State Plant Listings
Utah
Vegetation References
(Dominant plant species present in each vegetation type are listed in Appendix C)
11 Douglas Fir Forest (Pseudotsuga)
14 Western Spruce-Fir Forest (Picea-Abies)
17 Pine-Douglas Fir Forest (Pinus Pseudotsuga)
18 Arizona Pine Forest (Pinus)
19 Spruce Fir-Douglas Fir Forest (Picea-Abies-Pseudotsuga)
21 Juniper-Pinyon Woodland (Juniperus-Pinus)
31 Mountain Mahogany-Oak Scrub (Cercocarpus-Quercus)
32 Great Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia)
33 Blackbrush (Coleogyne)
34 Saltbrush-Geasewood (Artiplex-Sarcobatus)
35 Creosote Bush (Larrea)
39 Desert: Vegetation Largely Absent
42 Tule Marshes (Scirpus-Typha)
44 Wheatgrass-Bluegrass (Agropyron-Poa)
45 Alpine Meadows and Barren (Agrostis, Carex, Festuca, Poa)
49 Sagebrush Steppe (Artemisia-Agropyron)
51 Galleta-Three Awn Shrubsteppe (Hilaira-Aristida)
Botanical Expert
Duane Atwood, Assistant Curator
Herbarium
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
Recommended Flora
Welsh, S.L. 1993. A Utah Flora. 2nd Edition, Revision. Brigham Young University. Provo, UT 986 pgs. maps. ISBN 0842523138.
Native Plants for Landscape Use in Utah
Cacti
Echinocereus engelmannii (hedgehog cactus, strawberry cactus)
Opuntia basilaris (beavertail cactus)
Opuntia erinacea (grizzly, hedgehog, or Mohave prickly pear)
Opuntia macrorhiza (common prickly pear)
Opuntia phaeacantha (purple-fruited prickly pear)
Ferns
Adiantum capillus-veneris (southern maidenhair fern)
Adiantum pedatum (northern maidenhair fern)
Aspidotis densa (rock brake, cliff brake, Indian's dream)
Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Cheilanthes gracillima (lace fern)
Cystopteris bulbifera (bladder fern)
Cystopteris fragilis (fragile fern)
Forbs (annuals/biennials)
Baileya multiradiata (desert marigold)
Collomia linearis (collomia)
Eriogonum inflatum (desert trumpet)
Erysimum capitatum (western wallflower, prairie rocket)
Eschscholzia californica ssp. mexicana (Mexican gold poppy)
Gaillardia arizonica (Arizona blanket flower)
Hymenoxys cooped (Cooper's goldflower)
Ipomopsis aggregata (sky rocket, scarlet gilia)
Layia glandulosa (tidy tips)
Lupinus concinnus (annual lupine, bajada lupine)
Machaeranthera tanacetifolia (tahoka daisy, tansy aster)
Mimulus guttatus (golden monkey flower)
Nemophila breviflora (Great Basin nemophila)
Oenothera albicaulis (pale evening primrose)
Oenothera deltoides (fragrant primrose, desert evening primrose)
Oenothera primiveris (bottle evening primrose, yellow desert primrose)
Salvia columbariae (chia)
Townsendia exscapa (Easter daisy)
Forbs (perennials)
Abronia fragrans (sweet sand verbena)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)
Allium macropetalum (desert onion)
Anaphalis margaritacea (pearly everlasting)
Anemone multifida (early thimbleweed, cut-leaf anemone, Pacific anemone)
Aquilegia chrysantha (yellow columbine)
Aquilegia coerulea (Rocky Mountain or blue columbine)
Aquilegia flavescens (yellow columbine)
Aquilegia formosa (scarlet columbine)
Arnica cordifolia (heartleaf arnica)
Artemisia ludoviciana (white sage, prairie sage, artemisia)
Asclepias asperula (antelope horns)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Aster ascendens (purple aster, Pacific aster)
Aster foliaceus (leafy aster)
Aster laevis (smooth aster)
Aster sibiricus (Sibirian or arctic aster)
Balsamorrhiza sagittata (balsamroot)
Calochortus nuttallii (sego lily, mariposa lily)
Caltha leptosepala (white marsh marigold, elkslip)
Campanula rotundifolia (harebell)
Castilleja angustifolia var. dubia (desert paintbrush)
Castilleja linariifolia (Indian paintbrush)
Dichelostemma congestum (wild hyacinth)
Dryas octopetala (mountain dryas, white mountain avens)
Epilobium angustifolium (fireweed, willow herb)
Epilobium canum var. latifolia (hummingbird trumpet)
Epilobium latifolium (dwarf fireweed)
Erigeron compositus (alpine daisy)
Erigeron speciosus (showy fleabane)
Eriogonum racemosum (red root buckwheat)
Eriogonum umbellatum (sulfur buckwheat)
Erythronium grandiflorum (glacier lily, yellow fawn lily, dogtooth violet)
Eupatorium maculatum (spotted Joe-pye weed)
Gaillardia aristata (blanket flower, gaillardia, brown-eyed Susan)
Gaillardia pinnatifida (yellow gaillardia, blanket flower)
Galium triflorum (sweet-scented bedstraw)
Gaura coccinea (scarlet gaura)
Gentiana parryi (Parry gentian)
Geranium viscossisimum (sticky wild geranium)
Geum triflorum (prairie smoke, purple avens)
Hedysarum boreale (sweet vetch, sweet broom)
Heliomeris multiflora (showy goldeneye)
Heterotheca villosa var. villosa (golden aster)
Heuchera parvifolia (saxifrage, alum root)
Heuchera rubescens (mountain alumroot, red alumroot, wild coralbells)
Houstonia caerulea (bluets)
Lesquerella fendleri (bladderpod)
Lewisia rediviva (bitter root)
Linnaea borealis (twinflower)
Linum lewisii (wild blue flax)
Lithospermum incisum (fringed puccoon, narrow-leaved puccoon)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Lupinus argenteus (silvery lupine)
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum (false Solomon's seal, false spikenard)
Maianthemum stellatum (starry Solomon's seal)
Mertensia ciliata (mountain bluebells)
Mimulus cardinalis (crimson monkey flower)
Mimulus lewisii (Lewis monkey flower, great purple monkey flower)
Minuartia obtusiloba (cushion sandwort)
Mirabilis multiflora (wild four o'clock)
Monardella odoratissima (coyote mint, mountain pennyroyal)
Oenothera cespitosa (gumbo evening primrose, gumbo lily)
Oenothera flava (shortfin evening primrose)
Osmorhiza berteroi (mountain sweet cicely)
Pedicularis groenlandica (elephant heads)
Penstemon ambiguus (sand penstemon)
Penstemon barbatus (red penstemon, scarlet bugler)
Penstemon cyananthus (Platte River penstemon, Wasatch penstemon)
Penstemon eatonii (firecracker penstemon)
Penstemon rostriflorus (Bridge's penstemon, mountain scarlet penstemon)
Penstemon speciosus (sagebrush penstemon)
Penstemon strictus (Rocky Mountain penstemon)
Pentaphylloides floribunda (potentilla, shrubby cinquefoil)
Petrophyton caespitosum (dwarf spiraea, petrophytum, tufted rockmat)
Phacelia sericea (silky phacelia)
Polemonium foliosissimum (Jacob's ladder)
Polemonium pulcherrimum (alpine Jacob's ladder, skunk leaf)
Polemonium viscosum (sky pilot)
Potentilla arguta (white cinquefoil, prairie cinquefoil, tall cinquefoil)
Psilostrophe tagetina (woolly paper-flower)
Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifida (pasque flower, wild crocus)
Ranunculus alismifolius (meadow buttercup)
Ranunculus cardiophyllus (buttercup)
Saxifraga bronchialis (spotted saxifrage, matted saxifrage)
Saxifraga cespitosa (tufted saxifrage)
Sidalcea neomexicana (checker mallow, prairie mallow)
Silene acaulis (moss campion)
Solidago canadensis (meadow goldenrod)
Solidago missouriensis (Missouri goldenrod, prairie goldenrod)
Solidago multiradiata (northern goldenrod, mountain goldenrod)
Sphaeralcea ambigua (desert mallow)
Sphaeralcea coccinea (scarlet globe mallow)
Sphaeralcea grossulariifolia (gooseberry leaf globemallow)
Sphaeralcea munroana (Munro's globe mallow, white-leaved globe mallow)
Sphaeralcea parvifolia (globe mallow)
Stanleya pinnata (desert or prince's plume)
Tetraneuris acaulis var. acaulis (stemless goldflower, stemless rubber weed, butte marigold)
Thermopsis rhombifolia var. montana (golden pea, buckbean)
Verbena hastata (blue verbena, blue vervain)
Viola canadensis (Canada violet)
Viola nuttallii (yellow violet)
Viola vallicola (yellow violet)
Xylorhiza tortifolia var. tortifolia (Mojave aster)
Yucca baccata (blue yucca, banana yucca, fleshy-fruited yucca)
Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree)
Zizia aptera (heart-leaved golden alexanders)
Grasses/Grass-like plants
Agrostis exarata (spikebent, spike red top)
Agrostis scabra (ticklegrass, fly-away grass)
Aristida purpurea (purple three awn)
Aristida purpurea var. longiseta (red three awn)
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama)
Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama)
Calamagrostis canadensis (bluejoint grass)
Calamovilfa longifolia (sandreed grass, prairie sandreed)
Carex aquatilis (water sedge)
Carex nebrascensis (Nebraska sedge)
Carex utriculata (beaked sedge)
Danthonia californica (California oatgrass)
Danthonia intermedia (timber oatgrass)
Deschampsia cespitosa (tufted hairgrass)
Distichlis spicata (seashore saltgrass)
Eleocharis palustris (creeping spikesedge, spike rush)
Elymus canadensis (Canada wild rye)
Elymus glaucus (blue wild rye)
Elymus lanceolatus (thickspike wheatgrass)
Festuca idahoensis (Idaho fescue, blue bunchgrass)
Festuca ovina (sheep fescue)
Glyceria grandis (American mannagrass, tall mannagrass, reed meadowgrass)
Hierochloe odorata (sweet grass)
Koeleria macrantha (June grass)
Leymus cinereus (Great Basin wild rye)
Muhlenbergia montana (mountain muhly)
Muhlenbergia ported (bush muhly)
Muhlenbergia wrightii (spike muhly)
Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass)
Phleum alpinum (alpine timothy)
Poa alpina (alpine bluegrass)
Poa secunda (pine bluegrass)
Pseudoroegneria spicata (bluebunch wheatgrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Scirpus acutus (hardstem bulrush)
Scirpus maritimus (alkali bulrush, prairie bulrush, bayonet grass)
Sporobolus airoides (alkali sacaton)
Sporobolus compositus var. compositus (tall dropseed)
Sporobolus cryptandrus (sand dropseed)
Sporobolus flexuosus (mesa dropseed)
Stipa comata (needle-and-thread grass)
Stipa nelsonii (Columbia needlegrass)
Trisetum spicatum (spike trisetum)
Shrubs (deciduous)
Alnus incana (speckled alder, mountain alder)
Amelanchier alnifolia (saskatoon, western serviceberry, Juneberry)
Amelanchier utahensis (Utah serviceberry)
Artemisia frigida (prairie sagewort, fringed sage)
Atriplex canescens (four-wing saltbush, wingscale)
Atriplex confertifolia (spiny saltbush, shadscale saltbush, hop sage)
Ceanothus greggii var. vestitus (desert ceanothus)
Chamaebatiaria millefolium (fernbush, desert sweet, tansy bush)
Chrysothamnus nauseosus (rabbit brush, chamisa)
Cornus sericea (red-twig dogwood, red-osier dogwood)
Crataegus douglasii (black hawthorn)
Ephedra nevadensis (Mormon tea)
Ephedra viridis (Mormon tea)
Eriogonum fasciculatum (California buckwheat)
Fallugia paradoxa (Apache plume)
Forestiera pubescens (desert olive, elbow-bush, forestiera)
Holodiscus dumosus (bush rock-spires, cream bush, ocean spray)
Krascheninnikovia lanata (winterfat)
Lonicera involucrata (black twinberry, bear berry honeysuckle)
Lycium andersonii (Anderson wolfberry)
Parthenium incanum (mariola)
Physocarpus malvaceus (mallow ninebark)
Poliomintha incana (mintbush)
Prosopsis glandulosa (honey mesquite)
Prunus virginiana (chokecherry)
Psilostrophe cooperi (paperflower, yellow paper daisy)
Purshia tridentata (antelope brush)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus trilobata (squawbush, basketbush, skunkbush)
Ribes aureum (golden currant)
Ribes cereum (wax currant, western red currant, squaw currant)
Ribes laxiflorum (trailing black currant)
Robinia neomexicana (New Mexico locust, mescal bean)
Rosa nutkana (nootka rose)
Rosa woodsii (western wild rose, woods rose)
Rubus parviflorus (western thimbleberry)
Salix bebbiana (Bebb willow, long-beaked willow)
Salix scouleriana (western pussy willow, Scouler's willow)
Salvia dorrii (grayball sage)
Sambucus cerulea (blue elderberry)
Sarcobatus vermiculatus (greasewood)
Shepherdia argentea (silver buffaloberry)
Shepherdia canadensis (buffaloberry)
Sorbus scopulina (western mountain ash)
Symphoricarpos oreophilus (mountain snowberry)
Shrubs (evergreen)
Arctostaphylos patula (greenleaf manzanita)
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry, kinnikinnik)
Artemisia nova (black sagebrush)
Artemisia tridentata (big sagebrush, Great Basin sagebrush)
Ceanothus fendleri (Fendler ceanothus, buckbrush)
Ceanothus velutinus (mountain balm, buckbush)
Cercocarpus ledifolius (curl-leaf mountain mahogany)
Cercocarpus montanus (mountain mahogany, silverleaf mountain mahogany)
Encelia farinosa (brittle bush)
Grayia spinosa (spiny hopsage)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Kalmia polifolia (swamp laurel, bog laurel)
Larrea tridentata (creosote bush)
Mahonia fremontii (Fremont barberry, holly grape)
Paxistima myrsinites (Oregon box, myrtle boxwood, mountain lover)
Purshia stansburiana (cliff rose)
Quercus turbinella (shrub live oak)
Trees (deciduous)
Acer glabrum (Rocky Mountain maple)
Acer grandidentatum (bigtooth maple)
Acer negundo (box elder)
Betula occidentalis (mountain birch, water birch)
Celtis laevigata var. reticulata (netleaf hackberry)
Chilopsis linearis (desert willow, trumpet flower)
Fraxinus velutina (Arizona ash, Velvet ash, desert ash)
Populus fremontii (western cottonwood)
Populus tremuloides (quaking aspen)
Prosopsis pubescens (tornillo, screwbean mesquite)
Quercus gambeli (Gambel's oak, Rocky Mountain white oak)
Salix amygdaloides (peachleaf willow)
Salix laevigata (red willow)
Trees (evergreen)
Abies concolor (western white fir)
Abies lasiocarpa (subalpine fir)
Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper)
Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper)
Picea engelmannii (Engelmann spruce)
Picea pungens (blue spruce, Colorado spruce)
Pinus flexilis (limber pine)
Pinus ponderosa (ponderosa pine)
Pseudotsuga menziesii (Douglas fir)
Vines (deciduous)
Clematis columbiana (purple virgin's bower)
Clematis ligusticifolia (clematis)
Vitis arizonica (Arizona grape, canyon grape)
Federally Listed Endangered Species
Autumn buttercup (Ranunculus acriformis var. Aestivalis)
Barneby reed-mustard (Schoenocrambe barnebyi)
Barneby ridge-cress (peppercress) (Lepidium barnebyanum)
Clay phacelia (Phacelia argillacea)
Clay reed-mustard (Schoenocrambe argillacea)
Dwarf bear-poppy (Arctomecon humilis)
Heliotrope milk-vetch (Astragalus montii)
Jones cycladenia (Cycladenia humilis var. jonesii)
Kodachrome bladderpod (Lesquerella tumulosa)
Last Chance townsendia (Townsendia aprica)
Maguire daisy (Erigeron maguirei var. maguirei)
Maguire primrose (Primula maguirei)
Navajo sedge (Carex specuicola)
San Rafael cactus (Pediocactus despainii)
Shrubby reed-mustard (toad-flax cress) (Schoenocrambe suffrutescens)
Siler pincushion cactus (Pediocactus sileri)
Uinta Basin hookless cactus (Sclerocactus glaucus)
Ute ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis)
Welsh's milkweed (Asclepias welshii)
Wright fishhook cactus (Sclerocactus wrightiae)
Utah 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 and Seed Laws)
Department of Agriculture
Division of Plant Industry
350 North Redwood Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
Steven A. Dewey
Plants/Soils/Biometeorology
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322
(801) 797-2256
Utah Resources
Natural Heritage Program
Division of Wildlife Resources
1596 West North Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84116
(801) 538-5511
The Nature Conservancy Field Office
559 East South Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84102
(801) 531-0999
Utah Native Plant Society
3631 South Carolyn St.
Salt Lake City, UT 84106
