Drought-Tolerant Native Plants

Posted by LB on March 24th, 2008 filed in Nature

NC Wildflowers

Climbing Aster  (Ampelaster carolinianus) – a climbing aster with lilac-colored flowers from mid-October through November

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) – orange flowers; nectar and food plant for the monarch butterfly

Carolina Wild Indigo (Baptisia cinerea) – yellow flowers

Baptisia hybrids – various colors, from blue to white

Maryland Golden-aster (Chrysopsis mariana) – many cheerful yellow flowers

American-dittany (Cunila origanoides) – blue flowers

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – as the name says, purple flowers; butterflies love this long-blooming perennial

Northern Rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium) – stiff foliage and white flowers in spherical, thistle-like heads

Heart’s-a-bustin’ (Euonymous americanus) – inconspicuous flowers but the unusual pink fruit capsule, resembling a strawberry, opens up in fall to reveal large orange seeds

Purple-disk Sunflower (Helianthus atrorubens) – yellow flower heads w/ purple center

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus) – single, terminal, yellow flower head

Stiff-leaf aster (Ionactis linariifolius) – small composite flowers; pale blue-purple “petals” around a yellow-orange disk

Scaly Blazing-star (Liatris spicata) – magenta-purple flowers clustered along a slender stem

Carolina Lily (Lilium michauxii) – showy orange flowers

Eastern False-aloe (Manfreda virginica) – succulent with pale yellow-green flowers; sometimes sold as Agave virginica

Southern Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) – clear yellow flowers; attractive evergreen rosette

Eastern Prickly-pear (Opuntia humifusa) – a native cactus with yellow flowers

Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) – white flowers

Downy Phlox (Phlox pilosa) – pink flowers

Narrowleaf Silkgrass  (Pityopsis graminifolia) – not a grass but a member of the aster family; has a tendency to spread on well-drained soils

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) – large yellow flower (actually a flower head) with dark-brown central disk; short lived perennial that re-seeds

Starry Rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus var. laevicaule) – tall plant with bright yellow composite flowers

Anise-scented Goldenrod (Solidago odora) – leaves are anise-scented when crushed; bright yellow flowers

Eastern Silvery American-aster (Symphyotrichum concolor) – pinkish-purple composite flowers

Large-flower American-aster (Symphyotrichum grandiflorum) – light to reddish-purple composite flowers with yellow to reddish-yellow disk

Hairy-stem Spiderwort (Tradescantia hirsuticaulis) – bluish-purple flowers

Adam’s Needle (Yucca filamentosa) – margins of the clumped, evergreen, straplike leaves sport curly “filaments”; waxy white flowers on a tall stem emerging from the center of the clump

NC grasses

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) – a grass with foliage that changes from blue-green, to green, to red, to bronze with lavender tones through the seasons

Hairgrass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) – a clump-forming grass with flower/seed heads that turn pink to purplish-red later in the season

Switchgrass – (Panicum virgatum and its cultivars) – ornamental, clump-forming grass

Indian-grass (Sorghastrum nutans) – light-brown flower panicles with yellow stamens rise well above the foliage in late summer; blue-green leaves turn golden yellow in fall

NC shrubs

New Jersey-tea (Ceanothus americanus) – small shrub with panicles of small white flowers; deep-purple fruit in fall

Shrubby St. John’s-wort (Hypericum prolificum) – compact deciduous shrub with bright yellow flowers

Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica) –fragrant clusters of creamy white flowers; late-season red foliage

Fragrant Sumac (Rhus aromatica) – tall deciduous shrub with glossy green foliage in summer and spectacular color in fall

Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) – white, bell-like flowers and edible fruit!

Source: North Carolina Botanical Garden, UNC–Chapel Hill, CB 3375, Totten Center,  Chapel Hill, NC 27599    919-962-0522    www.ncbg.unc.edu