Native plants · U.S. territory
Native plants of Puerto Rico
253 species are recorded as native to Puerto Rico in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 141 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 74 of the state’s 78 counties; the typical county has 6.
State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP
Puerto Rico at a glance
- Native species statewide
- 253 Of 2,397 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to Puerto Rico (before this site’s scope)
- Garden-ready natives
- 141 With PLANTS growing records
- Typical county
- 6 Median native species per county; 3 garden-ready
- Share by type (all 253 native species)
-
Percent of the 253 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers: 88 · grasses and grass-like: 69 · trees: 76 · shrubs: 5 · vines: 9 · ferns: 6.
Native plants by county
4 counties have no PLANTS county records in this build and no county list.
Garden-ready natives of Puerto Rico
Statewide list. A species native somewhere in Puerto Rico may not be native in your county: use the county lists above to narrow it.
Tree 76
- achiotillo Alchornea latifolia
- American muskwood Guarea guidonia
- Antilles calophyllum Calophyllum antillanum
- bastard redwood Chrysophyllum argenteum
- bastard stopper Petitia domingensis
- black mangrove Avicennia germinans
- broadleaf caper Capparis hastata
- broomstick Trichilia hirta
- bulletwood Manilkara bidentata
- burro blanco Capparis amplissima
- cabbagebark tree Andira inermis
- candletree Dacryodes excelsa
- cobana negra Stahlia monosperma
- common calabash tree Crescentia cujete
- corcho bobo Pisonia albida
- doncella Byrsonima spicata
- dragonsblood tree Pterocarpus officinalis
- falseteeth Capparis flexuosa
- Florida hopbush Dodonaea viscosa
- fustic Pictetia aculeata
- gia verde Casearia arborea
- grandleaf seagrape Coccoloba pubescens
- gregorywood Bucida buceras
- gumbo limbo Bursera simaruba
- higuerillo Vitex divaricata
- higuerito Crescentia linearifolia
- higuero de sierra Crescentia portoricensis
- holywood Guaiacum sanctum
- Jamaican caper Capparis cynophallophora
- Jamaican cherry fig Ficus americana
- kapoktree Ceiba pentandra
- lancewood Nectandra coriacea
- laurel espada Ocotea floribunda
- lignum-vitae Guaiacum officinale
- linguam Capparis indica
- loblolly sweetwood Ocotea leucoxylon
- maga Thespesia grandiflora
- mammee apple Mammea americana
- matchwood Schefflera morototonii
- nemoca Ocotea moschata
- nemoca cimarrona Ocotea spathulata
- palo amargo Rauvolfia nitida
- pond apple Annona glabra
- Puerto Rico cinnamon Licaria parvifolia
- Puerto Rico magnolia Magnolia portoricensis
- Puerto Rico palmetto Sabal causiarum
- Puerto Rico royal palm Roystonea borinquena
- pumpwood Cecropia schreberiana
- red stopper Eugenia rhombea
- river koko Inga vera
- sacky sac bean Inga laurina
- sandbox tree Hura crepitans
- sea torchwood Amyris elemifera
- seagrape Coccoloba uvifera
- Sierran palm Prestoea acuminata
- slugwood Beilschmiedia pendula
- smooth manjack Cordia laevigata
- soldierwood Colubrina elliptica
- Spanish cedar Cedrela odorata
- Spanish elm Cordia alliodora
- spiny fiddlewood Citharexylum spinosum
- stinkingtoe Hymenaea courbaril
- swamp titi Cyrilla racemiflora
- Swartz's pigeonplum Coccoloba swartzii
- tietongue Coccoloba diversifolia
- violet tree Polygala cowellii
- wax myrtle Morella cerifera
- white cedar Tabebuia heterophylla
- white mangrove Laguncularia racemosa
- wild ackee Cupania americana
- wild banyantree Ficus citrifolia
- wild cinnamon Canella winterana
- wild tamarind Cojoba arborea
- wingleaf soapberry Sapindus saponaria
- yellow mombin Spondias mombin
- yellow trumpetbush Tecoma stans
Shrub 3
- female karata Furcraea tuberosa
- Spanish thyme Lippia micromera
- turtleweed Batis maritima
Wildflower (forb) 22
- Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis
- coon's tail Ceratophyllum demersum
- dixie ticktrefoil Desmodium tortuosum
- dotted smartweed Polygonum punctatum
- false daisy Eclipta prostrata
- golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides
- leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus
- longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus
- marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris
- pinguin Bromelia pinguin
- salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum
- smallspike false nettle Boehmeria cylindrica
- southern waternymph Najas guadalupensis
- swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides
- sweetscent Pluchea odorata
- threeflower ticktrefoil Desmodium triflorum
- turkey tangle fogfruit Phyla nodiflora
- valdivia duckweed Lemna valdiviana
- valley redstem Ammannia coccinea
- widgeongrass Ruppia maritima
- wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus
- zarzabacoa comun Desmodium incanum
Grass or grass-like 35
- American cupscale Sacciolepis striata
- beaked spikerush Eleocharis rostellata
- broadleaf carpetgrass Axonopus compressus
- broomsedge bluestem Andropogon virginicus
- brownseed paspalum Paspalum plicatulum
- bushy bluestem Andropogon glomeratus
- Caribgrass Eriochloa polystachya
- eggleaf rosette grass Dichanthelium ovale
- fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum
- forked rush Juncus dichotomus
- fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus
- Gulf Coast spikerush Eleocharis cellulosa
- hairawn muhly Muhlenbergia capillaris
- haspan flatsedge Cyperus haspan
- hilograss Paspalum conjugatum
- knotgrass Paspalum distichum
- Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca
- manyspike flatsedge Cyperus polystachyos
- needleleaf rosette grass Dichanthelium aciculare
- poorland flatsedge Cyperus compressus
- redtop panicgrass Panicum rigidulum
- saltmeadow cordgrass Spartina patens
- seashore dropseed Sporobolus virginicus
- seashore paspalum Paspalum vaginatum
- silver bluestem Bothriochloa saccharoides
- slender little bluestem Schizachyrium tenerum
- softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani
- St. Augustine grass Stenotaphrum secundatum
- swamp sawgrass Cladium mariscus
- tanglehead Heteropogon contortus
- teal lovegrass Eragrostis hypnoides
- velvet panicum Dichanthelium scoparium
- wildcane Gynerium sagittatum
- winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis
- yellow flatsedge Cyperus flavescens
Vine 2
- bayhops Ipomoea pes-caprae
- Spanish moss Tillandsia usneoides
Fern 3
- cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea
- common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-veneris
- West Indian treefern Cyathea arborea
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
- Puerto Rico: 253 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 74 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