Celebrate our natural heritage and Our natural heritage Natives vs. exotics protect native plant communities WEST TENNESSEE The use of native plants in landscaping is a celebration of While many exotics are harmless, others pose serious our natural heritage and an awakening of a land ethic first threats to biodiversity. Exotics that escape and naturalize 1. Learn more about native plants. Mississippi Alluvial Plain, Coastal Plain, expressed by Aldo Leopold more than 50 years ago. change the floral composition of native plant communi- ties. Exotics that invade native plant communities spread, The natural processes from which natives evolve repre- out-compete, and displace natives. Other exotics are 2. Buy nursery propagated plant material. and West Tennessee Uplands sent the cog and wheel of a healthy ecosystem sustained vectors for disease and exotic insects. Future introduc- by a complex web of biological diversity. 3. Don’t dig plants from the wild. tions can be prevented by using native species. Native plants have many inherent qualities and adaptive Using natives also exhibits regional flora and promotes traits that make them aesthetically pleasing, practical, 4. Protect native plant and natural area habitat. our natural heritage. Natives have often been overlooked and ecologically valuable for landscaping. and their aesthetic value ignored. Instead, many regions Promote responsible landscaping practices. 5. Using native plants contributes to the health and often look the same because overuse of the same exotics has the restoration of an ecosystem. Landscaping with Plant native and not exotic plant species. created a monotonous, predictable landscape. 6. natives in an urban setting helps restore regional charac- ter and places fewer demands on resources. Basics about using natives For more information When landscaping with natives match the right plants Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation with the right site conditions. Consider using plants that (TDEC) occur together in their natural habitats. Do your home- Division of Natural Heritage work before planting; study the plants and the site con- 401 Church St., 8th floor, L&C Tower Nashville TN 37243-0447 dition information in this brochure. Visit a natural area 615/532-0436 and observe how plants occur and design your landscape accordingly. Buy nursery propagated plants. Remember, Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council (TN-EPPC) P. O. Box 40692 landscaping with natives is art imitating nature. Nashville TN 37204 615/532-0436 Benefits of natives Tennessee Native Plant Society Native ➤ Adapted to regional conditions and may require less Department of Botany maintenance and are cost-effective. University of Tennessee species naturally occurring in a region (indigenous) Knoxville TN 37996-1100 ➤ Hardy, withstand extreme winter cold, do not suffer 423/974-2256 Exotic from die back. species introduced by humans, either deliberately ➤ or accidentally (alien, non-native) Environmentally friendly, require fewer pesticides and fertilizers because of natural adaptations. ➤ Promote biodiversity and stewardship. ➤ Provide food and shelter for native wildlife. What are natives? ➤ Restore regional landscapes. Natives are plants that evolved in place over geologic time ➤ Prevent future exotic introductions. Text by and are distributed across the landscape largely in Warner Park Nature Center response to climatic episodes and adaptation to site Tennessee Natural Areas Program conditions related to land formation. Natives for wildlife in the Division of Natural Heritage/TDEC Using natives in landscaping helps sustain native butter- LANDSCAPING Natives are generally defined as plants that occurred in flies, moths and other beneficial insects; native birds, Brochure made possible by North America before European settlement. This distinc- TN-EPPC reptiles, mammals, and other fauna. Fall migrating birds WITH tion is made because of the large-scale changes in the depend on high-energy fruits from flowering dogwood Co-sponsored by flora that have resulted since European settlement and and spicebush. Spring migrants feed Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. the introduction of “exotic” plants. Wolf River Conservancy NATIVE on insects that occur on oak trees. Memphis Zoo Exotics are plants that are directly or indirectly, deliber- Beech and other native trees provide Tennnessee Field Office of The Nature Conservancy PLANTS Tennessee Native Plant Society ately or accidentally introduced by human action. To be nesting habitat, while Eastern red cedar, TDEC Division of Natural Heritage more precise, natives are natural elements of a regional short leaf pine, and American holly TDEC Bureau of State Parks PROMOTES BIODIVERSITY landscape. While some species are native to North provide winter cover and food. Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency America, they may be exotic to East Tennessee. Tennessee Valley Authority and endorses a land ethic that ➤ celebrates our natural heritage Don’t dig plants from the wild. ➤ Buy nursery-propagated plant material. 100% post-consumer recycled paper 398 FERNS Maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum WEST TENNESSEE Ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron Lady fern Athyrium felix-femina Native plant recommendations Silvery glade fern Diplazium pycnocarpon Mississippi Alluvial Plain, Coastal Plain, Cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea Royal fern Osmunda regalis and West Tennessee Uplands LIGHT SOIL MOISTURE SOIL pH Sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis K F = full sunlight H = hydric; wet, plants periodically or often inundated by water B = basic; prefers limestone Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonaptera Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides West Tennessee comprises the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, E P = partial shade M = mesic; moist, adequate soil moisture retention year-round A = acidic; prefers acidic soils S = shade S = sub-xeric; moist to dry, seasonally moist, periodically dry R = restricted to either B or A Coastal Plain, and West Tennessee Uplands. This region is GRASSES often referred to as the Gulf Coastal Plain because it was Y X = xeric; dry & drought resistant, little moisture retention, excessively drained Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii submerged between 40-70 million years ago by the Gulf Giant cane Arundinaria gigantea River oats, Spangle grass Chasmanthium latifolium Coastal Embayment. Site conditions within the region are COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH Wild rye Elymus virginicus determined by topography, soil pH, soil depth, aspect, FPSHMSXBAR FPSHMSXBAR Sugarcane plumegrass Erianthus giganteus SHRUBS TREES Narrow plumegrass Erianthus strictus availability of light, and hydrology. These site conditions Alder Alnus serrulata ●● ●● Red maple Acer rubrum ●●●●●●● ● Bottle brush Hystrix patula Switch grass Panicum virgatum support a mosaic of native plant communities. ●● ●●● ●● ●● Indigobush Amorpha fruticosa Silver maple Acer saccharinum Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium ➤ Red chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia ●● ●●●● ● Sugar maple Acer saccharum ●●● ●● ● Indian grass Sorgustum nutans Inundated tupelo, cypress-tupelo, and scrub-shrub Black chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa ●● ●●●● ● River birch Betula nigra ●●●●● ● Gamma grass Tripsacum dactyloides swamps. American beautyberry Callicarpa americana ●● ●●●● Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis ●●● ● ● ➤ New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus ●● ●●● ●● Pignut hickory Carya glabra ●●● ●● FLOWERS MOSAIC FOR FULL SUN Oak dominated alluvial bottomland hardwood forests. Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis ●● ● Pecan Carya illinoensis ●● ●● Doll’s eye, White baneberry Actea pachypoda Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Giant yellow hyssop Agastache nepetoides New England aster Aster novae–angliae Silky dogwood Cornus amomum ●● ●● Shagbark hickory Carya ovata ●●● ●● ➤ Mixed mesophytic forests on slopes and ravines charac- Blue dogbane Amsonia tabernaemontana White wild indigo Baptisia alba Hazelnut Corylus americana ●●● ●● Mockernut hickory Carya alba ●●● ●●● teristic of the Chickasaw Bluffs. Wild columbine Aquilegia canadensis Partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata Hearts-a- bustin’ Euonymus americanus ●● ●● Yellowwood Cladrastis lutea ●●● ●● ● Green dragon Arisaema dracontium Tall coreopsis Coreopsis tripteris Goat’s beard Aruncus dioicus ➤ Swamp privet Forestiera acuminata ●● ●● Persimmon Diospyros virginiana ●● ●● Joe–pye weed Eupatorium fistulosum Open canopy forests associated with warm season grass Wild ginger Asarum canadense Purple bee balm Monarda fistulosa Oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia ●●● ●● American beech Fagus grandifolia ●●● ●● Pink milkweed Asclepias incarnata Gray-headed coneflower Ratibida pinnata barrens. ●● ●● ● ●●● ●● Wild hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens White ash Fraxinus americana Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa Black-eyed susan Rudbeckia hirta ➤ Shrubby St. John’s Wort Hypericum prolificum ●● ●●● ● Green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica ●●●●●●● Frostweed aster Aster pilosus Sedum, stonecrop Sedum ternatum Upland oak-hickory forests ranging from basic soil Tickseed sunflower Bidens aristosa Deciduous holly Ilex decidua ●● ●● Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus ●●● ●● ● Indian grass Sorgustum nutans Tall bellflower Campanula americana types to heath-shrub dominated types. Common winterberry Ilex verticillata ●●●●● ● Red cedar Juniperus virginiana ●● ●●● Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Wild senna Cassia marilandica Rose vervain Verbena canadensis ●●●●● ●● ●●●● ● Virginia willow Itea virginica Sweet gum Liquidambar styraciflua Fairy wand Chamaelirium luteum Ironweed Vernonia gigantia ●● ● ●●● ●●● Butterfly pea Clitoria mariana Mississippi Alluvial Plain Spicebush Lindera benzoin Red mulberrry Morus rubra Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata Coastal Plain Mock orange Philadelphus inodorus ●● ●● ● Tupelogum Nyssa aquatica ●●●●● LAKE OBION Cutleaf toothwort Dentaria laciniata WEAKLEY HENRY West Tennessee Uplands ●● ●● ●● ●●● ●●● ● Wild azalea Rhododendron canescens Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica White trout lily Erythronium albidum Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica ●● ●●● ● Virginia pine Pinus virginiania ●●●●Mistflower Eupatorium coelestinum DYER BENTON GIBSON ●● ●● Shortleaf pine Pinus echinata ●●●●Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum CARROLL Winged sumac Rhus copallina Round leaved thoroughwort Eupatorium rotundifolium Carolina rose Rosa carolina ●● ●● ● Sycamore Platanus occidentalis ●● ●● ● CROCKETT Late thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum LAUDERDALE ●● ●● ●● ●●● Swamp rose Rosa palustris Black cherry Prunus serotina Flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata HENDERSON HAYWOOD MADISON Elderberry Sambucus canadensis ●●● ● ● Eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides ●● ●● Morning honeysuckle Gaura biennis TIPTON DECATUR ●● ●● ● ●● ●●● Wild geranium Geranium maculatum CHESTER Bladdernut Staphylea trifolia White oak Quercus alba Small-headed sunflower Helianthus microcephalus American snowbell Stryrax americana ●●●●● ● Scarlet oak Quercus coccinea ●● ●●● ●● Goldenseal Hydrastis canadensis ●●● ●●● ● ●● ●● ●● SHELBY FAYETTE HARDEMAN MCNAIRY HARDIN Bigleaf snowbell Styrax grandifolia Southern red oak Quercus falcata Waterleaf Hydrophyllum appendiculatum ●● ●● ●● ●● Horse sugar Symplocos tinctoria Overcup oak Quercus lyrata Spider lily Hymenocallis occidentalis MOSAIC FOR SHADE Farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum ●● ●● ●● Swamp white oak Quercus michauxii ●● ●● Spotted jewelweed Impatiens capensis Jack-in-the-Pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum ●● ●● ●● Chinkapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii ●● ●●●● ● Copper iris Iris fulva Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana Rough blazing star Liatris aspera The Mississippi Alluvial Plain is the river floodplain com- ●●●●● ●● ●● Broad beech fern Phegopteris hexagonaptera Swamp haw Viburnum nudum Water oak Quercus nigra Thick-spike blazing star Liatris pycnostachya ●● ●● Alumroot Heuchera americana posed of unconsolidated sediment from as far away as the Cherrybark oak Quercus pagoda Scaly blazing star Liatris squarrosa Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides eastern slopes of the Rockies to the western slopes of the SMALL TREES Willow oak Quercus phellos ●● ●● Downy lobelia Lobelia puberula Golden ragwort, butterweed Senecio glabellus Great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica Dwarf red buckeye Aesculus pavia ●●● ●● Northern red oak Quercus rubra ●● ●● ● Spiderwort Tradescantia subaspera Blue Ridge Mountains. Hydric soil occurs in the flood- Fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata Violets Violet spp. Serviceberry Amelanchier arborea ●●● ●● ● Shumard oak Quercus shumardii ●● ●●●●● ● plains along all the major rivers that drain the Gulf Coastal American agave, False aloe Manfreda virginica Common cliff fern Woodsia obtusa Hercules club Aralia spinosa ●● ●● Post oak Quercus stellata ●● ●● Virginia bluebell Mertensia virginica Plain. A fine particled clayey gumbo interspersed with Paw paw Asimina triloba ●● ● ● Shingle oak Quercus imbricaria ●● ●●● ● Partridgeberry Mitchella repens Foxglove beard tongue Penstemon digitalis sandy soils occurs along the Mississippi, while a friable Ironwood, Blue beech Carpinus caroliniana ●●●● Black willow Salix nigra ●● ● ● Sundrops Oenothera fruticosa ●● ●●● Sassafras Sassafras albidum ●● ●● silty loam occurs along smaller rivers, streams, and creeks. Northern catalpa Catalpa speciosa Blue phlox Phlox divaricata Redbud Cercis canadensis ●●● ●●●● Bald cypress Taxodium distichum ●● ●● Tall garden phlox Phlox paniculata The Coastal Plain is a gentle sloping plateau that begins Flowering dogwood Cornus florida ●● ●● American basswood Tilia americana ●●● ●● Obedient plant Physostegia virginiana Washington hawthorn Crataegus phaenopyrum ●● ●●● Water elm Planera aquatica ●● ●● Jacob’s ladder Polemonium reptans where the Chickasaw Bluffs rise above the Mississippi Solomon’s seal Polygonatum biflorum ●● ●●● Alluvial Plain and extends to the West Tennessee Uplands. Cockspur thorn hawthorn Crataegus crus-galli Yellow leafcup Polymnia uvedalia Wahoo Euonymus atropurpureus ●●● ●● ● VINES Black-eyed susan Rudbeckia hirta The Coastal Plain is formed from finely ground wind- American holly Ilex opaca ●●● ●● ● Peppervine Ampelopis arborea ●● ●●● Wild petunia Ruellia caroliniensis Mad dog skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora blown loess material derived from retreating northern Cucumbertree Magnolia acuminata ●● ● Crossvine Bignonia capreolata ●● ●●● Starry campion Silene stellata ●●●●● ● ●●●●●● ● glaciers. The flat to rolling topography is caused by the Sweetbay magnolia Magnolia virginiana Rattan vine Berchemia scandens Fire pink Silene virginica Southern crab apple Malus angustifolia ●●● ●●● Trumpet creeper Campsis radicans ●● ●● Cup plant Silphium perfoliatum wind-blown loess that covers the sand, silt, and clay EMERGENT AQUATICS ●● ●● ● ●●● ●●● Blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium angustifolium Hop hornbeam Ostrya virginiana Virgin’s bower Clematis virginiana Water plantain Alisma subcordatum deposited by the Coastal Embayment. False Solomon’s seal Smilacina racemosa Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum ●●● ●● ●● Coral/trumpet honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens ●●● ●●● Scouring rush, horsetail Equisetum hyemale Fragrant goldenrod Solidago odora ●●●●● Climbing hydrangea Decumaria barbara ●●●●● Arrow arum Peltandra virginica The West Tennessee Uplands is formed from the sand, silt, Water elm Planera aquatica Elm leaved goldenrod Solidago ulmifolia Pickerelweed Pontederia cordata American plum Prunus americana ●● ●●● Climbing hempweed Mikania scandens ●● ●●● Indian pink Spigelia marilandica and clay deposits that underlay the Mississippi Alluvial Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis ●● ●●●● ●●● ●●● Wingstem Verbesina alternifolia Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia American lotus Nelumbo lutea Plain and the Coastal Plain. Soils vary from clay to sandy. Bird’s-foot violet Viola pedata Carolina buckthorn Rhamnus caroliniana ●●● ●●● Passion flower Passiflora incarnata ●● ●● Lizard’s tail Saururus cernuus Smooth yellow violet Viola pubescens The site conditions of the Western Valley, contiguous to the Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina ●● ●●● Climbing magnolia Schisandra glabra ●● ● Arrowhead Sagittaria latifolia Soft rush Scirpus validus West Tennessee Uplands, are similar to the Western Bumelia Sideroxylon lycioides ●●● ●●●● ● Wisteria Wisteria frutescens ●● ●●● Ragwort,butterweed Senecio glabellus ●●● ●●●● Eardrop vine Brunnichia ovata ●● ●●● Highland Rim of Middle Tennessee. Southern rusty blackhawViburnum rufidulum Southern wild rice Zizaniopsis miliacea