What Is A Native Plant?

There are many definitions of “native plant”. Some definitions suggest that a native plant is any plant that grows without the assistance of humans, and was present in North America prior to European settlement. This definition neglects to recognize that there were humans present in North America prior to European settlement who influenced the ecology of the area. Other definitions are much more specific and limit native plants as those only found within certain regions, or adapted to certain habitats.

A more widely accepted definition is one put forth by the Federal Native Plant Committee: “a native plant species is one that occurs naturally in a particular region, state, ecosystem, and habitat without direct or indirect human actions.”

Many of the plants that you can find at your neighborhood nursery or landscaper are considered ornamentals. Ornamentals, as the name implies, have been raised for the purpose of being used as ornaments in the landscaping around our homes. While many of these ornamentals are non-natives, some of them are natives. Many ornamentals are what we call varieties or cultivars. These are plants that have been bred to express certain traits such as shape of the plant, height, color, shape or size of flowers, or any number of other qualities. Even native plants come in a number of different varieties or cultivars. Though in many cases it is probably best to use a natural form of a native plant, a variety or cultivar can potentially be substituted if a natural form is not available.