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UNC Chapel Hill Herbarium

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About the Herbarium Visitation Loan & Accession Policies Floras, Apps & Field Guides Search Herbarium Specimens The Collectors

Floras, Apps & Field Guides

Published floras have traditionally been the main means of synthesizing information on the species of plants in an area—their habitats, phenology, classification, common names, and practical identification. The Herbarium has published three comprehensive floras: the Flora of Virginia, coauthored with Chris Ludwig and Johnny Townsend, the Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, and the recently released Flora of the Southeastern United States.  The Flora of Virginia has won several awards, including the Thomas Jefferson Award for Conservation.

Through these and other major accomplishments, the Herbarium and allied researchers are today viewed as primary sources for information on southeastern U.S plants—information that is a foundational tool used by botanists, foresters, horticulturists, conservationists, and students throughout the U.S.

In 2015, the UNC Carolina Apps Program teamed up with NCU Herbarium and NCBG staff to develop the iPhone/iPad application FloraQuest. This app allowed for mobile identification of over 7,000 plant species in a 14-state region through an interactive interface. In 2022, The Southeastern Flora Team, led by Alan Weakley and Michael Lee, developed plans to phase out FloraQuest with a new and improved flora app, working closely with collaborator Katie Gibson (developer of High Country flora apps). As of December 2022, this app is being tested in beta form by various users in the northeastern region of the FSUS (Virginia northward), and the app will be available for public use in spring of 2023.

2022 Edition

Flora of the Southeastern United States

Copyright Alan S. Weakley

Produced from the FloraManager database system by Michael T. Lee

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Flora covers the biogeographic region of the moist, relictual, unglaciated southeastern North America: south of the glacial boundary and east of the “dry line” to the west that marks a marked floristic boundary to the Great Plains prairies to the northwest and the Madrean woodlands and scrub to the southwest.  By states, this means that coverage includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and parts of Texas (the eastern Pineywoods, Coastal Prairies, Cross Timbers, Blackland Prairies, and South Texas Sand Sheet), Oklahoma (eastern Interior Highlands and Cross Timbers), Missouri (southern Interior Highlands), and Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio (southern unglaciated portions).

Map showing the range of the 2022 Flora of the Southeastern U.S., from eastern Texas to Pennsylvania

The 2022 Flora is also available as a searchable web app.

Request Flora of the Southeastern United States
The GO-TO GUIDE for Wildflower Hunting in Your State

Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast

Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast describes and illustrates 1,250 species commonly encountered in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Published in partnership with the North Carolina Botanical Garden, Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast is for hikers, naturalists, gardeners, and anyone wishing to learn more about the region’s diverse flora. Find it in our Garden Shop or order from Amazon.com.
Order from Amazon
Now available as an app!

Flora of Virginia Project

The Flora of Virginia project gathers the legacy of more than three centuries of Virginia botanists into a modern work and opens the natural world to a new generation of botanists, natural resource managers, and natural historians who can further expand our knowledge and contribute to the conservation of our rich natural heritage.

Flora of Virginia Project logo

Go to the flora
Plant Information Center
The Plant Information Center is a virtual herbarium where students and teachers can learn more about native plants.
Visit Plant Information Center
Common Trees of the Piedmont
Learn the methods botanists use to identify plant species, as well as simplify and visualize the process of identification.
Visit Open Key
In The Archives

Weakley’s Floras as downloadable PDFs

  • June, 2005 – Flora of the Carolinas  Virginia, and Georgia (7.4MB PDF)
  • January, 2006 – Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and surrounding areas – basis for NCU ATLAS (6.9MB PDF)
  • January, 2007 – Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, and surrounding areas (6.9MB PDF)
  • April, 2008 – Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, northern Florida, and surrounding areas (7.5MB PDF)
  • March, 2010 – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (8.2MB PDF)
  • May, 2011 – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (36.2MB PDF)
  • September, 2012 – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (56.5MB PDF)
  • November, 2012 – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (55.9MB PDF)
  • May, 2015 – Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States (38.1MB PDF)
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