Is this plant native or invasive where you live?

Is it native here?

Stop guessing if your plants are actually native and search them by their common or scientific name below. Ezina checks each against USDA county records for where you are, and against the state and national invasive registers. Every answer links to the source it came from.

We’re regularly adding to this tool — if something is missing or incorrect, please let us know at [email protected].

Want to search by state instead? Click here.

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Common names and scientific names work best, some cultivar names may cause issues. Separate several with commas. Try: burning bush, callery pear, autumn olive, red maple.

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PlantNet identification · a daily limit applies · nothing is stored

What the tags mean

Native here

USDA records this plant as growing wild in your county before European settlement.

Introduced

Recorded in your county, but arrived from elsewhere — naturalised, not native.

Not recorded here

USDA has no record of it growing wild in your county, native or otherwise.

Prohibited

A legal status, not an ecological one. Your state names the plant in statute — a nursery rule limits sale, propagation and movement; an agricultural weed law obliges landowners to control it. We link the rule; the judgment is the state's, not ours.

Invasive

An ecological finding, and a different question from the law. GRIIS — the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species — lists the plant as invasive in the United States. Most invasive plants carry no state listing at all and are sold freely, so a plant without this tag is not thereby safe, and a plant without a legal tag is not thereby harmless.

Where this comes from

Nativity: USDA PLANTS, county distribution layer.
Regulatory status: State statutes and administrative codes, 43 states; cited per plant. A listing is a legal act, and it is not the same question as whether a plant is ecologically invasive. Where a state publishes no list we hold, the result says so rather than reporting silence as "not listed". The state lists carry every listing we hold.
Invasive status: GRIIS, the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species, via GBIF. A scientific register with no legal force; it is cited separately from the statute above because the two disagree far more often than they agree.
Alternatives: Native to your county per USDA, matched to the invasive's landscape role.
Location: Your browser's geolocation, resolved to a county by the FCC Census API. Nothing is stored.

Questions

Nativity is local. A plant can be native in one county, introduced in the next, and a regulated noxious weed two states over, so a nursery tag will not answer the question for your address.

How do I know if a plant is native to my area?

Enter the plant's common or scientific name and your county. Ezina checks it against USDA PLANTS county distribution records and tells you whether it is recorded as native, introduced, or not present in that county, with a link to the USDA source.

Is this plant invasive in my state?

Ezina reports two separate findings. The legal one is your state’s invasive or noxious-weed list, cited to the specific statute or administrative code, covering 43 states; where a state publishes no list Ezina holds, the answer says so instead of reporting silence as “not listed.” The ecological one is GRIIS, the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. The two disagree often, and most plants GRIIS calls invasive are regulated by no state at all.

What can I plant instead of an invasive species?

When a plant is regulated where you are, Ezina suggests native alternatives that USDA records in your county, matched to the invasive plant's landscape role.

Every plant app stops at your windowsill. Ezina doesn’t.

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Grow natives easily with Ezina

How it works

A field manual is only useful if you can find what you need. Here is the method.

The Ezina app identifying a plant: a live camera view framing pink coneflowers, with Plant, Disease/Insect, and Both scan modes.

010.1Identify

Add a plant

Snap a photo or type the name. The app pulls 4,000+ species from peer-reviewed horticulture data and starts a care plan tailored to your zone, the local weather, and the time of year.

The Ezina app's care screen: water needs showing status Okay, last watered 12 days ago, a suggested volume, and a treatment section.

010.2Care

Get a care plan

A schedule built from local rain, temperature, and sun—not a fixed weekly cadence. You get a single notification when a plant actually needs water. No streaks. No daily check-ins.

The Ezina Dig planner: a starting-plan site map with suggested garden beds you can draw with your finger.

010.3Plan

Explore new options

Our garden planner Dig helps you understand what works best for your location and makes suggestions based off your long term goals.

Add a plant

Snap a photo or type the name. The app pulls 4,000+ species from peer-reviewed horticulture data and starts a care plan tailored to your zone, the local weather, and the time of year.

Get Ezina for your garden Explore Ezina

Compiled from peer-reviewed research, USDA documentation,
and direct scientific observation across the 48 contiguous states.