New York Metropolitan Flora Project

In 1990 the Garden embarked on the New York Metropolitan Flora project (NYMF), a multi-year effort to document the flora in all counties within a 50-mile radius of New York City, including all of Long Island, southeastern New York State, northern New Jersey and Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Understanding the urban landscape is critical in our rapidly urbanizing world. Findings of BBG's Metropolitan Flora Project serve as vital references for those involved in environmental efforts, from preserving rare plants, to planning parks and greenways, to repairing degraded habitats, to designing home gardens in which native plant communities are preserved or restored.

In April 2010, NYMF announced findings that some plants native to the NYC area have become locally extinct as new flora has moved in. To read more about the 20-year study’s findings, visit the pressroom.

The metropolitan plant encyclopedia consists of a series of comprehensive pages on the plants of the New York metropolitan region. For each family, genus, and species in the area there are one or more pages with photos, distribution maps, descriptions, ecological information, references and much more. Horticultural information will be added in the months ahead. At this time BBG scientists are concentrating on woody plants. The encyclopedia includes pages for all woody species in the area.

Table of Contents

Contents listed by family and genus

How to Use the Encyclopedia

A guide to the contents of the encyclopedia

Glossary

Definitions of terms used in the encyclopedia

New York Woody Plants

BBG scientists have compiled a list of woody plant species in the New York Metropolitan region.

To view and search the list, visit the map of woody plant species by county.

Interactive Keys to the Woody Plants of New York State and the New York Metropolitan Area

New York Metro Area

• PC Version
  NOTE: This botanical key will only work on Internet Explorer. It also uses JavaScript and HTML frames.