Florida: the native trees and shrubs we grow
Pick a state and see which of the 364 trees and shrubs we grow are recorded growing wild there, by the USDA PLANTS Database. Some of our trees have spread well beyond their native range. Those count as native only in the states their original range reaches, and elsewhere they are listed apart with their page's own sentence. A state record is a start, not a verdict on your ground. The planting-site check asks about the location itself.
Native and recorded in Florida
202 of our 364 trees and shrubs are native to Florida
Recorded there by the USDA PLANTS Database, and native there by the rules below.
PLANTS has no record of Bigleaf Witch Hazel, Dwarf Chinquapin Oak, Gray Dogwood and Painted Buckeye in Florida. NatureServe places Bigleaf Witch Hazel there. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center places Dwarf Chinquapin Oak there. The Forest Service's Woody Plant Seed Manual places Gray Dogwood and Painted Buckeye there.
Native here does not mean hardy where you are. Each card gives its zones, and the ZIP code tool finds yours.
32 large trees
23 medium trees
61 small trees
86 shrubs
Recorded in Florida
Native only to part of the country
PLANTS records these growing wild in Florida, but their native range does not reach it. Each has spread here from planting or rests on an old or mistaken record. The sentence under each gives its native range or the reason.
Black Locust Robinia pseudoacacia
It grows wild in two blocks, the Appalachians from central Pennsylvania and southern Ohio south to northern Georgia and Alabama, and the Ozarks of Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. It has since spread across the country.
Northern Pecan Carya illinoinensis
It grows wild in the lower Mississippi Valley, west to eastern Kansas and central Texas, east to western Tennessee and north into Iowa bottomlands, on deep alluvial loam.
Bristly Locust (Rose Locust) Robinia hispida
It grows wild in the mountains from Virginia to Kentucky and south to Georgia and Alabama, in open woods, on mountain slopes and on sand hills, and it has spread far beyond that range.
Dwarf Witch Alder Fothergilla gardenii
The plants of Alabama and Florida once counted as this species were named as two other species in 2020.
Climbing Prairie Rose Rosa setigera
In New England, along much of the Atlantic coast and in Mississippi and Louisiana, it was brought in from the Midwest or escaped from gardens.
Recorded in Florida
Introduced, not native
PLANTS records these growing wild in Florida and lists them as introduced to the region.
156 of our trees and shrubs are not recorded in Florida
Not recorded growing wild there by PLANTS. Many still grow well there when planted: hardiness, soil and sun decide that, not the state line. Each page gives the tree's zones.
Alabama Croton, Alabama Snow-wreath, Alderleaf Buckthorn, Allegheny Plum, Allegheny Serviceberry, American Crabapple, American Fly Honeysuckle, American Hazelnut, American Mountain Ash, American Smoketree, Bartram's Serviceberry, Beach Plum, Beaked Hazelnut, Bear Huckleberry, Bear Oak (Scrub Oak), Bigleaf Magnolia, Black Chokeberry, Black Hickory, Black Huckleberry, Black Maple, Blackhaw Viburnum, Blue Ash, Blue Ridge St. John's-wort, Blueberry Hawthorn, Bottlebrush Buckeye, Box Huckleberry, Boynton Oak, Bracted Arrowwood, Broom Crowberry, Bur Oak, Butternut, Canada Buffaloberry, Canada Plum, Canada Yew, Carolina Bog Laurel, Carolina Hemlock, Carolina Silverbell, Catawba Rhododendron, Catberry, Chestnut Oak, Chokecherry, Cinnamon Clethra, Clammy Locust, Coastal Azalea, Conjurer's-nut, Creeping Blueberry, Creeping Juniper, Cumberland Azalea, Cumberland Rosemary, Dangleberry, Delta Post Oak, Downy Arrowwood, Downy Hawthorn, Flame Azalea, Franklin Tree, Fraser Fir, Fraser Magnolia, Georgia Indigobush, Georgia Oak, Georgia Plume, Golden Heather, Granite Gooseberry, Gray Birch, Hairy Blueberry, Harbison's Hawthorn, Hillside Blueberry, Hobblebush, Honeycup, Hortulan Plum, Kentucky Coffeetree, Lanceleaf Buckthorn, Leadplant, Little Walnut, Lloyd's St. John's-wort, Long-stalked Holly, Maple-leaf Oak, May White Azalea, Mexican Plum, Minnie-bush, Mountain Bush-honeysuckle, Mountain Doghobble, Mountain Fetterbush, Mountain Indigobush, Mountain Maple, Mountain Sweetbells, Mountain Winterberry, Mountain Witch Alder, Nannyberry, Nantucket Serviceberry, Northern Bayberry, Northern Catalpa, Northern Pin Oak, Northern Red Oak, Northern White Cedar, Nutmeg Hickory, Nuttall Oak, Oconee Azalea, Oglethorpe Oak, Ohio Buckeye, Ouachita Indigobush, Ozark Chinquapin, Ozark Witch Hazel, Pear Hawthorn, Piedmont Rhododendron, Pin Cherry, Pin Oak, Pinkshell Azalea, Pinxterbloom Azalea, Piratebush, Plateau Live Oak, Plumleaf Azalea, Prairie Crabapple, Prairie Redroot, Red Elderberry, Red Hills Azalea, Red Osier Dogwood, Red Spruce, Rhodora, Rock Elm, Rosebay Rhododendron, Roughleaf Dogwood, Roundleaf Dogwood, Roundleaf Serviceberry, Sand Cherry, Sand Myrtle, Schwerin's Indigobush, Seaside Alder, September Elm, Shadblow Serviceberry, Shagbark Hickory, Shellbark Hickory (Kingnut), Shingle Oak, Shining Indigobush, Silverleaf Hydrangea, Smooth Winterberry, Softleaf Arrowwood, Southern Bush-honeysuckle, Southern Shagbark Hickory, Squashberry, Staghorn Sumac, Streambank Mock Orange, Striped Maple, Swamp White Oak, Sweet Azalea, Sweet Birch (Black Birch), Table Mountain Pine, Tamarack, Texas Red Oak, Three-flower Hawthorn, Virginia Spiraea, White Wicky, Wild Black Currant, Woolly Beach Heather, Yellow Birch, Yellow Buckeye, Yellowwood
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For Cherrybark Oak, Wye Island line, Swamp Chestnut Oak, select line, Black Gum (Tupelo), American Basswood (Linden), Cucumber Magnolia, Bald Cypress, Black Walnut, Overcup Oak, Common Hackberry, Mockernut Hickory, Pignut Hickory, Water Hickory: one email per plant when it is priced or back in stock, and nothing else.
How the lists are made
- Recorded in the state. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's PLANTS Database, the national standard for plant distribution, records a species in a state when a specimen or a published record places it growing there on its own. The lists hold the trees and shrubs we grow that it records in the state.
- Native there. PLANTS gives native status for a region, the lower 48 states as one, rather than for each state. So a species native to the East that has escaped from planting in a western state is recorded there as native to the region. A tree or shrub counts as native in a state PLANTS gives it as native, unless a narrower range is on record.
- A narrower range. For 95 of our trees and shrubs the records carry the states their native range reaches. They come from the Forest Service's Silvics of North America and range descriptions, NatureServe Explorer's state records, the NRCS plant guides, the Biota of North America Program's atlas and the state floras.
- How a state is set apart. A state where NatureServe calls a tree or shrub introduced is set apart when the range on its own page does not reach it. So is a western state where NatureServe has no record of it, far from that range. So is a state clearly outside the native range that Silvics of North America gives.
- Listed apart. In a state its native range does not reach, a tree or shrub PLANTS records there is listed apart, under a sentence from its page on its range or on the record. Some trees and shrubs have spread far beyond their native range. Black locust, rose locust and the two catalpas have spread the farthest, each into 32 or 33 other states.
- Added from another record. Where the range on a plant page reaches a state PLANTS lacks, the state is added, and its heading names the record that places the tree or shrub there. Bigleaf witch hazel was described in 2006, and PLANTS records it in Alabama and Mississippi only, so its Florida, Georgia and Texas records are NatureServe's. Another 24 trees and shrubs each carry a state or two this way, such as long-stalked holly's Georgia and Tennessee.
- Introduced. A species PLANTS lists as introduced to the region is listed as introduced, not native.
- Not recorded. The rest of our trees and shrubs, which PLANTS does not record growing wild in the state, are named in the fold under the lists. Many still grow well there when planted.
- Your zone. The line under the heading counts the natives rated for the zone this device remembers, by each card's own zones, as the shop's zone filter counts them. Native here does not mean hardy where you are.
- The order. The natives come by mature size, from large trees to shrubs. Within each size, Featured is the shop's own order.
A state line is a surveyor's line. A species recorded in the next state, on the same river and the same soil, belongs on your ground as much as anything on this list, and one recorded in your state may be native only to a corner of it. Why the range maps are wrong goes through the errors every range map carries and what to trust instead: herbarium records, state atlases and your own eyes. Each plant page states the native range in words, from the Forest Service's silvics and the state extension services.
Sources: USDA, NRCS. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov), state records read on 2026-09-23. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA. NatureServe. 2026. NatureServe Explorer (https://explorer.natureserve.org), state records read on 2026-10-05. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Burns, R. M. and B. H. Honkala, technical coordinators. 1990. Silvics of North America. Agriculture Handbook 654. USDA Forest Service, Washington, DC.