NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper

Scrapes plant records from the NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Returns 50+ structured fields per plant — scientific name, common names, USDA hardiness zones, light and soil requirements, bloom traits, toxicity data, wildlife attraction, and gallery images — across the full ~6,500-plant database.

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NC State Plant Toolbox Scraper Features

• Extracts 50+ fields per plant record, including numerical height and width ranges in decimal feet
• Collects taxonomic data: scientific name, genus, species, family, cultivar, phonetic spelling
• Returns USDA hardiness zone ranges, light requirements, soil drainage, texture, and pH preferences
• Captures bloom color, bloom season, flower description, and gardener value ratings
• Extracts toxicity information — poisonous parts, severity, symptoms — plus edibility notes
• Returns wildlife attraction lists (pollinators, birds, butterflies) and pest resistance data
• Collects landscape use categories, landscape themes, and recommended propagation strategies
• Discovers all plant URLs from the sitemap — no search queries, no pagination to manage
• No proxies required. The site is clean SSR with no bot detection.

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What Can You Do With NC State Plant Toolbox Data?

• Horticulture researchers — build searchable plant databases with structured trait data for academic or extension projects
• Landscape architects — filter plants by hardiness zone, light requirements, and mature size to generate site-appropriate plant palettes
• App developers — power plant identification, garden planning, or companion planting tools with authoritative USDA-aligned data
• Educators — export plant records for curriculum materials, field guides, or interactive botanical learning tools
• Nursery operators — feed plant data into inventory systems or customer-facing product descriptions
• Toxicology and safety teams — extract poison severity and symptom data for plant safety databases used in pediatric or veterinary contexts

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How NC State Plant Toolbox Scraper Works

1. Fetches the site's XML sitemap and filters to plant detail pages — roughly 6,500 URLs total
2. Crawls each plant page using a Cheerio-based HTML crawler
3. Parses the dt/dd key-value trait table on each page into a structured field map
4. Writes one record per plant with all extracted fields to the dataset

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Input

{
  "maxItems": 100
}

Field	Type	Default	Description
maxItems	integer	—	Maximum number of plant records to scrape. Leave blank to scrape all (~6,500 plants). Prefill: 10.

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NC State Plant Toolbox Scraper Output Fields

{
  "id_plant": "hydrangea-paniculata",
  "scientific_name": "Hydrangea paniculata",
  "common_names": ["Panicle Hydrangea", "Pee Gee Hydrangea"],
  "family": "Hydrangeaceae",
  "genus": "Hydrangea",
  "species": "paniculata",
  "cultivar": null,
  "phonetic_spelling": "hy-DRAN-jee-uh pan-ick-yoo-LAY-tuh",
  "description": "Panicle hydrangea is a large deciduous shrub...",
  "plant_type": ["Shrub"],
  "habit_form": ["Arching", "Multi-stemmed"],
  "native_to": ["China", "Japan"],
  "usda_hardiness_zones": "3a-8b",
  "height_min_ft": 8.0,
  "height_max_ft": 15.0,
  "width_min_ft": 6.0,
  "width_max_ft": 12.0,
  "growth_rate": "Rapid",
  "maintenance": "Low",
  "light": ["Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)", "Partial shade"],
  "soil_drainage": ["Moist"],
  "soil_texture": ["Clay", "Loam", "Sand"],
  "soil_ph": ["Acid", "Neutral"],
  "water_use": "Medium",
  "bloom_color": ["White"],
  "bloom_time": ["Summer", "Fall"],
  "bloom_description": "The flowers appear in large conical panicles...",
  "flower_value_to_gardener": ["Attractive Flowers", "Cut Flowers", "Dried Flowers"],
  "leaf_color": ["Green"],
  "leaf_type": "Broadleaf",
  "leaf_arrangement": "Opposite",
  "fall_color": ["Red/Burgundy"],
  "fruit_type": "Capsule",
  "fruit_value_to_gardener": [],
  "stem_bark": "Bark color: Gray; Bark description: Peeling, cinnamon-brown",
  "landscape_uses": ["Foundation", "Hedge", "Specimen"],
  "landscape_themes": ["Cottage Garden", "Pollinator Garden"],
  "attracts": ["Bees", "Butterflies"],
  "resistant_to": ["Deer"],
  "problems": [],
  "poisonous_parts": [],
  "poison_severity": null,
  "poison_symptoms": null,
  "edibility": null,
  "propagation": ["Stem tip cuttings"],
  "cultivars_varieties": ["Limelight", "Pinky Winky", "Quick Fire", "Vanilla Strawberry"],
  "tags": ["NC", "Extension", "shrub"],
  "image_urls": ["https://s3.amazonaws.com/..."],
  "toolbox_url": "https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/hydrangea-paniculata/"
}

Field	Type	Description
id_plant	string	NCSU toolbox slug used as primary key
scientific_name	string	Full scientific name
common_names	array	List of common names
family	string	Plant family
genus	string	Genus
species	string	Species epithet
cultivar	string	Cultivar name, if this is a cultivar page
phonetic_spelling	string	Phonetic pronunciation of the scientific name
description	string	Full descriptive text for the plant
plant_type	array	Plant types (e.g. Perennial, Shrub, Tree)
habit_form	array	Growth habit descriptors (e.g. Arching, Erect)
native_to	array	Country or region of origin
usda_hardiness_zones	string	USDA Plant Hardiness Zone range (e.g. 3a-8b)
height_min_ft	number	Minimum height in decimal feet
height_max_ft	number	Maximum height in decimal feet
width_min_ft	number	Minimum width in decimal feet
width_max_ft	number	Maximum width in decimal feet
growth_rate	string	Growth rate descriptor
maintenance	string	Maintenance level (Low, Medium, High)
light	array	Light requirements
soil_drainage	array	Soil drainage preferences
soil_texture	array	Soil texture preferences
soil_ph	array	Soil pH preferences
water_use	string	Water use or moisture requirement descriptor
bloom_color	array	Flower/bloom colors
bloom_time	array	Bloom seasons or months
bloom_description	string	Descriptive text about the flowers
flower_value_to_gardener	array	Flower values (e.g. Attractive Flowers, Attracts Pollinators)
leaf_color	array	Leaf colors
leaf_type	string	Leaf type descriptor
leaf_arrangement	string	Leaf arrangement on stem
fall_color	array	Deciduous fall leaf colors
fruit_type	string	Fruit type descriptor
fruit_value_to_gardener	array	Fruit display, harvest time, or color descriptors
stem_bark	string	Combined stem and bark description
landscape_uses	array	Landscape location uses
landscape_themes	array	Landscape themes
attracts	array	Wildlife this plant attracts
resistant_to	array	Conditions or threats this plant resists
problems	array	Known problems (e.g. Poisonous to Humans)
poisonous_parts	array	Poisonous plant parts
poison_severity	string	Toxicity severity rating
poison_symptoms	string	Poisoning symptom description
edibility	string	Edibility notes
propagation	array	Recommended propagation strategies
cultivars_varieties	array	Known cultivar/variety names for this species
tags	array	Hashtag labels from the toolbox
image_urls	array	Plant gallery image URLs
toolbox_url	string	Canonical URL of the plant toolbox page

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🔍 FAQ

How do I scrape the NC State plant database?

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper handles discovery automatically. Set maxItems to limit the run, or leave it blank to scrape all ~6,500 plants. No API key, no login.

What data can I get from the NC State Plant Toolbox?

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper returns 50+ fields per plant: taxonomy, USDA zones, dimensional data in decimal feet, bloom traits, soil and light requirements, toxicity ratings, wildlife attraction data, landscape uses, and gallery images. It's the full record, not a summary.

How much does NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper cost to run?

Pricing is per data record. A full scrape of ~6,500 plants runs well within a reasonable budget at the default coefficient. Scraping a subset — say 500 plants for a regional project — costs proportionally less.

Does NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper need proxies?

No. The NC State Plant Toolbox is a clean server-rendered site with no bot detection. The scraper hits it at a measured pace without residential proxy overhead.

Can I filter to specific plant types or zones?

NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper does not filter during scraping — it collects all plants and returns the full field set. Filter after export using plant_type, usda_hardiness_zones, or light fields in your downstream tooling.

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Need More Features?

Need custom filters, additional fields, or a different plant database? File an issue or get in touch.

Why Use NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox Scraper?

• Authoritative source — NC State Extension is a land-grant university program; data reflects peer-reviewed horticultural standards, not user submissions
• Depth over breadth — 50+ structured fields per record, including numerical dimensions and granular toxicity data, means less cleanup and more usable output from the first run
• No friction — no proxies, no authentication, no API quota to manage