How to identify natives

15 years ago

I have been wanting to add butterfly weed to my garden. In the Wayside Gardens catalog there are 2 varieties, one is Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow', and Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Flower. Are these true natives? I'm not sure how to tell which ones are natives. It does not state so in the description so how do you know? For example, Rudbeckia fulgida Goldsturm Strain - is this a native or something else? Since I've bought several plants that I thought were native but now I have learned that they are not, I want to be more careful and educated about choosing my plants. And finally is there a catalog that specializes in native plants? Thanks.

Comments (3)

Iris GW
15 years ago
If the name of a plant includes the full species name (like Asclepias tuberosa) then it is the real deal. A plant that contains the species name plus a name in quotes (Asclepias tuberosa 'Hello Yellow' or Lobelia cardinalis 'Shrimp Salad') means that it is a cultivated variation of the species plant. This plant will be vegetatively propagated to continue the trait for which it was selected (in these two cases, color).

If however you find a name with an "X" in it then it is a hybrid and is the result of two different plants. For example, Lobelia x 'Ruby Slippers' is a hybrid (note the "x" after the genus name). It is a hybrid between two native plants, L. cardinalis and L. siphilitica. It is sometimes shown as Lobelia 'Ruby Slippers'. Note the lack of species name.

Sometime hybrids are with non-native plants: The Cornus genus has been hybridized in several ways with the native flowering dogwood, the Asian dogwood and with the native Pacific dogwood:
- Hybrids with Cornus florida (eastern flowering) and Cornus kousa (asian dogwood): Cornus x ÂConstellationÂ sometimes noted Cornus x rutgersensis 'Constellation'
- Hybrids with Cornus florida and Cornus nuttallii (Pacific dogwood): Cornus x 'Eddie's White Wonder'
- Hybrids with Cornus nuttallii and Cornus kousa: Cornus x ÂVenusÂ.

YouÂll note that when it comes to hybrids, the nursery tag does not always present enough information to know if the hybrid has native parents or includes exotic parentage.

And just to make it a bit more interesting, occasionally a hybrid can be made between plants that are not in the same genus. The plant "x Chitalpa tashkentensis" is a cross between Catalpa bignonioides and Chilopsis linearis, both in the Bignoniaceae family. DonÂt let the exotic name fool you - Chitalpa is a combination of the scientific name of the two parents (both natives to the US), while the specific name identifies the city in Uzbekistan where the hybrid was created. This hybrid now has two cultivars, 'Pink Dawn' and 'Morning Cloud.'
terrestrial_man
15 years ago
The best and easiest way to tell if a plant is a native US plant is to use the search (on left side) at the USDA site linked below. Just use the Genus or the genus and the species name. Generally additional names unless they are identified as variety are not considered anything other than an horticultural variant of the species.
posting in Asclepias tuberosa into the search opened up a page with Asclepias tuberosa listed along with several subspecies names. Just click on those names that are links to see images, a map of distrubituion and other information and relevant links.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA DATABASE
Related Discussions
HAVE: Native Wildflowers that need to be identified for me.
Q
Comments (2)
Debi- I would love to help you identify your plants. I also live in zone 3 MN. (Brainerd). I believe I have most of what you describe, but would love to trade. How about Jack in the Pulpit? Please desribe this plant in more detail "Also a plant that gets to be 6-8 inches tall, leaved are not molted/spotted, I believe the flower is white or yellow, lots of these growing."
...See More
identify native grass? also, how to manage native grass
Q
Comments (3)
looks like a pasture grass to me... Perhaps Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass, english meadow grass, smooth meadow grass) You'll need a photo of the flower rather than the seeds if you want a good Id. Also, is it a runner grass? How often does it flower (once a year, any time in summer, straight after rain?). That fact that it has happily come up in mulch tells me that it is almost certainly a weed. I would recommend against propagating a grass you can't accurately identify - you might end up spreading something really hard to get rid off, like serrated tussock! (when I was young I carefully propagated some interesting grass I found on a friends farm - a year later I discovered it was mexican plume grass and spent 3 years getting rid of it.
...See More
Identify native gum tree?
Q
Comments (2)
I agree with Eucalyptus sideroxlyon. It's certainly a beautiful species which attracts lots of lorikeets & honeyeaters when in flower. How big is your backyard, cpzzz? I ask because this species grows to about 20 metres so you'd need to consider location of utilities, shading of neighbours & proximity to your house.
...See More
please help identify this native, and sorry its sideways
Q
Comments (8)
Thank you I agree its probably Red Baneberry .. there are fluffy white roundish flowers at the top .. I was confused because some plants which I know to be Red Baneberry don't have the tall grey stems but perhaps the short ones are babies and/or don't get as much light. This particular one is in Central Park NYC which I think is zone 6, mine are in zone 5 CT which is typically about a month behind NYC. Thank you!
...See More
ladyslppr
15 years ago
I think if you want the authentic wild strain of a native plant you need to be very careful. As the others have said, a lot of what you buy in nurseries includes selected cultivars of natives, hybrids, etc. Another problem is that even a wild strain of a native plant might not be the the same variety that grows in your locality naturally. Many native plants occur over a really wide geographic range and the genetic makeup of the plant might differ greatly. I like to try to grow local strains of native plants, which generally means collecting seed or starts from wild population and propagating them myself. It is more work to do it this way, but I think its worth it.