Resources

Did you know there are over 2,500 native vascular plants (clubmosses, horsetails, ferns, conifers and flowering plants) documented for the province of Alberta?

What is an Alberta Native Plant?

A plant which naturally occurs in Alberta, evolved in Alberta and was present in the ecosystems that existed in Alberta prior to the onset of European settlement. Includes a species, subspecies, or lower taxon, occurring within its historic range in Alberta. 

Native species which are found in Alberta and nowhere else are called endemic.

Native Plant Fact Sheets

• Growing Native Plants from Seeds
• Plant Emblems of Alberta
• Rare Plants of Alberta
• We Value Native Plants
• Weeds in Alberta

Native Plant Resources and Guidelines

• Native Plant Source List – 2023 (Excel file, check your do
• Rare Plants
  • ANPC Guidelines for Rare Vascular Plant Surveys in Alberta – 2012 Update
  • Benefits to Reporting Rare Species Information
• Recommendations for Considerations in Sale of Public Land
• Recommended Documents for Botanical Surveys in Areas of Proposed Disturbance – 2010
• ANPC Guidelines on Plant Rescues
• Plant Collection Guidelines for Horticultural Use of Native Plants
• Plant Collection Guidelines for Researchers, Students and Consultants
• Plant Collection Guidelines for Wildcrafters
• ANPC Guidelines for the Purchase and Use of Wildflower Seed Mixes
• Botany Dictionary Version 1.0

Some other definitions:

An introduced, exotic or non-native plant species is a plant that is not native to the area; i.e. a plant that has been intentionally or accidentally brought to an area by humans.

An invasive plant species is a plant that out-competes other plants, and displaces other plants by competition, lack of predators and pathogens, or direct chemical antagonism.

A naturalized plant species is a species that has been introduced to an area and that now grows and reproduces wild, without cultivation. Some naturalized species have become such common sights that they are sometimes incorrectly assumed to be native. However, this just shows how very invasive they are and how they are able to dominate areas where native species have been displaced.

Native Plant Organizations

• Native Plant Society of British Columbia
• Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan
• Montana Native Plant Society
• California Native Plant Society
• Grasslands Restoration Forum
• Prairie Conservation Forum
• Native Orchid Conservation – protects native orchids and rare plants of Manitoba

Benefits and Uses of Native Plants

Bringing native plants into urban and suburban setting where they have been historically replaced by non-native plants, reminds us of the many benefits of native plants: from beauty to medicine to sacred plants and habitat for other species, not to mention lower maintenance requirements.

Native plants are hardy and once established generally require little maintenance, less water, and no fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides.

Many native plants display beautiful colourful flowers and produce abundant fruits and seeds enjoyed by birds and mammals.

Native plants provide shelter and food (especially nectar for pollinators).

Some native plants have very close relationships with other species, particularly insects, which means that changes to the abundance or distribution of one may impact the other species.