The question of from where plant material was collected, or provenance, is core to forestry and the younger practice of ecological restoration as it has profound implications for plant performance. Throughout a species’ range, intraspecific trait variation can be related to environmental differences and convey performance advantages in home environments, also known as local adaptation. This phenomenon has led to the dominance of the “local is best” provenancing strategy for seed-based restoration, also known as local seed sourcing. However, the continued impacts of climate change challenge this model, as adaptation to past climates may now prove maladaptive. In response, multiple climate-informed seed sourcing strategies have emerged, including sourcing from areas that resemble the predicted future climate of the restoration site (i.e., predictive provenancing) and mixing multiple sources from across a region to maximize evolutionary potential and climatic fit (i.e., regional admixture). Even so, there is a lack of empirical evidence to guide climate resilient seed sourcing, which is critical for the longevity and ecological function of restored natural communities. With the goal of characterizing, synthesizing, and applying experimental research to guide restoration practice, we conducted a systematic review of the global literature on plant provenance testing. A total of 176 papers met our criteria for inclusion, the majority of which focused on forest habitats (68%) and trees (esp. Pinaceae, 25%) in the global north (52% N. America, 31% Europe). This bias aligns with the finding that commercial forestry was the most common study motivation (42%), with ecological restoration a distant second (27%). Provenance trials considered a wide variety of response variables, limiting the potential for a meta-analysis, with the vast majority focused on traits highly related to industry, like height, survival, and biomass. We describe additional patterns and gaps our review identified, highlight topics which require further research, and provide practical suggestions of tools and actions that support restoration practice and the creation of resilient natural communities under future climate scenarios.