Massachusetts native plants
Massachusetts is glacial: rocky acidic soil, sandy outwash on the Cape, and a growing season squeezed by cold winters and a cool coast. Its natives are New England woodland, meadow, and coastal species, and deer and drought both bite more than the state's reputation suggests.
Bedfellow lists 585 of these.
The 30 most-observed are listed here — see all 585 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)
- Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris)
- Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)
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