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.
Goes well with
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
Recent changes
The latest updates to this part of the app, in 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.