When something's in trouble
A few natives we recommend are themselves at risk. Here's what that means.
Last updated August 2026
Some plants and animals here carry a conservation rank — an expert's read on how close it is to disappearing. A rank belongs to a place: a plant can be everywhere in one state and nearly gone in the next, so Indigene shows one only where it means something to you — worldwide, or in your own region's state. The code is worth a glance: a letter for the scale (G is the whole world, S a single state) and a number from 1 (most at risk) to 5 (secure); the IUCN uses words like Endangered instead. A span such as G3G4 means the assessor placed it between the two.
Most of what you'll plant is doing fine — the note shows only on the few pages where it isn't. Where it does: buy from a nursery, never dig one from the wild; for an animal, planting what it needs is the help it can use.
Learn more
- How NatureServe ranks a species (G, N, S · 1–5) — NatureServe
- What the Red List categories mean (CR, EN, VU…) — IUCN Red List
How this grew
Every change to this part of the app, newest first — the same plain notes that go out with each update.
Version 0.28
August 30, 2026- a plant or animal in trouble now says so. Longleaf pine reads “Endangered (EN) worldwide”; eleven of our plants and animals carry a rank like that, and the rest are doing fine. A link explains what the ranks mean and who assesses them. What the ranks mean
- and what to do about it. The same line ends by saying to buy nursery-grown stock rather than dig a plant from the wild — and, for an animal, to plant what it needs.