The Natural Heritage of Indiana

Content adapted with permission from the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society, a partner in the Natural Heritage of Indiana project. More information can be found here.

“Indigenous plants are a significant part of a region’s geographic context. In fact, they help define it. They have proven themselves capable of surviving in a landscape for millennia. What better plants can there be, if not the natives, to confront the soil conditions, climate, pests, and diseases of the local areas?”

-Michael A. Homoya, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Nature Preserves

Some of Indiana's native flowering plants

FLOWERING PERENNIALS
Common Name	Scientific Name	Bloom Color	Sun	Bloom Season
Columbine	Aquilegia canadensis	Orange/Yellow	Psun-Shade	Spring
Marsh Milkweed	Asclepias incarnata	Pink	Sun	Summer
Butterfly Weed	Asclepias tuberosa	Orange	Sun	Summer
New England Aster	Aster novae-angliae	Purple	Sun-Psun	Fall
Smooth Aster	Aster laevis	Blue	Sun-Psun	Fall
Short’s Aster	Aster shortii	Lavender	Shade	Fall
Blue False Indigo	Baptisia australis	Blue	Sun-Psun	Spring
Tall Coreopsis	Coreopsis tripteris	Yellow	Sun	Summer
Purple Coneflower	Echinacea purpurea	Purple	Sun-Psun	Summer
Spotted Joe-Pye-Weed	Eupatorium maculatum	Pink	Sun	Summer
Sweet Joe-Pye-Weed	Eupatorium purpureum	Pink	P-sun	Summer
Queen-of-the-Prairie	Filipendula rubra	Pink	Sun	Summer
Autumn Sneezeweed	Helenium autumnale	Yellow	Sun-Psun	Fall
False Sunflower	Heliopsis helianthoides	Yellow	Sun-Psun	Summer
Blue Flag Iris	Iris virginica shrevei	Blue	Sun-Psun	Spring
Dense Blazing Star	Liatris spicata	Purple	Sun	Summer
Wild Geranium	Geranium maculatum	Lavender	Psun-Shade	Spring
Violet Lespedeza	Lespedeza violacea	Violet	Sun	Summer
Cardinal Flower	Lobelia cardinalis	Red	Sun-Shade	Summer
Great Blue Lobelia	Lobelia siphilitica	Blue	Psun-Shade	Summer
Virginia Bluebells	Mertensia virginica	Blue	Psun-Shade	Spring
Bergamot	Monarda fistulosa	Lavender	Sun	Summer
Blue Phlox	Phlox divaricata	Blue	Psun-Shade	Spring
Summer Phlox	Phlox paniculata	Purple	Sun-Shade	Summer
Yellow Coneflower	Ratibida pinnata	Yellow	Sun	Summer
Green-Headed Coneflower	Rudbeckia laciniata	Yellow	Psun	Summer
Sweet Black-Eyed Susan	Rudbeckia subtomentosa	Yellow	Sun	Summer
Fire Pink	Silene virginica	Red	Psun	Spring
Royal Catchfly	Silene regia	Red	Sun	Summer
Blue-stemmed Goldenrod	Solidago caesia	Yellow	Sun-Psun	Fall
Grey Goldenrod	Solidago nemoralis	Yellow	Sun-Psun	Fall
Stiff Goldenrod	Solidago rigida	Yellow	Sun	Fall
Celandine Poppy	Stylophorum diphyllum	Yellow	Shade	Spng-Smr
Culver’s Root	Veronicastrum virginicum	White	Sun	Summer

Check out the Indiana State Museum's exhibit "Footprints" ISM What was the area like 10,000 to 11,000 years ago? Where did the big animals go? And what can we learn from our impact on the past that will make us better stewards of our environmental future?

With Footprints: Balancing Nature's Diversity, presented by Central Indiana Land Trust, the Indiana State Museum will trace our state's natural history from the Ice Age to today and beyond, considering how humans and environmental changes have affected ecological diversity and the world we live in. Drawing from the museum's collections, the exhibit answers questions about Indiana's past, shows the animals' overwhelming size and number, and suggests what it might have been like to walk among them.
Explore the online exhibit »

Our Hoosier State Beneath Us: Newspaper articles about a variety of topics related to Indiana's Natural Heritage This series of 155 brief illustrated articles is part of a set of about 250 such articles produced by the Indiana Geological Survey between 1974 and 1984. The articles were distributed to and printed by newspapers all over Indiana. The topics range from coal to paleontology to people to geology. There is even a keyword search tool and a full table of contents. Browse Articles »

Flowering Plants in Indiana

What flowering plants are part of Indiana's natural heritage?

NHI Documentary

NHI Project

Content adapted with permission from the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society, a partner in the Natural Heritage of Indiana project. More information can be found here.