Terms of use
Last updated July 10, 2026.
1. Acceptance and eligibility
By using Wildflower Archive ("the site"), you agree to these Terms of Use. You must be at least 18, or the age of majority in your province, territory, or state, to use this site without the involvement of a parent or guardian. Continued use of the site after changes to these Terms constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
2. Service description
Wildflower Archive is an independent, editorially curated reference site pairing public-domain, CC0, and openly licensed (Creative Commons) botanical illustrations and photographs with native-plant growing information for the United States and Canada. The site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated on behalf of any government agency, museum, or the data providers listed below. Content on this site is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional horticultural, agricultural, or medical advice. Some plant profiles note toxicity, edibility, or medicinal use; this information is general and may be incomplete or wrong, and it is not medical, veterinary, or foraging advice. Never eat, handle, or medicinally use a wild plant based on this site alone, and contact a poison-control center or medical professional in an emergency.
2A. Hardiness zone tool
The site's hardiness zone lookup converts a ZIP or Canadian postal code into an estimated USDA or Canadian hardiness zone, using published government zone models. Results are general estimates only: microclimate, elevation, and local conditions can all cause an individual property's actual growing conditions to differ from the estimate shown. Always verify a plant's suitability for your specific site before planting.
3. Data sources and accuracy
Plant facts and growing information on this site are compiled from the USDA PLANTS Database, the GBIF Taxonomy, and Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) plant hardiness model. This data may be delayed, incomplete, inaccurate, or out of date. Wildflower Archive does not independently verify every fact against its originating source, and flags values that have not yet been independently verified. Verify any fact that matters to a purchasing, planting, or safety decision directly with the originating source or a qualified local expert.
4. Open data and image licensing
USDA PLANTS Database content is a work of the U.S. federal government and is in the public domain. GBIF Taxonomy data is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence and is credited accordingly. Natural Resources Canada's plant hardiness data is used under the Open Government Licence – Canada and is credited accordingly. Images (botanical illustrations and photographs) are reproduced under public domain, CC0, or Creative Commons Attribution terms (CC BY / CC BY-SA); where a licence requires it, the creator and licence are credited alongside the image.
5. Corrections
If you believe a fact, citation, or illustration credit on this site is incorrect, contact contact@wildflowerarchive.com. Wildflower Archive acts as a good-faith aggregator and republisher of publicly available records and will make reasonable efforts to correct errors, but corrections to the underlying source data should be directed to the originating agency or database.
6. Permitted use
You may browse this site and share links to its pages. The site's original text, code, page design, and the compiled arrangement of data (the compilation) may not be scraped, bulk-downloaded, systematically extracted, redistributed commercially, or used to train machine-learning or AI models without Wildflower Archive's prior written permission. This does not restrict the underlying public-domain works or the independently licensed Creative Commons images and data, which you remain free to use under their own terms; please retain the attribution those licences require.
7. Intellectual property
Wildflower Archive owns the site's design, original text, and code. Images remain under the licences described in Section 4 and the property of their respective creators. Government and institutional data remains the property of its respective source and is used under that source's applicable licence.
8. Third-party links and advertising
This site may display third-party advertisements and affiliate links. Advertising relationships, where present, do not influence the plant facts, citations, or editorial content on this site. Wildflower Archive does not control the content of third-party advertisements and is not responsible for the practices of third-party ad networks; see the Privacy page for details on data collected by any advertising partners. This site also links to external organizations and resources for convenience; Wildflower Archive does not control and is not responsible for their content, and a link is not an endorsement.
9. Warranty disclaimer
This site is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of accuracy, completeness, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. Wildflower Archive does not guarantee that any plant will grow successfully in any location, or that any fact, citation, or hardiness zone estimate on this site is free of error.
10. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Wildflower Archive's total liability arising from your use of this site is limited to CAD $500 (or its equivalent in US dollars). Wildflower Archive is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages, including losses arising from plants that fail to grow, purchasing decisions, or reliance on hardiness zone estimates or other site content.
11. Indemnification
You agree to defend and indemnify Wildflower Archive against any third-party claim arising from your breach of these Terms or misuse of the site.
12. Force majeure
Wildflower Archive is not liable for any failure or delay in performance caused by circumstances beyond its reasonable control.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Ontario courts have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms, except that consumers resident in other Canadian provinces or territories, or in the United States, retain any statutory rights that cannot be waived under their local law.
14. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.
15. Entire agreement
These Terms, together with the Privacy page, constitute the entire agreement between you and Wildflower Archive regarding use of the site.
16. No waiver
Wildflower Archive's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms is not a waiver of its right to do so later.
17. Changes and termination
Wildflower Archive may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page at least 30 days before taking effect. Wildflower Archive may modify, suspend, or discontinue the site at any time without liability.
18. Notices
Legal notices to Wildflower Archive should be sent to contact@wildflowerarchive.com. Notices are deemed received when sent.
19. Assignment
Wildflower Archive may assign these Terms without restriction. You may not assign these Terms without Wildflower Archive's prior written consent.
20. Contact
Questions about these Terms can be directed to contact@wildflowerarchive.com.