Celebrate our natural heritage and Our natural heritage Natives vs. exotics protect native plant communities EAST 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. Unaka Mountains, Ridge and Valley, 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- 2. Buy nursery propagated plant material. out-compete, and displace natives. Other exotics are Cumberland Plateau and Mountains sent the cog and wheel of a healthy ecosystem sustained vectors for disease and exotic insects. Future introduc- 3. Don’t dig plants from the wild. by a complex web of biological diversity. tions can be prevented by using native species. 4. Protect native plant and natural area habitat. Native plants have many inherent qualities and adaptive Using natives also exhibits regional flora and promotes traits that make them aesthetically pleasing, practical, Promote responsible landscaping practices. our natural heritage. Natives have often been overlooked 5. and ecologically valuable for landscaping. and their aesthetic value ignored. Instead, many regions Plant native and not exotic plant species. 6. 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 created a monotonous, predictable landscape. For more information natives in an urban setting helps restore regional charac- Great Smoky Mountains National Park ter and places fewer demands on resources. Basics about using natives 107 Park Headquarters Road When landscaping with natives match the right plants Gatingburg TN 37738 423/436-1706 with the right site conditions. Consider using plants that occur together in their natural habitats. Do your home- Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation work before planting; study the plants and the site con- (TDEC) Division of Natural Heritage dition information in this brochure. Visit a natural area 401 Church St., 8th floor, L & C Tower and observe how plants occur and design your landscape Nashville TN 37243-0447 accordingly. Buy nursery propagated plants. Remember, 615/532-0436 landscaping with natives is art imitating nature. Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council (TN-EPPC) P. O. Box 40692 Nashville TN 37204 Benefits of natives 615/532-0436 Native ➤ Adapted to regional conditions and may require less maintenance and are cost-effective. Tennessee Native Plant Society species naturally occurring in a region (indigenous) Department of Botany ➤ Hardy, withstand extreme winter cold, do not suffer University of Tennessee Exotic from die back. Knoxville TN 37996-1100 species introduced by humans, either deliberately ➤ 423/974-2256 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. Text by Natives are plants that evolved in place over geologic time ➤ Prevent future exotic introductions. Warner Park Nature Center and are distributed across the landscape largely in Tennessee Natural Areas Program in the Division of Natural Heritage/TDEC response to climatic episodes and adaptation to site Great Smoky Mountains National Park conditions related to land formation. Natives for wildlife Using natives in landscaping helps sustain native butter- LANDSCAPING Natives are generally defined as plants that occurred in Brochure made possible by flies, moths and other beneficial insects; native birds, TN-EPPC North America before European settlement. This distinc- reptiles, mammals, and other fauna. Fall migrating birds WITH tion is made because of the large-scale changes in the Co-sponsored by depend on high-energy fruits from flowering dogwood flora that have resulted since European settlement and Invasive Plant Control Inc. (Nashville) and spicebush. Spring migrants feed Native Gardens (Greenback) NATIVE the introduction of “exotic” plants. North Chickagmauga Creek Conservancy (Chattanooga) on insects that occur on oak trees. Reflecting Riding Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Exotics are plants that are directly or indirectly, deliber- Beech and other native trees provide (Chattanooga) PLANTS ately or accidentally introduced by human action. To be nesting habitat, while Eastern red cedar, Personalized Plantings (Pigeon Forge) more precise, natives are natural elements of a regional Tennessee Native Plant Society short leaf pine, and American holly Tennessee Field Office of The Nature Conservancy PROMOTES BIODIVERSITY landscape. While some species are native to North provide winter cover and food. TDEC Division of Natural Heritage America, they may be exotic to East Tennessee. TDEC Bureau of State Parks and endorses a land ethic that Tennessee River Gorge Trust (Chattanooga) ➤ Don’t dig plants from the wild. Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency celebrates our natural heritage Tennessee Valley Authority ➤ Buy nursery-propagated plant material. 100% post-consumer recycled paper 598 FERNS Maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum EAST TENNESSEE Ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron Lady fern Athyrium felix–femina ssp. asplenioides Native plant recommendations Common grape fern Botrychium dissectum Unaka Mountains, Ridge and Valley, Bulblet fern Cystopteris bulbifera Hay–scented fern Dennstaedtia punctiloba Cumberland Plateau and Mountains LIGHT SOIL MOISTURE SOIL pH Shining club moss Lycopodium lucidulum K F = full sunlight H = hydric; wet, plants periodically or often inundated by water B = basic; prefers limestone Sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis The Unaka Mountains, the Ridge and Valley, and the Cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea P = partial shade M = mesic; moist, adequate soil moisture retention year-round A = acidic; prefers acidic soils Cumberland Plateau and Mountains are distinctively E Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides S = shade S = sub-xeric; moist to dry, seasonally moist, periodically dry R = restricted to either B or A Common woodsia Woodsia obtusa different physiographic regions that make up East Tennes- Y X = xeric; dry & drought resistant, little moisture retention, excessively drained Chain fern Woodwardia areolata see. Site conditions for each province are determined by GRASSES AND SEDGES topography, soil pH, soil depth, elevation, availability of Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH Split beard bluestem Andropogon ternarius light, and hydrology. These varying site conditions FPSHMSXBAR FPSHMSXBAR Broomsedge Andropogon virginicus support a mosaic of native plant communities. SHRUBS SMALL TREES (continued) River cane Arundinaria gigantea ssp. gigantea Alder Alnus serrulata ●● ●● ● Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina ●● ●● ● Plaintain–leaved sedge Carex plantaginea River oats, spangle grass Chasmanthium latifolium ➤ Dry, higher-elevation, south-facing slopes have Serviceberry Amelanchier laevis ●● ●● ● Mountain ash Sorbus americana ●● ●●● ● Oat grass Danthonia compressa ●● ●●●● ●●● ●●●● extremely acidic soils that support evergreens such as Indigo bush Amorpha fruticosa Southern rusty blackhaw Viburnum rufidulum Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis mountain laurel and pines, as well as oaks, huckleberry, Red chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia ●● ●●● ● Northern blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium ●●● ●●● Sugarcane plumegrass Erianthus giganteus Black chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa ●● ●●●● ● Narrow plumegrass Erianthus strictus blueberries, and hickories. Bottle brush Hystrix patula Sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus ●●●●● ● TREES Switch–grass Panicum virgatum ●● ●●●● Red maple Acer rubrum ●●●● ●● ● ➤ On north-facing slopes, a mixed mesophytic forest American beautyberry Callicarpa americana Indian grass Sorghastrum nutans ●● ●●● ● ●● ● community occurs that includes hemlock, tulip poplar New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Silver maple Acer saccharinum Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis ●● ●● ● Sugar maple Acer saccharum ●●● ●● ● GROUND COVERS MOSAIC FOR FULL SUN and maple. Cumberland rosemary Conradina verticillata ●●●● Yellow buckeye Aesculus flava ●● ●● Hog–peanut Amphicarpaea bracteata Big blue stem Andropogon gerardii Pussy’s toes Antennaria plantaginifolia Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa ●●● ●● ● Black birch Betula lenta ●●● ●●● ➤ Hydric plants occur in drainages, floodplains and Hazelnut Corylus americana Wild ginger Asarum canadense River oats Chasmanthium latifolium Leatherwood Dirca palustris ●●● ● ● River birch Betula nigra ●●●●● Mouse–eared coreopsis Coreopsis auriculata Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium dubium upland swamps; these include sweetgum, sycamore, Hearts-a-bustin Euonymus americanus ●● ●● Bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis ●●● ● ● Rattlesnake plaintain Goodyera pubescens Carolina jasmine Gelsemium sempervirens Dwarf crested iris Iris cristata Phlox Phlox spp. ironwood, and birches. Swamp mallow Hibiscus moscheutos ●● ● Pignut hickory Carya glabra ●●● ●● Partridge berry Mitchella repens Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida ● ●●● ●●● ●●● Wild hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens Shagbark Carya ovata Allegheny spurge Pachysandra procumbens Indian grass Sorghastrum nutans Golden St. John’s Wort Hypericum frondosum ●● ● ●●● Mockernut Carya tomentosa ●●● ●●● Phacelia Phacelia bipinnatifida JOHNSON ●● ●●●● ● Yellow-wood Cladrastis lutea ●●● ●● ● Chalice phlox Phlox amoena PICKETT HANCOCK SULLIVAN Shrubby St. John’s Wort Hypericum prolificum CLAIBORNE HAWKINS Carolina phlox Phlox carolina SCOTT Common winterberry Ilex verticillata ●●●●● Persimmon Diospyros virginiana ●● ●● OVERTON FENTRESS CAMPBELL WASH- Wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata UNION GRAINGER INGTON CARTER Virginia-willow Itea virginica ●●●●● American beech Fagus grandifolia ●●● ●● HAMBLEN GREENE Downy phlox Phlox pilosa UNICOI ●●● ●● ● PUTNAM MORGAN ANDERSON JEFFERSON Mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia ●● ●● ●● White ash Fraxinus americana Creeping phlox Phlox stolonifera KNOX COCKE ● ●●●●●● Foamflower Tiarella cordifolia WHITE CUMBERLAND Spicebush Lindera benzoin ●● ● ● Green Ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica ROANE SEVIER Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius ●●●●● Blue ash Fraxinus quadrangulata ●●● ●● ● ● Verbena Verbena canadensis WARREN VAN LOUDON BLOUNT BUREN S Flame azalea Rhododendron calendulaceum ●● ●● ●● Black walnut Juglans nigra ●●● ●● ● RHEA EIG FLOWERS S BLEDSOE M Cumberland Plateau ●● ●●● EQ Wild azalea Rhododendron canescens ●●● ●● ● Red cedar Juniperus virginiana Doll’s eyes Actaea pachypoda GRUNDY UA McMINN MONROE TC ●●●●●●● ● Blue star Amsonia tabernaemontana HIE Ridge and Valley Rose bay Rhododendron maximum ●● ●● ●● Sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica ●●● ●●● ● Tulip poplar Liriodendron tulipifera ●● ●● MARION HAMILTONBRADLEY POLK Wild columbine Aquilega canadensis Unaka Mountains ●● ●● ●●● ●● ● Winged sumac Rhus copallina Blackgum Nyssa sylvatica Green dragon Arisaema dracontium Carolina rose Rosa carolina ●● ●● ● Cucumber tree Magnolia acuminata ●● ● Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum MOSAIC FOR SHADE Swamp rose Rosa palustris ●● ●● Red mulberry Morus rubra ●●● ●●● Goat’s-beard Aruncus dioicus Jack-in-the-pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata Dutchman’s pipe Aristolochia macrophylla Elderberry Sambucus canadensis ●●● ● ● Short leaf pine Pinus echinata ●●●● Butterfly-weed Asclepias tuberosa Wild ginger Asarum canadense ●● ●● ● ●●●● Soil pH and geology distinguish the Unaka Mountains Bladdernut Staphylea trifolia White pine Pinus strobus White wood aster Aster divaricatus River oats Chasmanthium latifolium and the Ridge and Valley from the Cumberland Plateau Coralberry, buckbrush Symphoricarpus orbiculatus ●●● ●●●● Sycamore Platanus occidentalis ●● ●● ● Showy aster Aster grandiflorus Sharp-lobed hepatica Hepatica acutiloba ●● ●● ●● Black cherry Prunus serotina ●● ●●● Late purple aster Aster patens Alumroot Heuchera americana and Mountains. The Unaka Mountains contain an Farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum ●● ●● ●● White oak Quercus alba ●● ●●● False goatsbeard Astilbe biternata Cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea Blue wild indigo Baptisia australis Solomon’s seal Polygonatum biflorum extremely acidic (lower pH) coarse to fine loam soil. The ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● ●● Cranberry Vaccinium macrocarpon Scarlet oak Quercus coccinea Marsh marigold Caltha palustris Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides soil in the northern part of the mountains is formed from Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum ●● ●●● ●● Southern red oak Quercus falcata ●● ●● Blue cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides Violets Viola spp. granite and gneiss. The soil in the southern part of the Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium ●● ●●● ● Water oak Quercus nigra ●● ●● Pink turtlehead Chelone lyonii Pin oak Quercus palustris ●● ●●●● Whorled tickseed Coreopsis major mountains derives from phyllite, slate, sandstone, and Wild bleeding heart Dicentra eximia Chestnut oak Quercus prinus ●● ●● ●● quartzite. The Ridge and Valley contains a wide variety of SMALL TREES Shooting star Dodecatheon meadia Serviceberry Amelanchier arborea ●●● ●● ● Northern red oak Quercus rubra ●● ●●● Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea topography and geologic formations, and the soils are Hercules club Aralia spinosa ●● ●● Post oak Quercus stellata ●● ●● Wild ageratum Eupatorium coelestinum Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium fistulosum less acidic (higher pH). The valleys are made up of tilted Paw paw Asimina triloba ●● ● ● Black oak Quercus velutina ●● ●●● Wild geranium Geranium maculatum ●●●● ●● ● ● rock formations of soft shales and clayey limestones. Ironwood Carpinus caroliniana Black willow Salix nigra Maximillian sunflower Helianthus maximilianii Mostly sandstones and hard shale underlie the ridges, but Redbud Cercis canadensis ●●● ●●●● Sassafras Sassafras albidum ●● ●● Sharp-lobed hepatica Hepatica acutiloba ●● ●● ● White cedar Thuja occidentalis ●●●●● ● Alumroot Heuchera americana some limestone exists. The Cumberland Plateau and Fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus Alternate leaved dogwood Cornus alternifolia ●● ●● ● Basswood Tilia americana ●●● ●● Jewelweed Impatiens capensis Blue flag Iris versicolor Mountain Region is generally more acidic (lower pH), ●● ●● Flowering dogwood Cornus florida Dense blazing star Liatris spicata underlain by Pennsylvanian sandstones and shales. The Parsley hawthorn Crataegus marshallii ●● ●●● VINES Turks-cap lily Lilium superbum dominant soils are well-drained, loamy, strongly acidic, Hawthorn Crataegus mollis ●● ●●● Dutchman’s pipe Aristolochia macrophylla ●● ●● Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis Virginia bluebells Mertensia virginica Washington hawthorn Crataegus phaenopyrum ●● ●●● Crossvine Bignonia capreolata ●● ●●● and low in natural fertility. Bishop’s cap Mitella diphylla ●●● ●● ● ●● ●● Carolina silverbell Halesia carolina Trumpet creeper Campsis radicans Ginseng Panax quinquefolius For landscaping purposes it is important to remember that Witch-hazel Hamamelis virginiana ●● ●● ● Leatherflower Clematis viorna ●●● ●●● Phlox maculata Phlox maculata American holly Ilex opaca ●●● ●● ● Virgin’s bower Clematis virginiana ●●● ●●● Garden phlox Phlox paniculata plants growing in our region are specifically adapted to Jacob’s ladder Polemonium reptans Sweet bay magnolia Magnolia virginiana ●● ●● ● Climbing hydrangea Decumaria barbara ●● ●● Solomon’s seal Polygonatum biflorum hydrology (moisture and dryness) and soil pH (acidity and ●● ●● ● ●● ●● ● Hop-hornbeam Ostrya virginiana Carolina jasmine Gelsemium sempervirens Blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida alkalinity). Soil moisture, soil pH, and light availability are Sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum ●● ●● ●● Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia ●●● ●●● Fire pink Silene virginica important limiting factors. Matching plants to site condi- American plum Prunus americana ●● ●● Passionflower Passiflora incarnata ●● ●● Rough stemmed goldenrod Solidago rugosa Carolina buckthorn Rhamnus caroliniana ●●● ●●● Atlantic wisteria Wisteria frutescens ●●●●● Spiderwort Tradescantia virginiana tions will yield the maximum benefits that natives provide. Tall ironweed Vernonia altissima Bird-foot violet Viola pedata Long-spurred violet Viola rostrata