The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Database shows plant distributions and other information for North American plant species.

When botanists nerd it up, you get something like the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service plant database.

It’s a standard guide of more than 38,000 North American native and introduced plant species.

Search for a plant species by scientific or common name and get a map of its distribution.

Or, search for plants by state. Click on the “state search” below the search field. Then view plants for multiple states like those in the Great Lakes region.

Each profile displays a variety of information. Some list “characteristics” under “more information. Click the links to learn facts about the plant’s fire resistance, flower color, primary uses and preferred habitats.

Click on “native status” below the distribution map to see only those areas in which the plant is endemic. Move a cursor over a state and find literature that documented the plant’s occurrence within that state–the Michigan Natural Features Inventory cited the distribution for the endangered Michigan monkey-flower, which is only found near Great Lakes shorelines.

Invasive plants known to occupy a region are also included in the database. The flowering rush is planted in many Great Lakes gardens—that’s how the Minnesota Sea Grant says it is easily spread. Its dense mats are a headache for lake recreators and a threat to native plants. It’s also illegal to buy or sell in Minnesota, but it’s still available in states like Wisconsin.

Great Lakes Echo highlighted some of Michigan’s rare flowering plants last spring.