Top native plants
62 species, native to the US, ranked by caterpillars, then bees and other hosts, food, flowers and shelter.
-
White Ash
Fraxinus americana
caterpillars
114
hosts
29
food
34
flowers
37
shelter
2
-
Eastern Black Walnut
Juglans nigra
caterpillars
114
hosts
18
food
31
flowers
68
shelter
2
-
Green Ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
caterpillars
112
hosts
29
food
39
flowers
8
shelter
4
-
Blue Spruce
Picea pungens
caterpillars
95
hosts
4
food
27
flowers
3
-
Aromatic Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
keystone
caterpillars
78
bees
26
hosts
2
food
21
flowers
252
shelter
1
-
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
caterpillars
55
hosts
1
food
6
flowers
212
-
Summer Grape
Vitis aestivalis
keystone
caterpillars
53
hosts
8
food
77
flowers
8
-
Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
caterpillars
35
hosts
3
food
14
flowers
291
shelter
1
-
Dogfennel
Eupatorium capillifolium
caterpillars
35
hosts
1
food
8
flowers
140
-
Hyssopleaf Thoroughwort
Eupatorium hyssopifolium
caterpillars
32
hosts
1
food
5
flowers
136
-
Fragrant Sumac
Rhus aromatica
caterpillars
31
bees
1
hosts
3
food
38
flowers
119
-
American Sweetgum
Liquidambar styraciflua
caterpillars
29
hosts
3
food
25
flowers
18
shelter
1
-
Bristle Thistle
Cirsium horridulum
caterpillars
25
bees
10
hosts
1
food
14
flowers
164
-
Bracted Arrowwood
Viburnum bracteatum
caterpillars
20
hosts
1
food
11
flowers
35
-
Walter's Viburnum
Viburnum obovatum
caterpillars
19
hosts
1
food
14
flowers
42
-
Wingstem
Verbesina alternifolia
caterpillars
17
bees
16
hosts
1
food
21
flowers
156
shelter
1
-
Tall Blue Wild Indigo
Baptisia australis
caterpillars
13
flowers
55
-
Gallberry
Ilex glabra
caterpillars
12
bees
3
hosts
4
food
11
flowers
63
shelter
1
-
Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum
caterpillars
11
bees
1
hosts
1
food
2
flowers
140
-
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
caterpillars
10
bees
3
hosts
2
food
9
flowers
320
-
Osage-orange
Maclura pomifera
caterpillars
10
hosts
4
food
7
flowers
5
shelter
1
-
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
caterpillars
10
hosts
2
food
17
flowers
355
-
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
caterpillars
9
hosts
3
food
12
flowers
380
-
Shrubby Cinquefoil
Dasiphora fruticosa
caterpillars
9
food
17
flowers
127
shelter
1
-
Common Yucca
Yucca filamentosa
caterpillars
8
food
2
flowers
2
-
American Pokeweed
Phytolacca americana
caterpillars
7
hosts
1
food
60
flowers
112
-
Snow-on-the-mountain
Euphorbia marginata
caterpillars
6
bees
3
food
19
flowers
56
-
Flowering Spurge
Euphorbia corollata
caterpillars
6
food
17
flowers
103
-
Whorled Coreopsis
Coreopsis verticillata
caterpillars
5
bees
12
food
2
flowers
95
-
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
caterpillars
5
bees
10
food
1
flowers
151
-
Sacred Datura
Datura wrightii
caterpillars
5
hosts
1
food
7
flowers
38
shelter
1
-
Vase-vine Leatherflower
Clematis viorna
caterpillars
5
hosts
1
food
2
flowers
16
-
Swamp Leatherflower
Clematis crispa
caterpillars
5
hosts
1
food
2
flowers
14
-
Rocky Mountain Zinnia
Zinnia grandiflora
caterpillars
5
food
7
flowers
113
-
Swamp Tickseed
Coreopsis palustris
caterpillars
4
bees
7
food
2
flowers
59
-
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
caterpillars
4
bees
3
flowers
120
-
Marginal Wood Fern
Dryopteris marginalis
caterpillars
4
-
Prairie Dock
Silphium terebinthinaceum
caterpillars
3
bees
6
food
3
flowers
47
-
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
caterpillars
3
bees
4
food
3
flowers
262
-
Whorled Loosestrife
Lysimachia quadrifolia
caterpillars
3
bees
3
flowers
3
-
Male Fern
Dryopteris filix-mas
caterpillars
3
food
4
shelter
1
-
Eastern Beebalm
Monarda bradburyana
caterpillars
3
flowers
67
-
Interrupted Fern
Osmunda claytoniana
caterpillars
3
shelter
1
-
Hay-scented Fern
Dennstaedtia punctilobula
caterpillars
3
-
Southern Sneezeweed
Helenium flexuosum
caterpillars
2
bees
6
food
1
flowers
41
-
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
caterpillars
2
food
19
flowers
286
-
Wild Blue Larkspur
Delphinium carolinianum
caterpillars
2
food
2
flowers
30
-
Lyme Grass
Leymus arenarius
caterpillars
2
food
1
-
Straggler Daisy
Calyptocarpus vialis
caterpillars
2
flowers
11
-
Southern Blue Monkshood
Aconitum uncinatum
caterpillars
2
flowers
1