Naturally Natives Mommy, Where Do Native Plants Come From?
Susan Farrington
Text and Photos by Scott Woodbury except as noted
Remnant natural communities, like this original Ozark glade, are seed sources for the native plant industry. Native plants that we purchase from nurseries and garden centers, and use to establish native gardens and plantings, originate from seeds from the wild or from established plantings at places like Shaw Nature Reserve. Never collect seeds without permission from landowners.
E
ver wonder where native plants come from? I mean, when you are at a native plant sale or nursery, perusing through all the species of plants available for sale, have you ever wondered where those plants come from? Are they divided from a big parent plant in a nursery, or are they produced from stem cuttings or in a test tube? The simple answer is no, most are grown from seed. I’m not talking about cultivars of native plants, I’m talking about straight species, the kind you see growing in the wild. The seed may come from parent plants growing in a nursery, but the seed that grew those plants originally came from the wild. Also, many nursery plants produced in Missouri are grown directly from wild collected seed. Yes, seed for native plant production comes from remnant native plant populations in the wild. At Shaw Nature reserve, we have been collecting seed of native plants from roadside ditches and bluffs, along railroad tracks and creeks, and old hay fields, since the 1930s when Edgar Anderson did our first glade restoration. Sadly, many of these original ancient sites are gone; developed, farmed, sprayed, or grown over with trees.
Visitors tour the native prairie planting at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis County. 12
However, other ancient sites are protected by various conservation groups, and it is through the hard work of these organizations that these original seed sources still exist. Many native plant nurseries depend on these wild areas as sources of seed, which is collected with permission and through strict seed-collecting contracts. (Never collect seed from the wild without first seeking permission
The Gateway Gardener™ WINTER 2021-2022
