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Friday - June 22, 2007
From: Paonia, CO
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Invasive Plants
Title: Percentage of plants native to U.S.
Answered by: Damon Waitt
QUESTION:
About 50% of the plant species in Hawaii are naturalized, invasive, aliens (from other places). What are equivalent statistics for the lower 48 states (continental US) as a whole?ANSWER:
Of the approximately 29,244 non-Hawaiian taxa listed in the USDA Plants database, 26,613 or 91% are listed as Native to the U.S. At best, Mr. Smarty Plants would say this is a rough estimate.
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