We have added a new functionality to the results of a basic search (the open search box to the upper left of a PLANTS page), showing a camera icon if photos are available for a plant when more than one plant is given in the search results. Visible at the right-hand side of the search results, the number of photos is indicated and the camera icon is a link to the images of interest. If only one photo exists then you will be taken to the plant's Profile page, but if more than one exists you will be taken to the results of an Image Gallery query. Try this on the scientific name "Quercus" to see for yourself. We hope to add this photo-indicator functionality to other kinds of search results in the future.

Are you looking for the famous USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map? Well, you've come to the wrong place! Often we are asked if we manage or provide this map, but it is the product of the USDA Agricultural Research Service and collaborators. However, we have added a link to this map under "Related Tools" at the bottom of the vertical gray bar to the left of most PLANTS pages. Please click here to read more about this map.

PLANTS now offers the 2012 National Wetland Plant List as a table linked to species profile pages. Beginning June 1, 2012, this list is to be used for all Federal wetland delineations under the Clean Water Act, Swamp Buster, and National Wetland Inventory programs, replacing the 1988 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service list. The new list makes three major changes to the 1988 list:

• More species: The new list includes 8200 species. Most of the increase is because of taxonomic changes and species discovered since the 1988 list appeared that are either new to the United States or new to science.
• New wetland regions: The new list arranges the species in 10 new regions covering the United States and its possessions. The regions are based on Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs) and Land Resource Regions (LRRs).
• Changes to wetland statuses: The new list, like the 1988 list, assigns plants to five wetland indicator categories: UPL (obligate upland), FACU (facultative upland), FAC (facultative), FACW (facultative wetland), and OBL (obligate wetland). The new list uses qualitative instead of quantitative definitions for the categories. Also, the new list eliminates the + and - modifiers to the FACU, FAC, and FACW categories that the 1988 list used to give finer distinctions to the wetland categories.

Please see our new Cover Crops page. Cover crops are a diverse group of plants that can be used on farmland for soil protection and health. We now offer a sortable list, linking to profile pages, of over 70 species used for cover crops in North America.

Oregon State University and the National Plant Data Team have completed a review of the 696 names of gymnosperms in PLANTS. Gymnosperms include conifers like pines, firs, and cypress, Ginkgo, Ephedra, and cycads. The team reviewed all gymnosperm names published since 2005. Attached is a comma-delimited text file showing the 31 new accepted gymnosperm names with comments on each one. The review also added over 70 new synonyms (names that are not accepted) to the database.

A recently published article has recommended using PLANTS as a standard to make GIS forestry databases more mutually compatible. Clark, T. 2011. Standardizing species codes using the NRCS PLANTS database. The Forestry Source 16: 14--16.

PLANTS welcomes three new botanists to the National Plant Data Team (NPDT): Gerry Moore (Team Lead), Doug Goldman, and Mark Garland. Data updates to PLANTS have begun and will be a high priority of the team in the coming months.