The Plant Materials Program of the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service has been involved in the collection, evaluation, selection and increase of conservation plants for over 75 years. The Plant Materials Centers (PMC), and their conservation partners, have selected and made available to the public over 600 grasses, forbs, legumes and trees to address conservation issues such as protecting our soils, increasing the amount and quality of livestock forage, ensuring clean water, and improving wildlife habitat.
The information below includes native forbs/wildflowers and legumes selected by the Plant Materials Program that are useful in creating habitat for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other important pollinators. This spreadsheet is best used as a reference resource to extract data for other purposes.
For more information about the Plant Materials Program and where to locate vendors of these released plants, contact the PMC or plant materials specialist that serves your state (http://plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov). This information was compiled by Plant Materials Program staff in cooperation with Eric Mader, Pollinator Program Co-Director, Jennifer Hopwood, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist-Midwest, and Anne Stine, Xerces/NRCS Pollinator Conservation Specialist-Central, of The Xerces Society (http://www.xerces.org).
