California Native Plants

Understanding the plants that make California home 

SUPPORTING THE WEB OF LIFE

A native plant is one that has grown naturally in a particular area for thousands of years, long before people brought other plants from different places. These plants evolved with the unique climate, soil, and wildlife of the state’s varied regions. Importantly, California’s native plants are the plants that Indigenous people first knew and depended on. We honor the original and ongoing relationships between California’s native people and plants.

Across the State

Explore the diversity of California’s native plants and habitats.

The King Range National Conservation Area shows California’s remaining intact coastal habitat. California goldfields (Lasthenia californica) and sea thrift (Armeria maritima) blanket the shore.

Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) live only in the Mojave Desert. They rely on the yucca moth to pollinate their flowers. In turn, the yucca moth lays eggs inside the flower. Moth larvae depend on the flowers for food.

The Cosumnes River Preserve is home to California’s largest remaining valley oak (Quercus lobata) riparian forest, and is one of the few protected wetland habitat areas in the state. California’s native oaks are biodiversity powerhouses, supporting life from microbes to mammals.

The tallest trees in the world are coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), which can grow over 300 feet tall. Their canopies, shrouded in the fog of the North Coast of California, form their own ecosystems, supporting wildlife. The trees seen here are at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

The grasslands at Carrizo Plain National Monument turn into a painter’s palette of color when there’s an abundance of spring wildflowers. Carrizo Plain is home to one of the few remaining grassland habitats left in California. This landscape once covered the Central Valley.

Great Basin bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) are the oldest non-clonal organisms in the world. That means they don’t reproduce through cloning, so their trunks are as old as their roots. These ancient, slow-growing trees live for thousands of years, with the oldest known one being over 5,000 years of age. Pinus longaeva live in harsh conditions and at high elevations, where little else survives.

The giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) is the largest tree in the world by volume. Indeed, giant sequoias are the most massive living beings on Earth. They can grow upwards of 300 feet and live for thousands of years. Although they are adapted to survive fire, they are threatened by the more severe and extreme wildfires that California is experiencing.

Native plants can be tiny, too. In 2023, CNPS and Santa Barbara Botanic Garden announced the “re-discovery” of a rare native plant species not documented in decades. Prior to the new finding, the Santa Ynez groundstar (Ancistrocarphus keilii, CRPR 1B.1) was known only from very old records and one or two occurrences.

California Native Plants in Numbers

Types of native plants (more than any other U.S. state)

0 +

Plants in CA that are globally rare or endangered

Rare native plant species; over half of those exist only in CA

0 %

Why Native Plants Matter

Biodiversity

California is one of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots. (Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth.) California is home to more species of plants and animals than any other state in the nation. The world’s 36 global biodiversity hotspots represent just 2.5% of Earth’s land surface, but they support more than half of the world’s plant species as endemics (species found no place else) and nearly 43% of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species as endemics.

Healthy Ecosystems

Native plants are the foundation of healthy habitats and human communities. From deserts to mountains and coasts to forests, native plants produce oxygen, filter water, store carbon, stabilize hillsides, and improve soil health. Life literally depends on them.

Access to Nature

Think of what it feels like to walk down a scorching city street surrounded by buildings and noisy traffic. Now think about taking that same walk under the shelter of native trees with flowering plants and birds. Whether you’re on a hike or walking down a city street, being in nature reduces stress, bolsters the immune system, and supports mental health. Everyone has a right to experience the benefits of nature.

Landscaping That Makes a Difference

A traditional non-native grass lawn requires fertilizer, pesticides, and plenty of water. A suburban lawn has an average of ten times more chemical pesticides per acre than farmland. Native plant landscaping, by contrast, doesn’t require fertilizer, soil amendments, or pesticides. That means no pesticides going into groundwater or ocean water.

In an urban setting, a native plant garden can be an oasis for migrating wildlife. More native plantings in parks, and yards help connect much-needed habitat for endangered insects, birds, and other creatures. Native plants, in turn, need wildlife to pollinate their flowers and spread their seeds. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship.

What's in a Name?

When people see the full name of a plant, like bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), they may wonder why the hard-to-pronounce part in italics is there at all. That’s the plant’s Latin name.

The Latin name is unique to that plant, kind of like a barcode. Acer is the genus, or family name of maples. Macrophyllyum is the species name and it’s descriptive, so it means “with large leaves.” Bigleaf maple is the common name. More than one plant in the world may be called this, which is why scientists use the Latin name.

Learn More

Dig deeper with California native plants.

Flora magazine

CNPS’s quarterly publication exploring the relationship between California’s plants, people, and places.

Calscape

Bookmark Calscape.org for all your native plant gardening needs.

CNPS Naturehood videos

Get expert gardening advice on everything from firewise landscaping to planning and design.

CNPS Chapters

Get involved with your local CNPS chapter to find out more about the native plants that grow in your region.

California state parks

From the wildflowers of Anza Borrego to the giant sequoias of Calaveras Big Trees, state parks are home to iconic native plants.

iNaturalist

Download the iNaturalist app to upload photos of the plants you see and get help with identifications.

Where to find native plants