Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · State

Native plants of South Carolina

1,633 species are recorded as native to South Carolina in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 580 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 46 of the state’s 46 counties; the typical county has 445.

State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

South Carolina at a glance

Native species statewide
1,633 Of 2,693 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to South Carolina (before this site’s scope)
Garden-ready natives
580 With PLANTS growing records
Typical county
445 Median native species per county; 189 garden-ready
Share by type (all 1,633 native species)
Percent of the 1,633 native species in each growth type
Tree 11% (180)
Shrub 5% (87)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (845)
Grass or grass-like 24% (387)
Vine 4% (72)
Fern 4% (62)

Wildflowers: 845 · grasses and grass-like: 387 · trees: 180 · shrubs: 87 · vines: 72 · ferns: 62.

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

46 South Carolina counties with PLANTS county records
CountyNative speciesGarden-readyHardiness zones
Abbeville County 389 156 8a
Aiken County 682 273 8a–8b
Allendale County 459 203 8b
Anderson County 381 159 8a–8b
Bamberg County 427 178 8b
Barnwell County 575 248 8b
Beaufort County 435 182 9a–9b
Berkeley County 619 267 8b–9a
Calhoun County 431 164 8b
Charleston County 650 299 8b–9a
Cherokee County 490 196 8a
Chester County 300 127 8a
Chesterfield County 501 215 8a
Clarendon County 447 197 8b
Colleton County 466 211 8b–9a
Darlington County 692 277 8b
Dillon County 344 167 8b
Dorchester County 481 213 8b–9a
Edgefield County 437 164 8a–8b
Fairfield County 352 147 8a
Florence County 376 167 8b
Georgetown County 555 255 8b
Greenville County 397 149 8a
Greenwood County 348 155 8a
Hampton County 389 175 8b
Horry County 480 229 8b
Jasper County 491 220 8b–9a
Kershaw County 561 243 8a–8b
Lancaster County 693 271 8a
Laurens County 324 149 8a
Lee County 366 152 8b
Lexington County 530 217 8a–8b
Marion County 286 116 8b
Marlboro County 375 174 8a–8b
McCormick County 475 172 8a–8b
Newberry County 321 142 8a
Oconee County 500 197 8a–8b
Orangeburg County 530 219 8b
Pickens County 556 204 8a–8b
Richland County 518 224 8a–8b
Saluda County 407 170 8a
Spartanburg County 381 166 8a
Sumter County 489 216 8b
Union County 298 124 8a
Williamsburg County 443 198 8b
York County 423 161 8a

Garden-ready natives of South Carolina

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

Tree 157

Shrub 58

Wildflower (forb) 166

Grass or grass-like 166

Vine 26

Fern 7

Also listed as native and introduced here 4

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 South Carolina 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
South Carolina: 1,633 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 46 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

Independent reference site. No government affiliation or endorsement.