Illinois native plants
Illinois was tallgrass prairie before it was farmland, and its natives are the record of that — deep-rooted grasses and forbs built for deep black soil, full sun, and hot open summers. The southern tip and the river bottoms add a woodland flora on top of it.
Bedfellow lists 714 of these.
The 30 most-observed are listed here — see all 714 in search.
- Red Maple (Acer rubrum)
- Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)
- Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
- Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
- Pin Oak (Quercus palustris)
- Large Beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus)
- Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
- Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
- Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
- Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
- Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)
- Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)
- False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)
- Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
- Sassafras (Sassafras albidum)
- American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus)
- Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
- Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
- Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum)
- Sweet Gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
- Boxelder (Acer negundo)
- Green Ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
- Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
- Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
- Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Browse by what you want the plants to do
- Native plants for pollinators
- Native plants for butterflies
- Caterpillar host plants
- Milkweeds: monarch host plants
- Native plants for hummingbirds
- Native plants for birds
- Native plants for rain gardens
- Native groundcover plants
- Native plants for erosion control
- Native plants for hedges and screens
- Native plants for containers and pots
- Native plants for naturalizing