This dataset contains plant taxa detected by sedimentary DNA analyses. The dataset is presented in number of DNA sequences by replicate of analyses (2 sample replicates, 2 extraction replicates by sample and 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) replicates by extractions, so 8 replicates in total). It has been generated applying the DNA metabarcoding approach on a 20-m long sediment cores retrieved by using a uwitec gravity corer and a NIEDERREITER piston corer. The primers used are g (5'-GGGCAATCCTGAGCCAA-3') and h (5'-CCATTGAGTCTCTGCACCTATC-3') (Taberlet, P., et al. Power and limitations of the chloroplast trn L (UAA) intron for plant DNA barcoding. Nucleic acids research, 35(3), e14-e14. (2007)). The sequences were then produced by the Illumina technology (HiSeq instrument). The bioinformatic treatment of the sequences was operated applying the Obitool program (Boyer, F. et al. OBITOOLS:aUNIX-inspired software package for DNA metabarcoding. Mol. Ecol. Resour. 16, 176–182 (2016)) and following the procedure described in Giguet-Covex et al. New insights on lake sediment DNA from the catchment: importance of taphonomic and analytical issues on the record quality. Scientific Reports. 9, 14676 (2019) (DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50339-1). Further filtering treatments were then applied, as also described in Giguet-Covex et al. 2019. These second treatments allow the removal of 1) taxa assigned to a reference taxon at <95 % of sequence identity, 2) potential contaminations (based on sampling, extraction and PCR controls, and recognition of exotic taxa) and 3) stochastic detections.