USDA PLANTS Database Scraper
USDA PLANTS Database Scraper
Extract the complete USDA PLANTS Database — taxonomy, growth habits, native status, wetland indicators, document URLs, and physical characteristics for over 2,000 accepted US plant species.
What it extracts
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
symbol |
USDA PLANTS Symbol (primary key, e.g. ACRU for red maple) |
scientificName |
Scientific name (HTML-stripped) |
commonName |
Common/vernacular name |
familyName |
Taxonomic family (e.g. Pinaceae) |
group |
Plant group (Dicot, Monocot, Fern, Gymnosperm, etc.) |
rank |
Taxonomic rank (Species, Genus, Variety, etc.) |
isSynonym |
Whether this is a synonym record |
acceptedSymbol / synonymSymbol |
Cross-reference to accepted or synonym name |
durations |
Life cycle (Annual, Biennial, Perennial — comma-separated) |
growthHabits |
Tree, Shrub, Forb, Graminoid, Vine (comma-separated) |
nativeStatuses |
Native/introduced status by region (L48, AK, HI, CAN) as JSON |
hasWetlandData |
Wetland indicator data available |
hasLegalStatuses |
Federal threatened/endangered status available |
hasNoxiousStatuses |
State noxious weed status available |
hasInvasiveStatuses |
State invasive species status available |
hasCharacteristics |
Detailed physical characteristic data available |
imageCount |
Number of USDA images available |
plantGuideUrls |
USDA Plant Guide PDF links |
factSheetUrls |
USDA Fact Sheet PDF links |
activeGrowthPeriod |
When the plant actively grows |
bloomPeriod |
Bloom season |
droughtTolerance |
Low / Medium / High |
fireTolerance |
Low / Medium / High |
flowerColor |
Flower color |
foliageColor |
Foliage texture/color |
growthRate |
Slow / Moderate / Rapid |
heightMatureMaxFt |
Maximum mature height in feet |
moistureUse |
Low / Medium / High |
shadeTolerance |
Intolerant / Intermediate / Tolerant |
sourceUrl |
Canonical USDA PLANTS URL |
scrapedAt |
ISO-8601 scrape timestamp |
How to use
Default run (all plants with characteristics)
Leave Max Items empty to collect the full database (~2,200 accepted species). Each run fetches the complete plant list and detailed profile data for every species.
Limit to specific plants
Set Max Items to limit the number of records, or provide a Plant Symbol List to target specific species:
| Symbol | Common Name |
|---|---|
ACRU |
Red maple |
PIPO |
Ponderosa pine |
PSME |
Douglas-fir |
QURU |
Northern red oak |
Input fields
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
maxItems |
Integer | Maximum plants to scrape. Leave empty for all (~2,200). |
symbolList |
Array | Optional list of USDA PLANTS symbols to filter to. |
Data source
All data is sourced from the USDA PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov), a public-domain government dataset maintained by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The data is freely available for any use — no account or API key required.
The scraper accesses the backing REST API at plantsservices.sc.egov.usda.gov/api/ which powers the official Angular web application. Data is returned directly as JSON without any HTML parsing.
Use cases
- Native plant nurseries — Build state-specific native plant catalogs with growth requirements
- Landscape architecture — Filter plants by shade tolerance, drought tolerance, moisture use
- Conservation programs — Cross-reference noxious/invasive status with USDA NRCS GSAT lists
- Agronomy & restoration ecology — Access bloom periods, growth rates, and fire tolerance data
- AI/ML training data — Botanical LLM training datasets with structured plant attributes
- Academic research — Full taxonomy + distribution data for US flora