State or province

Nebraska

Nebraska, United States of America: 5 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Landscape and climate

Five ecoregions reach Nebraska and all five are temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands. Rainfall sorts them west to east: the Western shortgrass prairie in the dry panhandle, the Central-Southern US mixed grasslands and Northern Shortgrass prairie through the middle, and the Central Tallgrass prairie in the wetter east. The Nebraska Sand Hills mixed grasslands cover the north-central dunes. The Sand Hills are the standout, the largest grass-stabilized dune field in the hemisphere and largely intact because it was never worth plowing. Nebraska gardens have an unusually coherent brief: this is grassland, the only question is which grassland, and the deep-rooted natives handle both the drought and the wind better than anything imported.

Native plants of Nebraska

Species in the catalog recorded as native to Nebraska, each with its climate-fit grade and planting guidance.

Allegheny blackberry American basswood American elderberry American hazelnut American hophornbeam American persimmon American plum American red raspberry American sycamore Anise hyssop Aromatic aster Big bluestem Black cherry Black oak Black walnut Black willow Black-eyed Susan Bloodroot Blue false indigo Blue grama Blue vervain Boneset Boxelder Bur oak Butterfly weed California poppy Canada anemone Canada goldenrod Canada lily Cardinal flower Chinkapin oak Chokecherry Common blue violet Common hackberry Common hops Common juniper Common ninebark Common sunflower Common yarrow Creeping juniper Cutleaf coneflower Eastern cottonwood Eastern prickly pear Eastern red cedar Eastern redbud Foxglove beardtongue Golden alexanders Gray dogwood Groundnut Honey locust Indian grass Lady fern Lanceleaf coreopsis Little bluestem Mayapple Nannyberry Narrow-leaved coneflower New England aster New Jersey tea Northern maidenhair fern Northern red oak Ohio buckeye Pale purple coneflower Pawpaw Plains coreopsis Ponderosa pine Prairie dropseed Prairie ironweed Quaking aspen Red mulberry Red-osier dogwood Rocky Mountain juniper Shagbark hickory Side-oats grama Silver maple Smooth blue aster Soapweed yucca Spotted Joe-Pye weed Stiff goldenrod Sunchoke Swamp milkweed Sweet Joe-Pye weed Switchgrass Virginia iris White oak Whorled milkweed Wild bergamot Wild geranium Wild strawberry

Country

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United States of America

Ecoregions here

Central Tallgrass prairie Central-Southern US mixed grasslands Nebraska Sand Hills mixed grasslands Northern Shortgrass prairie Western shortgrass prairie