Native plants · State

Native plants of District of Columbia

908 species are recorded as native to District of Columbia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 345 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 1 of the state’s 1 counties; the typical county has 908.

State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

District of Columbia at a glance

Native species statewide
908 Of 1,090 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to District of Columbia (before this site’s scope)
Garden-ready natives
345 With PLANTS growing records
Typical county
908 Median native species per county; 345 garden-ready
Share by type (all 908 native species)
Percent of the 908 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (79)
Shrub 5% (47)
Wildflower (forb) 49% (442)
Grass or grass-like 27% (243)
Vine 6% (50)
Fern 5% (47)

Wildflowers: 442 · grasses and grass-like: 243 · trees: 79 · shrubs: 47 · vines: 50 · ferns: 47.

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.

Native plants by county

1 District of Columbia counties with PLANTS county records
CountyNative speciesGarden-readyHardiness zones
District of Columbia 908 345 7b–8a

Garden-ready natives of District of Columbia

Statewide list. A species native somewhere in District of Columbia may not be native in your county: use the county lists above to narrow it.

Tree 71

Shrub 32

Wildflower (forb) 107

Grass or grass-like 112

Vine 15

Fern 8

Also listed as native and introduced here 3

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.

Look up a District of Columbia 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
District of Columbia: 908 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 1 counties.
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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