Calscape California Native Plants Scraper

Scrapes the full plant catalog from Calscape, California's native plant reference database. Returns botanical name, common name, water needs, sun exposure, native habitat, soil type, wildlife-attractor flags, county distribution, nursery availability, and 20+ additional plant attributes per record — structured JSON, ready to use.

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Calscape Scraper Features

• Extracts 28+ structured fields per plant from Calscape's 8,500+ species catalog
• Collects wildlife-attractor flags — bird species attracted, butterfly host plants, bee and hummingbird attractor status
• Returns county-level native distribution data across California
• Captures nursery availability listings for each species
• Collects image URLs from plant detail pages
• Scrapes botanical classification: family, genus, species, plant type
• Handles pagination automatically across Calscape's full catalog
• No browser required — pure HTTP with server-side rendered pages

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What Can You Do With Calscape Data?

• Native plant nurseries — Build inventory management tools or feed catalog data into e-commerce platforms with accurate species attributes
• Landscape architects — Compile project palettes filtered by water needs, sun exposure, and height for drought-tolerant or wildlife gardens
• Ecological garden planners — Identify which species attract specific bird and butterfly species, then cross-reference with county native ranges
• Conservation organizations — Track which California native species are stocked at nurseries and flag gaps in regional availability
• County parks and agencies — Pull habitat restoration candidates filtered by site type, elevation, and native plant communities
• App developers — Build plant identification or garden planning tools backed by Calscape's verified native plant database

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How Calscape Scraper Works

1. Queries Calscape's plant search API to enumerate the full catalog. The search endpoint returns paginated JSON with plant URLs — 50 plants per page, iterated until your maxItems limit is reached.
2. Fetches each plant's detail page over HTTP. Pages are fully server-rendered, so no browser is needed — just fast, clean HTML parsing.
3. Extracts all plant attributes from structured content blocks on each detail page. Size ranges, bloom seasons, wildlife relationships, soil preferences, and county data are all parsed into separate typed fields.
4. Outputs one record per plant to the Apify dataset. Numbers stay numbers, booleans stay booleans.

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Input

{
  "maxItems": 50
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
maxItems	integer	10	Maximum number of plant records to scrape. Set higher for bulk catalog exports.

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Calscape Scraper Output Fields

{
  "slug": "quercus-agrifolia-coast-live-oak",
  "botanical_name": "Quercus agrifolia",
  "common_name": "Coast Live Oak",
  "family": null,
  "genus": "Quercus",
  "species": "agrifolia",
  "plant_type": "Tree",
  "native_habitat": ["Oak Woodland", "Coastal Scrub"],
  "elevation_range": "0 - 5000 ft",
  "sun_exposure": "Full Sun, Part Shade",
  "water_needs": "Low",
  "soil_drainage": "Well Drained",
  "soil_type": ["Loam", "Sandy Loam", "Clay"],
  "max_height_ft": 70,
  "max_width_ft": 70,
  "growth_rate": "Slow",
  "flower_color": ["Yellow"],
  "bloom_months": ["January", "February", "March", "April"],
  "foliage_color": [],
  "evergreen": true,
  "drought_tolerant": null,
  "deer_resistant": null,
  "garden_uses": ["Erosion Control", "Wildlife Garden", "Shade"],
  "bird_attractor_for": [],
  "butterfly_host_for": ["Gold-Hunter's Hairstreak", "California Sister"],
  "bee_attractor": null,
  "hummingbird_attractor": null,
  "native_to_counties": [],
  "nursery_availability": ["Theodore Payne Foundation", "Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden"],
  "propagation": "Acorns",
  "description": "Coast Live Oak is one of California's most iconic native trees...",
  "image_urls": ["https://calscape.org/photos/quercus-agrifolia-1.jpg"],
  "calscape_url": "https://www.calscape.org/Quercus-agrifolia-(Coast-Live-Oak)"
}

Field	Type	Description
slug	string	URL-derived identifier for the plant
botanical_name	string	Scientific name (genus + species)
common_name	string	Common English name
family	string	Plant family
genus	string	Genus name
species	string	Species epithet
plant_type	string	Growth form: Tree, Shrub, Perennial, Annual, Vine, Grass, etc.
native_habitat	string[]	Site types and plant communities where the species occurs naturally
elevation_range	string	Elevation range in feet
sun_exposure	string	Light requirements
water_needs	string	Irrigation needs: None, Very Low, Low, Moderate, High
soil_drainage	string	Drainage preference
soil_type	string[]	Preferred soil textures
max_height_ft	number	Maximum mature height in feet
max_width_ft	number	Maximum mature spread in feet
growth_rate	string	Slow, Moderate, or Fast
flower_color	string[]	Bloom colors
bloom_months	string[]	Months when the plant flowers
foliage_color	string[]	Foliage colors
evergreen	boolean	True if evergreen, false if deciduous, null if not listed
drought_tolerant	boolean	Drought tolerance flag
deer_resistant	boolean	Deer resistance flag
garden_uses	string[]	Recommended garden applications
bird_attractor_for	string[]	Bird species this plant attracts
butterfly_host_for	string[]	Butterfly species this plant hosts
bee_attractor	boolean	Attracts bees
hummingbird_attractor	boolean	Attracts hummingbirds
native_to_counties	string[]	California counties where the plant is native
nursery_availability	string[]	Nurseries stocking this species
propagation	string	Propagation method
description	string	Plant description text
image_urls	string[]	Photo URLs from the plant's Calscape page
calscape_url	string	Direct URL to the plant's Calscape detail page

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🔍 FAQ

How do I scrape California native plant data from Calscape?

Calscape Scraper handles everything. Set maxItems to the number of plants you want, run it, and collect the dataset. The actor enumerates the full catalog through Calscape's search API and fetches each plant's detail page automatically.

How much does Calscape Scraper cost to run?

The actor uses pay-per-event pricing. A run of 100 plants typically finishes in a few minutes and costs less than a dollar. Residential proxies are required for catalog enumeration and are already accounted for in the pricing — no separate setup needed.

What data does Calscape have on California native plants?

Calscape Scraper returns botanical classification, physical dimensions, sun and water requirements, soil preferences, bloom season and flower color, wildlife relationships (birds, butterflies, bees, hummingbirds), native county distribution, nursery availability, and propagation method. That covers 28+ fields per plant across 8,500+ species.

Does Calscape Scraper need a browser?

No. Calscape's plant pages are server-rendered HTML, so the actor uses direct HTTP requests throughout. Faster and cheaper than a browser-based approach, and more stable over time.

Can I filter by plant type, water needs, or county?

The actor returns full plant records which you can filter in post-processing. Calscape Scraper currently scrapes the full catalog without upfront filter parameters — export the dataset and filter on plant_type, water_needs, native_to_counties, or any other field using Apify's dataset tools or your own code.

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Need More Features?

Need filters by plant type, county, or water needs? File an issue or get in touch.

Why Use Calscape California Native Plants Scraper?

• Structured output — 28+ typed fields per plant with numbers as numbers and booleans as booleans, not raw strings you have to parse yourself
• Full catalog coverage — enumerate all 8,500+ species or stop at any count, with consistent results across runs
• No browser overhead — pure HTTP means faster runs, lower compute costs, and fewer moving parts to break