Want to be a rare plant detective, on the trail of beautiful blooms?
Wisconsin's rare plants
Fassett's locoweed (Oxytropis campestris var. chartacea), photo by Thomas Meyer, Wisconsin DNR.
There are 336 vascular plants on Wisconsin's Natural Heritage Working List, including 316 that are tracked by the Natural Heritage Inventory. Rare plant habitats can vary greatly in size and quality, with species occurring in both large blocks of high-quality undisturbed habitats as well as small, remnant, isolated sites.
Explore rare plants pages
These pages contain information about Wisconsin's rare plants, including where they are found in the state, their level of legal protection and photos. Life history and management considerations are available for many species, and new information is continually being added.
Click here See cool plants up close and help rare species conservation
If you enjoy looking for rare plants, join our Wisconsin Rare Plant Monitoring Program to conduct surveys in 2018 for endangered, threatened and declining species around the state. The information you and other volunteers collect will help DNR assess plant population trends for state and national conservation efforts.
Our volunteer training is free and occurs at four sites across the state in March or April.