This dataset materialises the classificatory infrastructure required by the adaptive framework. Drawing on 19 sites selected for higher ecological novelty from an earlier assessment of 85 green spaces in Porto, it organises 287 plant species across more than 50 traits or variables. Origin and invasive risk coexist with tolerance of drought, heat, pollution and flooding, as well as habit, crown density, flowering season, ornamental properties, shading functions and potential hazards. The database is therefore neither a neutral botanical inventory nor a universal measure of urban value. Its columns make certain relations between vegetation and climate legible while leaving other relations, including attachment, fear, everyday use and public interpretation, outside their direct scope. The methodological contribution is a reproducible interface between field sampling, ecological knowledge and design decision. Because the associated data are made available through Mendeley Data, the case also addresses the relationship between scientific publication and reusable research infrastructure. It supplies the botanical side of a comparison that an experiential urban instrument would need to extend, rather than duplicate.