Online Plant References

Plant Profiles from the Pinellas Chapter Newsletter

Over the years, our chapter newsletter The Understory has contained profiles of the most popular native landscape plants. Check this page on our website to read many of them.

 

List of Native Landscape Plants for Pinellas County

Species listed on this page are found naturally in Pinellas County and adapt to garden conditions. Unquestionably, this page reflects the biases and experience of the author as well as recommendations from chapters and individual gardeners. Be sure to match the requirements of plants that interest you to conditions at your planting site. Chart gives common and scientific names, form (tree, wildflower, vine, etc.), wet, dry and salt tolerances, whether the plant has value for butterflies or other wildlife, a link to a photo, and an optional link to additional information.

Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants

The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants is a joint effort by the Institute for Systematic Botany, the University of South Florida and the Florida Center for Community Design & Research to provide users with a comprehensive searchable database of vascular plants in the State of Florida. Florida, with over 4,200 species of native or naturalized ferns and seed plants, is the third most floristically diverse state in the United States. The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants provides a source of information for the distribution of plants within the state. You can search for plants by scientific name, common name, or county. This site has excellent color photos of plants as well as good information about distribution range.

FY&N Florida-friendly Plant Database

Identifies "Florida-friendly" plants, including Florida native plants, that will thrive in your yard or landscape design with little or no supplemental irrigation or fertilization. The database contains nearly 380 trees, palms, shrubs, flowers, groundcovers, grasses and vines that are recommended by University of Florida/IFAS horticulture experts. The plants included in the database are available at nurseries throughout Florida.

Institute for Regional Conservation "Natives for Your Neighborhood"

This site, designed for South Florida residents, allows a user to enter his or her zip code and get a list of native species for that particular area. You can also look up particular plant species by common or scientific name. The site has good color photographs of plants, helpful cultivation information, and layout formats designed for either on-screen viewing or printing.

Stetson University Native Plant Initiative

Explore this Web site to learn about Florida native plants, gain an appreciation for them and discover ways to use them. The pages contain links to profiles of Florida native plants and to details about related educational initiatives and landscaping plans. The information is valuable to homeowners wanting to break free of the monotony that pervades suburban landscaping, builders wishing to see their developments stand out from others, educators searching for creative teaching ideas and everyone interested in the indigenous flora of Florida

"Growing Native" ListServ (Yahoo! Groups)

The Growing Native email group is devoted to all aspects of gardening with Florida native plants. It is moderated by Rufino Osorio, an FNPS member who is the author of A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants. This is a great place to post questions for native plant gardeners from around the state, and to share your knowledge and experience with others.

UF EDIS-IFAS Extension Publications on Native Plants

The University of Florida Electronic Data Information Source is a searchable database containing about 7,000 titles on agriculture and consumer topics. The link above goes to a summary page with articles about specific native annuals, bedding plants, ferns, groundcovers, palms, shrubs, trees, cacti, and wildflowers. Other EDIS articles in the database about native plants:

• 50 Common Native Plants Important In Florida's Ethnobotanical History
• Butterfly Gardening in Florida
• Landscaping Backyards for Wildlife: Top 10 Tips for Success
• Landscaping to Attract Birds in South Florida
• Native Aquatic Plants for Ornamental Water Gardens
• Native Plants that Attract Wildlife: Central Florida

Florida Wildflowers & Butterflies Searchable Database

The Florida Museum of Natural History's database lets you search for wildflower species by specifying any of: common name, plant family, genus, county, color, and/or habitat. Each wildflower has a color photo and a short paragraph describing its appearance and growing conditions. Search for butterfly species by common name, family name, genus, county, and/or color. Each butterfly is depicted in a color photo and has a paragraph describing it. Also from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Florida Wildflower Foundation, Inc., an ID card with color photos that lists butterflies and their host plants and Florida wildflowers:

Side 1: Butterflies  —   Side 2: Wildflowers

Fairchild Tropical Garden Virtual Herbarium

A herbarium is a library of dried plant specimens. The Fairchild herbarium has more than 180,000 specimens from all over the world, including exceptional collections of Palms, Cycads, and Florida and West Indian plants. The collection is procted to grow to over 250,000 specimens over the next five years. Fairchild is currently documenting the entire collection with digital photography, scanning specimens, and entering the label data into a database. This database, the Virtual Herbarium, was launched on January 8, 1999.

Florida Natural Areas Inventory Online Field Guides

These field guides present detailed descriptions, photographs, drawings, maps, habitat information, and management guidelines for more than 200 rare plant species and 150 rare animal species. The project was funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. Note: not all species tracked by the Inventory are included in the Field Guides. The Inventory tracks more than 1,000 rare plant and animal species.

List of Pinellas County's Rare Species and Natural Communities

This list, compiled by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, enumerates rare plant and animal species and natural communities found in Pinellas County, along with their global and state rank, federal and state status.

Pinellas County WaterAtlas

What's in YOUR watershed? This is the place to find out! The Pinellas County Water Atlas is designed to provide citizens, scientists, professionals, and planners with comprehensive and current water quality, hydrologic, and ecological data, as well as information about recreational opportunities and an extensive library of scientific and educational materials on water resource issues. (Other water atlases you can reach from here: Hillsborough/Tampa, Manatee, Sarasota, Tampa Bay, Orange, Seminole, Lake, Tallahassee-Leon.)

Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council Invasive Plant Lists

The FLEPPC invasive plant list is published every two years. Its purpose is to focus attention on the negative effects of exotic invasive species, to document the changes in seriousness of different pest plants over time, and to help land managers to set priorities. Professional botanists and others perform exhaustive studies to determine invasive exotic plants that should be placed on the lists. Plants are placed into one of three categories based on the severity and extent of their impact on natural plant communities. The list also tells in which region of the state (north, central, or south) each plant is problematic, as well as the plant's state and federal weed status.

IFAS Assessment of Exotics/Invasives

The IFAS Assessment of Non-Native Plants in Florida's Natural Areas was developed by the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Invasive Plants Working Group so that Cooperative Extension faculty could provide consistent recommendations concerning the use of non-native plants. The Assessment and the Working Group were created in response to the growing awareness of the threat posed (especially to threatened and endangered species) by non-native invasive species. When plant species are assessed, data are collected from all available resources by designated IFAS staff. The IFAS Assessment system is typically applied to species in each of three climate zones in Florida: north, central, and south. It considers ecological impacts, potential for expanded distribution in Florida, management difficulty, and economic value.

Florida FWC Weed Alerts

Each of these printed fact sheets focuses on a non-native invasive plant species that poses a serious threat to Florida's ecosystems. They can be downloaded as PDF files (requires Acrobat Reader) and range in size from 170K to 600K or print copies can be ordered by contacting the FWC.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Plant Database

The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. It includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, crop information, automated tools, onward Web links, and references. This information primarily promotes land conservation in the United States and its territories, but academic, educational, and general use is encouraged. PLANTS reduces government spending by minimizing duplication and making information exchange possible across agencies and disciplines.