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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · New York

Native plants of Orleans County

194 plant species are recorded as native to New York in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Orleans County by USDA PLANTS. 101 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 2 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Orleans County, New York

Native species
194 Typical New York county: 699 (median of 62 counties)
Garden-ready natives
101 Typical New York county: 299
Share by type (all 194 native species)
Percent of the 194 native species in each growth type
Tree 16% (31)
Shrub 8% (15)
Wildflower (forb) 37% (72)
Grass or grass-like 19% (37)
Vine 3% (5)
Fern 18% (34)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (37%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (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 6b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Cold hardiness is estimated from each plant’s PLANTS minimum temperature. How we estimate it.

Garden-ready natives 101

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

Garden-ready native plants of Orleans County, New York
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American beech Fagus grandifolia Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
American bittersweet Celastrus scandens Vine 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
American pokeweed Phytolacca americana Wildflower (forb) 7.3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
bigleaf aster Eurybia macrophylla Wildflower (forb) 4.6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
black huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
black oak Quercus velutina Tree 80 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
blackgum Nyssa sylvatica Tree 95 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 5b
blue cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
blue huckleberry Gaylussacia frondosa Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 5a
bluebead Clintonia borealis Wildflower (forb) 1.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
blunt broom sedge Carex tribuloides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
bog birch Betula pumila Shrub 20 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
bristly buttercup Ranunculus hispidus Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
broadleaf arrowhead Sagittaria latifolia Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
broom sedge Carex scoparia Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
bulbous bittercress Cardamine bulbosa Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Canada yew Taxus canadensis Shrub 5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
Canadian serviceberry Amelanchier canadensis Tree 23 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea Fern 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
common blue violet Viola sororia Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis Tree 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
common serviceberry Amelanchier arborea Tree 36 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
common snowberry Symphoricarpos albus Shrub 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
crested woodfern Dryopteris cristata Fern 1.6 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
cucumber tree Magnolia acuminata Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5b
cursed buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 12b
deerberry Vaccinium stamineum Shrub 16 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 5a
Dewey sedge Carex deweyana Grass or grass-like 3.8 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
downy yellow violet Viola pubescens Wildflower (forb) 1.3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana Tree 50 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
eastern rough sedge Carex scabrata Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
eastern white pine Pinus strobus Tree 150 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun High Zone 3a
flowering dogwood Cornus florida Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
graceful sedge Carex gracillima Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
gray dogwood Cornus racemosa Shrub 10 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
Gray's sedge Carex grayi Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
hairy sedge Carex lacustris Grass or grass-like 5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
hop sedge Carex lupulina Grass or grass-like 4.3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
hophornbeam Ostrya virginiana Tree 45 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
interrupted fern Osmunda claytoniana Fern 4 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus Wildflower (forb) 2.8 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris Wildflower (forb) 2 in Sun High Zone 4a
mountain maple Acer spicatum Tree 25 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
narrowleaf water plantain Alisma gramineum Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun High Zone 3a
necklace sedge Carex projecta Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
nerveless woodland sedge Carex leptonervia Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
New York fern Thelypteris noveboracensis Fern 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
nodding lady's tresses Spiranthes cernua Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
nodding waternymph Najas flexilis Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
northern maidenhair Adiantum pedatum Fern 1.3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
northern spicebush Lindera benzoin Tree 12 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5a
panicledleaf ticktrefoil Desmodium paniculatum Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 6a
pawpaw Asimina triloba Tree 25 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
Pennsylvania buttercup Ranunculus pensylvanicus Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
possumhaw Viburnum nudum Tree 15 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
pussy willow Salix discolor Tree 40 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
quill sedge Carex tenera Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum Fern 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
redosier dogwood Cornus sericea Tree 12 ft Sun High Zone 3b
river bulrush Bolboschoenus fluviatilis Grass or grass-like 6.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
roadside agrimony Agrimonia striata Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
rough bentgrass Agrostis scabra Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
roundleaf dogwood Cornus rugosa Tree 10 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
russet buffaloberry Shepherdia canadensis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 1a
sassafras Sassafras albidum Tree 75 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
shagbark hickory Carya ovata Tree 75 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
shortawn foxtail Alopecurus aequalis Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
silky dogwood Cornus amomum Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
small floating mannagrass Glyceria borealis Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
smallspike false nettle Boehmeria cylindrica Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
smooth beggartick Bidens laevis Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
star duckweed Lemna trisulca Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun High Zone 3b
swamp loosestrife Decodon verticillatus Shrub 8 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides Wildflower (forb) — Sun Medium Zone 10b
sweet birch Betula lenta Tree 60 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
sweet woodreed Cinna arundinacea Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
three-way sedge Dulichium arundinaceum Grass or grass-like 2.6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera Tree 120 ft Sun Medium Zone 5b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
water horsetail Equisetum fluviatile Fern 3 ft Sun High Zone 4a
white ash Fraxinus americana Tree 90 ft Sun High Zone 4a
winged sumac Rhus copallinum Tree 8 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 93

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.

  • Adam and Eve Aplectrum hyemale
  • amberique-bean Strophostyles helvola
  • American mannagrass Glyceria grandis
  • Appalachian sedge Carex appalachica
  • bay forget-me-not Myosotis laxa
  • bear oak Quercus ilicifolia
  • blisterwort Ranunculus recurvatus
  • bluntlobe grapefern Botrychium oneidense
  • brittle bladderfern Cystopteris fragilis
  • broad beechfern Phegopteris hexagonoptera
  • broadleaf sedge Carex platyphylla
  • bulblet bladderfern Cystopteris bulbifera
  • Carolina mosquitofern Azolla caroliniana
  • Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
  • clammy groundcherry Physalis heterophylla
  • clammy hedgehyssop Gratiola neglecta
  • Clayton's sweetroot Osmorhiza claytonii
  • Columbian watermeal Wolffia columbiana
  • common moonseed Menispermum canadense
  • common threeseed mercury Acalypha rhomboidea
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • cutleaf grapefern Botrychium dissectum
  • dogtooth violet Erythronium americanum
  • dutchman's breeches Dicentra cucullaria
  • early meadow-rue Thalictrum dioicum
  • early saxifrage Saxifraga virginiensis
  • eastern hayscented fern Dennstaedtia punctilobula
  • eastern leatherwood Dirca palustris
  • eastern marsh fern Thelypteris palustris
  • eastern star sedge Carex radiata
  • ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
  • fan clubmoss Lycopodium digitatum
  • fibrousroot sedge Carex communis
  • floating mannagrass Glyceria septentrionalis
  • glade fern Diplazium pycnocarpon
  • goldenseal Hydrastis canadensis
  • green fringed orchid Platanthera lacera
  • grove bluegrass Poa alsodes
  • hairy beardtongue Penstemon hirsutus
  • Hitchcock's sedge Carex hitchcockiana
  • hoary mountainmint Pycnanthemum incanum
  • hooded coralroot Corallorhiza striata
  • intermediate woodfern Dryopteris intermedia
  • jumpseed Polygonum virginianum
  • knotsheath sedge Carex retrorsa
  • large St. Johnswort Hypericum majus
  • leathery grapefern Botrychium multifidum
  • limber honeysuckle Lonicera dioica
  • lizard's tail Saururus cernuus
  • long beechfern Phegopteris connectilis
  • longbract frog orchid Dactylorhiza viridis
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • maidenhair spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes
  • marginal woodfern Dryopteris marginalis
  • marsh horsetail Equisetum palustre
  • matricary grapefern Botrychium matricariifolium
  • narrowleaf cowwheat Melampyrum lineare
  • painted trillium Trillium undulatum
  • prairie goldenrod Oligoneuron album
  • purple milkwort Polygala sanguinea
  • ramp Allium tricoccum
  • rare clubmoss Lycopodium obscurum
  • red baneberry Actaea rubra
  • rock polypody Polypodium virginianum
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
  • sessilefruit arrowhead Sagittaria rigida
  • shining clubmoss Huperzia lucidula
  • shrubby lespedeza Lespedeza frutescens
  • silky dogwood Cornus obliqua
  • slim amaranth Amaranthus hybridus
  • small cranberry Vaccinium oxycoccos
  • small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
  • smooth yellow false foxglove Aureolaria flava
  • snakemouth orchid Pogonia ophioglossoides
  • spinulose woodfern Dryopteris carthusiana
  • swamp dock Rumex verticillatus
  • swamp verbena Verbena hastata
  • Swan's sedge Carex swanii
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • twinleaf Jeffersonia diphylla
  • upland brittle bladderfern Cystopteris tenuis
  • Virginia chainfern Woodwardia virginica
  • walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum
  • water arum Calla palustris
  • whip-poor-will flower Trillium cernuum
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • white trillium Trillium grandiflorum
  • white vervain Verbena urticifolia
  • whorled milkwort Polygala verticillata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • woodland stonecrop Sedum ternatum
  • yellow water buttercup Ranunculus flabellaris
Also listed as native and introduced here 2

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.

  • annual ragweedAmbrosia artemisiifolia
  • common reedPhragmites australis

Compared with New York

The typical county is the median of the 62 New York 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, Orleans County and New York
MeasureOrleans CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 194 699 1,886
Garden-ready natives 101 299 655
Tree 31 — 171
Shrub 15 — 120
Wildflower (forb) 72 — 970
Grass or grass-like 37 — 472
Vine 5 — 56
Fern 34 — 97

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Orleans County.

Look up another ZIP

Matches your ZIP to the county it mostly lies in, then lists the plants recorded as native to your state (Kew’s World Checklist and USDA PLANTS) and recorded in that county by USDA PLANTS.

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
Orleans County (county FIPS 36073), New York. 194 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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