State Plant Listings
Illinois
Vegetation References
(Dominant plant species present in each vegetation type are listed in Appendix C)
66 Bluestem Prairie (Andropogon-Panicum-Sorghastrum)
72 Oak Savanna (Quercus-Andropogon)
73 Mosaic of 66 (Bluestem Prairie) and 91 (Oak-Hickory Forest)
90 Maple-Basswood Forest (Acer-Tilia)
91 Oak-Hickory Forest (Quercus-Carya)
Botanical Experts
Bill McClain
Natural Areas Stewardship Program Manager
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
524 South 2nd St.
Springfield, IL 61701
(217) 785-8774
(217) 785-8277 (fax)
Recommended Flora
Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1986. Guide to the Vascular Flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL. 507 pgs., plates, maps. ISBN 089312727; 0809312735 (paperback).
Native Plants for Landscape Use in Illinois
Cacti
Opuntia humifusa (prickly pear)
Opuntia macrorhiza (common prickly pear)
Ferns
Adiantum pedatum (northern maidenhair fern)
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Botrychium virginianum (rattlesnake fern)
Cystopteris bulbifera (bladder fern)
Cystopteris fragilis (fragile fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris carthusiana (shield fern, toothed wood fern, spinulose shield fern)
Dryopteris cristata (crested wood fern, buckler fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (marginal wood fern)
Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern, bead fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Osmunda regalis (royal fern)
Phegopteris hexagonoptera (broad beech fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Woodsia ilvensis (rusty woodsia)
Forbs (annuals/biennials)
Campanulastrum americanum (American bellflower, tall bellflower)
Erysimum capitatum (western wallflower, prairie rocket)
Glandularia canadensis (rose vervain, sweet William)
Lobelia spicata (pale lobelia)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Oenothera rhombipetala (diamond-petal primrose, four-point evening primrose)
Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan)
Sabatia campestris (prairie rose gentian, prairie sabatia, meadow pink)
Senecio glabellus (butterweed)
Senecio plattensis (prairie ragwort, prairie groundsel)
Forbs (perennials)
Acorus calamus (sweet flag, calamus)
Actaea pachypoda (white baneberry)
Ageratina altissima var. altissima (white snakeroot)
Allium canadense (wild garlic)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)
Allium stellatum (wild pink onion)
Allium tricoccum (wild leek)
Amsonia tabernaemontana (blue star)
Anemone canadensis (Canada anemone, windflower)
Anemone caroliniana (Carolina anemone, southern thimbleweed)
Anemone cylindrica (thimbleweed, candle anemone)
Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed, tall anemone)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes, everlasting)
Apocynum androsaemifolium (spreading dogbane)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Arisaema triphyllum Back-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip)
Artemisia ludoviciana (white sage, prairie sage, artemisia)
Aruncus dioicus (goat's beard)
Asarum canadense (wild ginger)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)
Aster dumosus (bushy aster)
Aster ericoides (heath aster, white wreath aster)
Aster laevis (smooth aster)
Aster novae-angliae (New England aster)
Aster oblongifolius (aromatic aster)
Aster oolentangiensis (sky blue aster)
Aster pilosus (frost aster)
Aster puniceus (red-stem aster, swamp aster)
Aster sericeus (silky aster)
Astragalus canadensis (milk vetch, Canada milk vetch)
Baptisia alba (white false indigo)
Baptisia alba var. macrophylla (cream false indigo, plains Wild indigo)
Caltha palustris (marsh marigold, cowslip)
Camassia scilloides (wild hyacinth)
Campanula rotundifolia (harebell)
Castilleja sessiliflora (downy painted cup)
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)
Chelone glabra (turtlehead)
Claytonia virginica (narrow-leaved spring beauty)
Collinsonia canadensis (stoneroot, citronella horsebalm)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lance-leaved coreopsis)
Coreopsis palmata (stiff coreopsis)
Coreopsis tripteris (tall coreopsis)
Dalea candida (white prairie clover)
Dalea purpurea (purple prairie clover)
Delphinium carolinianum (blue larkspur)
Delphinium tricorne (dwarf larkspur)
Desmodium canadense (Canada tick-trefoil, Canada tickclover)
Desmodium illinoense (Illinois tick-trefoil, Illinois tickclover)
Dicentra cucullaria (dutchman's breeches)
Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)
Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower)
Epilobium angustifolium (fireweed, willow herb)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master, button snake-root)
Erythronium americanum (eastern trout lily, yellow trout lily)
Eupatorium coelestinum (mist flower)
Eupatorium fistulosum (Joe-pye weed)
Eupatorium maculatum (spotted Joe-pye weed)
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-pye weed)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge)
Euthamia graminifolia var. graminifolia (grass-leaved goldenrod)
Filipendula rubra (queen-of-the-prairie)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium triflorum (sweet-scented bedstraw)
Gentiana alba (cream gentian, yellow gentian)
Gentiana andrewsii (bottle gentian)
Gentiana saponaria (closed gentian, soapwort gentian)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium, cranesbill)
Geum triflorum (prairie smoke, purple avens)
Hedyotis nigricans (bluets)
Helenium autumnale (common sneezeweed)
Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower)
Helianthus pauciflorus ssp. pauciflorus (stiff sunflower)
Helianthus strumosus (woodland sunflower)
Heliopsis helianthoides (ox-eye sunflower, false sunflower)
Hepatica nobilis var. acuta (sharp-lobed hepatica)
Heterotheca villosa var. villosa (golden aster)
Heuchera richardsonii (alum root)
Hieracium longipilum (hairy hawkweed)
Houstonia caerulea (bluets)
Houstonia longifolia var. longifolia (long-leaved bluets, pale blues)
Hydrastis canadensis (golden seal)
Hydrophyllum virginianum (Virginia waterleaf)
Hymenocallis caroliniana (spider lily, rain lily)
Hypericum ascyron (great St. John's wort)
Hypoxis hirsuta (yellow star grass)
Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris)
Iris virginica v. shrevei (blue flag)
Lespedeza capitata (roundheaded bush clover)
Liatris aspera (rough blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris cylindracea (dwarf blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris pycnostachya (prairie blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris spicata (marsh blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris squarrosa (blazing star)
Lilium michiganense (Turk's cap lily, Michigan lily)
Lilium philadelphicum (wood lily)
Linum virginianum (woodland flax)
Lithospermum canescens (hoary puccoon)
Lithospermum caroliniense (hairy puccoon, hispid gromwell)
Lithospermum incisum (fringed puccoon, narrow-leaved puccoon)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Lobelia siphilitica (great blue lobelia)
Lupinus perennis (wild lupine)
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife)
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum (false Solomon's seal, false spikenard)
Maianthemum stellatum (starry Solomon's seal)
Manfreda virginica (rattlesnake master, false aloe)
Mertensia virginica (bluebells)
Mitchella repens (partridge berry)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, horsemint, beebalm)
Nuphar lutea (yellow pond lily, cow lily, spatter dock)
Osmorhiza claytoni (sweet cicely, sweet jarvil)
Peltandra virginica (arrow arum)
Penstemon digitalis (beardtongue)
Penstemon grandiflorus (large-flowered penstemon)
Penstemon hirsutus (hairy beardtongue)
Pentaphylloides floribunda (potentilla, shrubby cinquefoil)
Phlox divaricata ssp. laphamii (blue phlox, sweet william)
Phlox paniculata (summer phlox, perennial phlox)
Phlox pilosa (prairie phlox, downy phlox)
Physostegia intermedia (obedient plant)
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant, false dragonhead)
Podophyllum peltatum (May apple)
Polemonium reptans (Jacob's ladder, Greek valerian)
Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's seal)
Potentilla arguta (white cinquefoil, prairie cinquefoil, tall cinquefoil)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida (pasque flower, wild crocus)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain mint)
Pycnanthemum virginianum (mountain mint)
Ranunculus hispidus (early buttercup, tufted buttercup)
Ratibida pinnata (gray-headed coneflower, yellow coneflower)
Rhexia virginica (meadow beauty)
Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed Susan, orange coneflower)
Rudbeckia laciniata (cut-leaf coneflower)
Rudbeckia subtomentosa (sweet black-eyed Susan)
Ruellia humilis (wild petunia)
Salvia lyrata (cancer weed, lyre-leaf sage)
Sanguinaria candensis (bloodroot)
Sedum ternatum (wild stonecrop)
Senecio aureus (golden ragwort)
Silene stellata (starry campion)
Silene virginica (fire pink)
Silphium integrifolium (rosinweed)
Silphium laciniatum (compass plant)
Silphium perfoliatum (cup plant)
Silphium terebinthinaceum (prairie dock)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (narrow-leaved blue-eyed grass)
Sisyrinchium campestre (white-eyed grass, prairie blue-eyed grass)
Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod, wreath goldenrod)
Solidago canadensis (meadow goldenrod)
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod, plume goldenrod)
Solidago missouriensis (Missouri goldenrod, prairie goldenrod)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod, old-field goldenrod)
Solidago rigida (stiff goldenrod)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Solidago speciosa (showy goldenrod)
Solidago ulmifolia (elm-leaved goldenrod)
Spigelia marilandica (Indian pink)
Tephrosia virginiana (goat's rue)
Thalictrum dasycarpum (tall or purple meadow rue)
Thalictrum dioicum (early meadow rue)
Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort)
Tradescantia virginiana (Virginia spiderwort, spider lily)
Uvularia grandiflora (bellwort, merrybells)
Uvularia sessilifolia (wildoats, merrybells)
Verbena hastata (blue verbena, blue vervain)
Verbena stricta (hoary vervain)
Vernonia baldwinii (ironweed, western ironweed)
Vernonia fasciculata (ironweed)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root)
Viola missouriensis (Missouri violet)
Viola pedata (bird-foot violet)
Viola pedatifida (prairie violet)
Viola pubescens (downy or smooth yellow violet)
Viola soraria (common blue violet, meadow violet)
Zizia aptera (heart-leaved golden alexanders)
Zizia aurea (golden alexanders)
Grasses/Grass-like plants
Agrostis scabra (ticklegrass, fly-away grass)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Andropogon virginicus room sedge)
Arundinaria gigantea (giant cane)
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Bouteloua hirsuta (hairy grama)
Bromus kalmii (prairie brome, wild chess)
Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint grass)
Calamovilfa longifolia (sandreed grass, prairie sandreed)
Carex aquatilis (water sedge)
Carex pensylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
Carex stipata (awl-fruited sedge)
Carex stricta (tussock sedge)
Carex utriculata (beaked sedge)
Chasmanthium latifolium (inland sea oats, wild oats, river oats, broad-leaf uniola)
Danthonia spicata (poverty grass)
Eleocharis palustris (creeping spikesedge, spike rush)
Elymus canadensis (Canada wild rye)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass, tumblegrass)
Hierochloe odorata (sweet grass)
Juncus effusus var. solutes (soft rush)
Juncus interior (inland rush)
Koeleria macrantha (June grass)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Melica nitens (three-flower melic grass)
Muhlenbergia capillaris (gulf muhly, hair grass)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Scirpus acutus (hardstem bulrush)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (wool grass)
Scirpus tabernaemontani (great bulrush)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass, freshwater cordgrass)
Sporobolus compositus var. composites (tall dropseed)
Sporobolus cryptandrus (sand dropseed)
Sporobolus heterolepis (northern prairie dropseed)
Stipa spartea (porcupine grass)
Tripsacum dactyloides (eastern gama grass)
Typha latifolia (cattail)
Shrubs (deciduous)
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry, shadbush, Juneberry)
Amorpha canescens (leadplant)
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo, Indigo bush)
Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry)
Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea, red root)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Cornus alternifolia (pogoda dogwood, alternate-leaved dogwood)
Cornus amomum ssp. obliqua (swamp dogwood, silky dogwood)
Cornus drummondii (rough-leaf dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Cornus sericea (red-twig dogwood, red-osier dogwood)
Corylus americana (American hazelnut or filbert)
Diervilla lonicera (bush honeysuckle)
Dirca palustris (leatherwood, ropebark)
Euonymus americana (strawberry bush, brook euonymus, hearts-a-bustin')
Euonymus atropurpurea (wahoo, burning bush)
Forestiera acuminata (swamp privet)
Frangula caroliniana (Carolina buckthorn)
Hydrangea arborescens (wild hydrangea)
Hypericum hypericoides ssp. hypericoides (St. Andrew's cross)
Hypericum prolificum (shrubby St. John's wort)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry, black alder)
Itea virginica (Virginia willow, sweetspire, tassel-white)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lonicera dioica (limber or wild honeysuckle)
Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)
Prunus virginiana (chokecherry)
Rhododendron prinophyllum (roseshell azalea, early azalea)
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)
Rhus copallinum (dwarf or winged sumac)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus hirta (staghorn sumac)
Ribes cynosbati (prickly gooseberry, dogberry)
Rosa blanda (early wild rose, smooth rose)
Rosa carolina (Carolina rose)
Rosa setigera (Illinois or prairie rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry, thimbleberry)
Rubus odoratus (thimbleberry)
Salix bebbiana (Bebb willow, long-beaked willow)
Salix discolor (pussy willow)
Sambucus canadensis (elderberry, common elder)
Sambucus racemosa var. pubens (scarlet elderberry, red-berried elder)
Sideroxylon lanuginosum ssp. lanuginosum (chittamwood, gum elastic tree)
Spiraea alba (meadow sweet)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush, hardhack)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Styrax americanus (American silverbells)
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry, Indian currant)
Vaccinium angustifolium (low-bush blueberry)
Vaccinium arboreum (sparkleberry, farkleberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)
Viburnum lentago (black haw, nannyberry)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum (high-bush cranberry, American cranberrybush viburnum)
Viburnum prunifolium (black haw, nanny berry)
Viburnum rufidulum (southern or rusty black haw)
Shrubs (evergreen)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry, kinnikinnik)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Juniperus horizontalis (creeping juniper, creeping savin)
Taxus canadensis (Canada yew)
Trees (deciduous)
Acer negundo (box elder)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer saccharum (sugar maple)
Aesculus glabra (Ohio buckeye, horse chestnut)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Betula papyrifera (paper birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (blue beech, hornbeam, musclewood)
Carya alba (mockernut hickory)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut, swamp hickory)
Carya illinoinensis (pecan)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Carya texana (black hickory)
Catalpa speciosa (northern catalpa)
Celtis laevigata (sugarberry, hackberry)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry, sugarberry)
Cercis canadensis (redbud)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn)
Crataegus mollis (downy hawthorn)
Crataegus phaenopyrum (Washington hawthorn)
Crataegus punctata (dotted hawthorn, white thorn)
Diospyros virginiana (persimmon)
Fagus grandifolia var. grandifolia (beech)
Fagus grandifolia var. caroliniana (beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Gymnocladus dioica (Kentucky coffee tree)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex decidua (possum-haw, deciduous holly)
Juglans cinerea (butternut, white walnut)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Larix laricina (tamarack, American larch)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Magnolia acuminata (cucumber tree)
Malus ioensis var. ioensis (prairie crabapple)
Nyssa sylvatica (black gum, tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (ironwood, hophornbeam)
Platanus occidentalis (sycamore, plane-tree)
Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood)
Populus grandidentata (large-toothed aspen)
Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)
Prunus americana (wild plum)
Prunus angustifolia (chickasaw plum)
Prunus mexicana (Mexican plum)
Prunus pensylvanica (fire or pin cherry)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Ptelea trifoliata (wafer ash, common hoptree)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)
Quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)
Quercus falcata (southern red oak, Spanish oak)
Quercus lyrata (overcup oak)
Quercus macrocarpa (bur oak)
Quercus marilandica (blackjack oak)
Quercus muhlenbergii (chinkapin oak, chestnut oak)
Quercus palustris (pin oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus shumardii (shumard oak)
Quercus stellata (post oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Salix amygdaloides (peachleaf willow)
Salix nigra (black willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Taxodium distichum (bald cypress)
Tilia americana (American linden, basswood)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (red elm, slippery elm)
Trees (evergreen)
Juniperus virginiana (eastern red cedar)
Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine)
Pinus resinosa (red pine, Norway pine)
Pinus strobus (eastern white pine)
Thuja occidentalis (arbor vitae, northern white cedar)
Vines (deciduous)
Bignonia capreolata (cross vine)
Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper, trumpet vine)
Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet)
Clematis pitched (leather flower, purple clematis)
Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower)
Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia var. quinquefolia (woodbine)
Passiflora incarnata (passion flower, maypop)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)
Wisteria frutescens (wisteria)
Federally Listed Endangered Species
Decurrent false aster (Boltonia decurrens)
Eastern prairie Fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea)
Lakeside daisy (Hymenoxys herbacea)
Leafy prairie-clover (Dalea (Petalostemum) foliosa)
Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii)
Pitcher's thistle (Cirium pitcheri)
Prairie bush-clover (Lespedeza leptostachya)
Small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides)
Illinois Noxious Species
Because the noxious weed lists have continually changed since we gathered them in 1994, we are not including them at this time. Not all States have noxious weed lists. Those that do, do not use the same standards of importance and are not comparable. States typically have included plants that interfere with agriculture (Canada thistle), or cause human health problems (poison ivy). Some States are now including a category of plants that invade and degrade the environment (purple loosestrife). Check with your State's Agriculture Department or Weed Scientist listed below. The noxious weed list can be used two ways on roadsides: 1) check to not inadvertently plant these invasive plants, and 2) note the plants you are legally responsible to control. Many States now check adjacent State lists to avoid planting their neighbors' problem plants. Because weeds do not respect political boundaries, and because by their very nature weeds continue to adapt and expand, monitoring and controlling invasives at State borders is a wise part of vegetation management.
(Weed Law only)
Department of Agriculture
9511 Harrison Street, Room A169
Des Plaines, IL 60016
Ellery L. Knake
University of IL
N-323 Turner Hall
1102 South Goodwin Avenue
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 333-4424
Illinois Resources
Illinois Natural Heritage Division
Department of Natural Resources
524 South 2nd Street
Springfield, IL 62706
(217) 785-8774
The Nature Conservancy Field Office
8 South Michigan Avenue, Ste. 900
Chicago, IL 60603
Illinois Native Plant Society
Forest Glen Preserve
20301 East 900 N. Road
Westville, IL 61883
Lincoln Memorial Garden
2301 East Lake Drive
Springfield, IL 62707
Liberty Prairie Conservancy
32400 N. Harris Road
Grayslake, IL 60030
Severson Dells Environmental Education Center
8786 Montague Road
Rockford, IL 61102
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, IL 60022
(847) 835-5440
Morton Arboretum
4100 Illinois Route 53
Lisle, IL 60532
(630) 968-0074
