Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · State

Native plants of Maine

1,278 species are recorded as native to Maine in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 510 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 16 of the state’s 16 counties; the typical county has 681.

State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Maine at a glance

Native species statewide
1,278 Of 1,665 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to Maine (before this site’s scope)
Garden-ready natives
510 With PLANTS growing records
Typical county
681 Median native species per county; 303 garden-ready
Share by type (all 1,278 native species)
Percent of the 1,278 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (112)
Shrub 7% (95)
Wildflower (forb) 50% (636)
Grass or grass-like 26% (326)
Vine 3% (33)
Fern 6% (76)

Wildflowers: 636 · grasses and grass-like: 326 · trees: 112 · shrubs: 95 · vines: 33 · ferns: 76.

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

16 Maine counties with PLANTS county records
CountyNative speciesGarden-readyHardiness zones
Androscoggin County 680 298 5b
Aroostook County 677 296 3b–5a
Cumberland County 783 340 5a–6a
Franklin County 682 297 4b–5a
Hancock County 635 279 5a–6b
Kennebec County 735 317 5a–5b
Knox County 715 320 5b–7a
Lincoln County 553 250 5b–6b
Oxford County 773 331 4b–5b
Penobscot County 763 338 4b–5a
Piscataquis County 577 273 4a–5a
Sagadahoc County 499 230 5b–6a
Somerset County 689 312 4b–5b
Waldo County 670 308 5a–6a
Washington County 579 270 4b–6a
York County 838 357 5a–6b

Garden-ready natives of Maine

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

Tree 94

Shrub 62

Wildflower (forb) 168

Grass or grass-like 164

Vine 12

Fern 10

Also listed as native and introduced here 6

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 Maine 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.

Territories: Puerto Rico · U.S. Virgin Islands

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
Maine: 1,278 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 16 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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