salix bebbiana
bluntleaf sandwort Moehringia lateriflora
common woodrush Luzula multiflora
fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
Hornemann's willowherb Epilobium hornemannii
lyrate rockcress Arabis lyrata
marsh willowherb Epilobium palustre
northern bog aster Symphyotrichum boreale
Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
purple marshlocks Comarum palustre
Richardson's pondweed Potamogeton richardsonii

Also listed as native and introduced here 1

PLANTS labels these species both native and introduced in this state: some forms are native and others were brought in from elsewhere. Most gardeners should choose plants from the main list.

Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis

Compared with Alaska

The typical county is the median of the 24 Alaska counties with PLANTS county records; the statewide figure counts every species native anywhere in the state. More species is not better or worse: counties differ in size, habitat and how thoroughly they have been surveyed.

Native species counts, Bristol Bay Borough and Alaska
Measure	Bristol Bay Borough	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	57	237	503
Garden-ready natives	44	149	294
Tree	9	—	40
Shrub	11	—	55
Wildflower (forb)	25	—	234
Grass or grass-like	11	—	132
Vine	1	—	8
Fern	0	—	34

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Bristol Bay Borough.

Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK 159 garden-ready

Source & data date

Source: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).; Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.; USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
Citation: USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.; Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
Data date: Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
Zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) ZIP table: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed November 3, 2026. Plant zones on this site are our estimate, not the official map.
Scope: Bristol Bay Borough (county FIPS 02060), Alaska. 57 native species from PLANTS county distribution records; garden-ready = species with a PLANTS characteristics record.
Method: A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources

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