• Resources

    Asclepius tuberosa (photo: G. Gardner)

Rhode Island and New England Plants

Logo name Native Plant Trust

GoBotany The Native Plant Trust
Most authoritative source for identifying, sharing, exploring, and discovering New England’s plants. For beginners and experts. Includes over 3,500 native and naturalized plants of New England.

Among Wildflowers

Rhode Island Ferns, Rhode Island OrchidsRhode Island Violets and Rhode Island Horsetails, Club-mosses, Fir-mosses, Spike-mosses and Quillworts. Among Rhode Island Wild Flowers
Resources created by naturalists and amateur botanists who have who have walked many miles observing and recording the varieties of these plants in Rhode Island. Both Ferns and Orchids include the counties where these plants are located.

Rhode Island Natural History Survey

Info on Rare Species in Rhode Island. Rhode Island Natural History Survey
Includes list of RI Rare Plants, the  organizations reviewing and gathering data on rare plants.

Rhode Island Ecological Communities Classification (RIECC). Enser, R.W. 2011.  Note this work  is an amalgamation of two previously published works including Natural Communities of Rhode Island also by Enser. It is currently housed as a pdf by the Rhode Island Conservation Stewardship Collaborative. 

The Rhode Island Natural History survey also published  a Check lists for Vascular Plants of Rhode Island. Based on Lisa L. Gould, Richard W. Enser, Richard E. Champlin, and Irene H. Stuckey, 1998, Vascular Flora of Rhode Island: A List of Native and Naturalized Plants, Rhode Island Natural History Survey.  For information about availability contact them at info@rinhs.org

Logo name Native Plant Trust

Find the right native plant for your landscape.
The Native Plant Trust (New England Wild Flower Society) has offers a comprehensive garden plant finder.  The searchable options include ecoregions and many images.

URI Outreach

Find the right native plant for your landscape.
RI Native Plant Guide. University of Rhode Island Outreach Center and the Rhode Island Natural History Survey.
Database of 400 Rhode Island native plants selected for their ornamental value, potential for use in landscape/garden projects (including restorations) and ease of propagation. Searchable on a variety of attributes e.g. plant type, size, growing conditions, edible value for humans, attractive to birds.

Pollinator Plants, Northeast Plant List.  Xerxes Society
Facts sheets. Includes a reference chart with images, listing plants by scientific name, flower color, height, water needs and notes.

For additional online resource especially pertinent to propagating and growing native plants see our page

Plant Guides – for pollinators, birds and more

  • Haines, Arthur. Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Vascular Plants of New England, Yale University Press, 2011.
  • Gould, Lisa L., Enser, Richard W., Champlin, Richard E., and Stuckey, Irene H. Vascular Flora of Rhode Island: A List of Native and Naturalized Plants, Rhode Island Natural History Survey, 1998.
  • Enser, R., D. Gregg, C. Sparks, P. August, P. Jordan, J. Coit, C. Raithel, B. Tefft, B. Payton, C. Brown, C. LaBash, S. Comings, and K. Ruddock. 2011. Rhode Island Ecological Communities Classification. Technical Report. Rhode Island Natural History Survey, Kingston, RI.
    (PDF from Rhode Island Natural History Survey)