Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · State

Native plants of Rhode Island

1,165 species are recorded as native to Rhode Island in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 440 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 5 of the state’s 5 counties; the typical county has 501.

State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Rhode Island at a glance

Native species statewide
1,165 Of 1,343 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to Rhode Island (before this site’s scope)
Garden-ready natives
440 With PLANTS growing records
Typical county
501 Median native species per county; 236 garden-ready
Share by type (all 1,165 native species)
Percent of the 1,165 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (110)
Shrub 7% (78)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (608)
Grass or grass-like 23% (270)
Vine 3% (34)
Fern 6% (65)

Wildflowers: 608 · grasses and grass-like: 270 · trees: 110 · shrubs: 78 · vines: 34 · ferns: 65.

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

5 Rhode Island counties with PLANTS county records
CountyNative speciesGarden-readyHardiness zones
Bristol County 245 122 7a
Kent County 438 198 6b–7a
Newport County 501 236 7a
Providence County 850 348 6b–7a
Washington County 668 283 6b–7b

Garden-ready natives of Rhode Island

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

Tree 91

Shrub 53

Wildflower (forb) 148

Grass or grass-like 126

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 Rhode Island 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
Rhode Island: 1,165 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 5 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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