"One problem is how long the list can be as Evan pointed out. Symphyotrichum lanceolatum is shown to be native to all of the Lower 48 states as well a Canada. Listing them all would create a long list."
My idea was to keep it to country down to region, at most. (But even that needs to have consistency. People call different sets of states different things.) It would clutter the database to list every state/province. Just put enough to give someone a start, if they want to follow through with more research.
Again, I would like to avoid naturalized. If you talk to native enthusiasts, they would say that naturalized cannot become native. I have started viewing the dandelion (and others) more favourably, but I still will not call it a US native.
About cultivars, the "parent" (is that the correct term?) was native to somewhere. I wish I could remember what I looked at some days ago in the Database, but it noted that the plant information was true for all of that species. For historical purposes, is there a way to include this within the cultivars?
I have searched where certain plants came from, there are times when some are uncertain, such as the Amaranth we get popping up everywhere. A simple "Unknown" might be a good thing to place there. Maybe down the road, more information about it will be available.
About websites... I've been using Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's site. I like how it is set up...
Here is the link to Plaina Yucca. Scroll down to Distribution to see how they have it.
http://www.wildflower.org/plan...
