Native Plants for Sustainable (and More Interesting) Landscapes Don Leopold
What Are Native Plants? What Are Native Species? Species That Existed in an Area Prior to European Settlement
They are: components of NYS natural communities and sometimes very abundant or rare
herbaceous old field
mesic mixed hardwoods
Why Plant Native Species? • well adapted to regional climate • well adapted to native pests and pathogens • many are well adapted to most difficult sites (e.g., extremes in drainage, shade) • natural heritage and aesthetic values
General Categories of Interest (beyond basic ecological functions and high aesthetic value) • no maintenance, long lived • for the most difficult sites (leaving the site alone) • for wildlife (esp. birds and butterflies) • deer proof • for food
No Maintenance
MOST!
For The Most Difficult Sites
WET (including rainwater basins)
swamp milkweed – Asclepias incarnata
northern sea oats – Chasmanthium latifolium
turtlehead – Chelone glabra
Joe-pye weed – Eupatorium maculatum
rose mallow – Hibiscus moscheutos
blue flag – Iris versicolor
cardinal flower – Lobelia cardinalis
buttonbush – Cephalanthus occidentalis
summersweet clethra – Clethra alnifolia
silky dogwood – Cornus amomum
red-twig dogwood – Cornus sericea
winterberry – Ilex verticillata
swamp rose – Rosa palustris
shining willow – Salix lucida
river birch – Betula nigra
Atlantic white-cedar – Chamaecyparis thyoides
swamp white oak – Quercus bicolor
DRY
alvar pavement barrens near Clayton, NY
hay-scented fern – Dennstaedtia punctilobula
marginal shield fern – Dryopteris marginalis
prairie-smoke – Geum triflorum
blue lupine – Lupinus perennis
eastern prickly-pear cactus – Opuntia humifusa
devil’s-walkingstick – Aralia spinosa
bearberry – Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
fragrant sumac – Rhus aromatica
gray birch – Betula populifolia
cockspur hawthorn – Crataegus crus-galli
pitch pine – Pinus rigida
chestnut oak – Quercus prinus
bur oak – Quercus macrocarpa
SALINE A. Eallonardo
seaside goldenrod – Solidago sempervirens
prairie cordgrass – Spartina pectinata (on Solvay wastebed)
horizontal juniper – Juniperus horizontalis
eastern redcedar – Juniperus virginiana
northern bayberry – Myrica pensylvanica
examples of inland salt marsh species for retention basin
LOW pH (i.e., acidic)
bogs
New Jersey tea – Ceanothus americanus
sweetfern – Comptonia peregrina
teaberry – Gaultheria procumbens
pinxter azalea – Rhododendron periclymenoides
HIGH pH (i.e., alkaline)
wild columbine – Aquilegia canadensis
shrubby cinquefoil – Potentilla fruticosa
chinkapin oak – Quercus muehlenbergii
northern white-cedar – Thuja occidentalis
SHADE
partial shade white trillium – Trillium grandiflorum
shade
wild ginger – Asarum canadense
maidenhair fern – Adiantum pedatum
lady fern – Athyrium filix-femina
sedge – Carex platyphylla
black snakeroot – Cimicifuga racemosa
foamflower – Tiarella cordifolia
bush-honeysuckle – Diervilla lonicera
smooth hydrangea – Hydrangea arborescens
oakleaf hydrangea – Hydrangea quercifolia
bladdernut – Staphylea trifolia
serviceberry – Amelanchier arborea
alternate-leaf dogwood – Cornus alternifolia
examples of species tolerant of very wide range of site conditions •  Just about anything
switchgrass – Panicum virgatum
eastern ninebark – Physocarpus opulifolius
red maple – Acer rubrum
For Wildlife • Wildlife value
butterfly weed – Ascelpias tuberosa
most species in the aster family - Asteraceae
spicebush – Lindera benzoin
red buckeye – Aesculus pavia
gray dogwood – Cornus racemosa
winged sumac – Rhus copallina
deer proof
most fern species
Food
ostrich fern – Matteuccia struthiopteris
black huckleberry – Gaylussacia baccata
raspberry and blackberry species – Rubus spp.
black elderberry – Sambucus canadensis
highbush blueberry – Vaccinium corymbosum
pawpaw – Asimina triloba
shellbark hickory – Carya laciniosa
persimmon – Diospyros virginiana