Ohio Facts: Plants and Animals
Two white-tail deer standing behind a tree in a grassy clearing.

Ohio Facts: Plants and Animals

Learn about the most common plant and animal species that live in Ohio.

Animals

Ohio is home to hundreds of species of animals, including mammals, amphibians, snakes, rodents, birds, fish, mollusks, crustaceans and more. Common animals in the state include deer, squirrels, raccoons, snakes, fish, frogs, and bears. You'll also find more than 1,000 different species of insects in Ohio. The most common insects are ants, flies, bees, wasps, beetles, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, crickets, and dragonflies.

Trees

More than 120 different types of trees grow in Ohio. The most common species are broad-leaf trees that drop their leaves in autumn and regrow them in the spring, such as oaks, ash, beeches, birches, dogwoods, elms, maples, poplars, hickories, walnuts, and willows. Fruit trees common in Ohio include apple and cherry. Ohio is also home to many species of evergreen trees, including pines, spruces, and firs.

Plants

You’ll find more than 300,000 species of plants in Ohio. About 1,800 of these are flowering plants, including sunflowers, violets, sedges, asters, phlox, trilliums, goldenrods, foxgloves, irises, azaleas, rhododendron, honeysuckles, orchids, and geraniums. Non-flowering plants include mosses and ferns.

Produce

Ohio’s warm summers and mild springs and falls make it a great place to grow many fruits, grains, and vegetables, including corn, wheat, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, beans, pumpkins, tomatoes, peppers, grapes, and various types of berries.