Native Plant Program

Information on Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants

Information on the biology, distribution, and status of California’s rare, threatened, and endangered plant species is available from the links below. Lists of California’s rare, threatened and endangered plants, bryophytes, and lichens are also described and available below.

Species Information

• CDFW has created a series of web pages summarizing the status, threats, and recovery actions needed for several plant species designated as endangered pursuant to the California Endangered Species Act, and will post additional pages as they are created.
• CDFW prepared a report on The Status of Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Plants and Animals of California from 2000-2004. Information on the status, description, and habitat of rare, threatened and endangered plants is available in the Species Accounts – Plants (PDF) section of the report.
• CDFW has prepared Protocols for Surveying and Evaluating Impacts to Special Status Native Plant Populations and Natural Communities (PDF)
• Former CDFW rare plant botanist Mary Ann Showers created illustrations of almost every California plant species that is designated as rare, threated, or endangered under state law. This collection of illustrations is owned by CDFW and available from CDFW’s Document Library.
• A list of research and recovery actions for threatened and endangered plants that CDFW has participated in.
• External resources for species information

Species Lists

• The List of State and Federally-Listed Endangered, Threatened and Rare Plants of California (PDF) includes all of the plant species that have been designated as rare, threatened, endangered, or candidate by the California Fish and Game Commission under California law, and all plant species that both occur in California and have been designated as threatened, endangered or are proposed for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.
• The Special Vascular Plants, Bryophytes, and Lichens List (PDF) includes all of the plant species in the list above and all other plant species tracked by CDFW’s California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB), including high priority bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts), plant species that are considered endangered or rare under section 15380 of CEQA, plant species that are considered sensitive by federal agencies, or other plant species that are biologically rare, very restricted in distribution, or declining throughout their range. Some lichens are also included on the list.

For more information on any of the topics above, please contact nativeplants@wildlife.ca.gov.