Northern Lower Peninsula

Deciding which native species to focus on can be overwhelming. To assist your selection, we have developed a list of about 50 plant species that are common to the northern Lower Peninsula. The list is meant as a place to start as you learn about native plants, and consider a planting of your own. Not all are suitable for all applications. For more information about these species, as well as others to consider, contact your local native plant producer and see the plant fact sheets at this website.

Wildflowers
Ferns
Trees, Shrubs, Vines
Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

Wildflowers
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	White	YES	YES	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	--
Actaea pachypoda	White Baneberry	White	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Anemone canadensis	Canada Anemone	White	YES	YES	NO	1-2	NO	YES	YES	O
Aquilegia canadensis	Wild Columbine	Red/Yellow	YES	YES	YES	1-3	NO	YES	NO	LH, B
Aralia racemosa	Spikenard	White	YES	YES	YES	3-6	NO	YES	NO	--
Asarum canadense	Wild Ginger		YES	NO	NO	.5-1	NO	YES	NO	--
Asclepias incarnata	Swamp Milkweed	Pink	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	YES	LH, N
Asclepias tuberosa	Butterflyweed	Orange	YES	NO	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Campanula rotundifolia	Harebell	Blue	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	--
Coreopsis lanceolata	Sand Coreopsis	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	B, N
Desmodium canadense	Showy Tick-trefoil	Pink	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	NO	LH
Doellingeria umbellata (Aster umbellatus)	Flat-top White Aster	White	YES	YES	NO	2-4	NO	YES	YES	LH, N
Eupatoriadelphus maculatus (Eupatorium maculatum)	Spotted Joe-pye Weed	Pink	YES	YES	NO	4-5	NO	YES	YES	N
Eupatorium perfoliatum	Common Boneset	White	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	N, PP
Geranium maculatum	Wild Geranium	Pink	YES	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Helianthus occidentalis	Western Sunflower	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	NO	NO	N, LH
Heliopsis helianthoides	False Sunflower	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	4-6	NO	YES	NO	--
Iris versicolor	Wild Blue Flag	B lue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	N
Liatris aspera	Rough Blazing Star	Pink	YES	NO	NO	3-4	YES	YES	NO	N
Lobelia cardinalis	Cardinal Flower	Red	YES	YES	NO	2-4	NO	YES	YES	B, N
Lobelia siphilitica	Great Blue Lobelia	Blue	YES	YES	NO	1-3	NO	YES	YES	PP
Lupinus perennis	Wild Lupine	Blue	YES	YES	NO	1-2	YES	NO	NO	LH, N
Monarda fistulosa	Wild Bergamot	Lavender	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	N
Monarda punctata	Horsemint	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	1-3	YES	NO	NO	N, PP
Penstemon digitalis	Foxglove Beardtongue	White	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	YES	B
Penstemon hirsutus	Hairy Beardtongue	Pink	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	B
Potentilla simplex	Common Cinquefoil	Yellow	YES	YES	YES	1	YES	YES		GC
Pycnanthemum virginianum	Mountain Mint	White	YES	YES	NO	1-2	NO	YES	YES	N
Rudbeckia hirta	Black-eyed Susan	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N,
Solidago caesia	Blue-stemmed Goldenrod	Yellow	YES	YES	YES	2-3	YES	YES	NO	N
Solidago speciosa	Showy Goldenrod	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	2-5	YES	YES	NO	N, PP
Symphyotrichum laeve (Aster laevis)	Smooth Aster	Lavender	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	LH, N, PP
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (Aster novae-angliae)	New England Aster	Purple	YES	NO	NO	3-6	NO	YES	YES	LH, N, PP
Symphyotrichum oolentangiense (Aster oolentangiensis)	Skyblue Aster	Blue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Symphyotrichum puniceum (Aster puniceus)	Swamp Aster	Pale blue	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	LH, N
Thalictrum dasycarpum	Purple Meadow-rue	White	YES	YES	NO	3-7	NO	YES	YES	--
Thalictrum dioicum	Early Meadow-rue	White		YES	YES	2-3	NO	YES	NO	--
Tradescantia ohiensis	Common Spiderwort	Blue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	YES	YES	NO	--
Verbena hastata	Blue Vervain	Blue	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	N
Verbena stricta	Hoary Vervain	Purple-blue	YES	YES	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	--
Zizia aurea	Golden Alexanders	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	PP

Key to letter codes:
B: Provides food (fruit, seed, or nectar) or nesting habitat for birds
GC: Groundcover
LH: Larval host for butterflies
LS: Well-suited for landscaping; not well-suited to gardens
LTD: Limited plant material supply
N: Provides nectar for butterflies
NS: Does not establish well from seed
O: Opportunistic - spreads aggressively
PP: Attract pollinators and predatory insects
S: Spreads by underground suckers

Ferns
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet
Adiantum pedatum	Maidenhair Fern	-	NO	YES	YES	1	NO	YES	YES
Onoclea sensibilis	Sensitive Fern	-	YES	YES	NO	1-2	NO	NO	YES

Trees, Shrubs, Vines
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Amelanchier arboria	Serviceberry, Northern Juneberry	White	YES	YES	NO	12-25	YES	YES	NO	B, LH
Betula alleghaniensis	Yellow Birch	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	40-70	NO	YES	YES	LH
Betula papyrifera	Paper Birch	Brown	YES	YES	NO	30-60	NO	YES	NO	LH
Cornus amomum	Silky Dogwood, Pale Dogwood	White	YES	YES	YES	3-9	NO	YES	YES	LH, B, N, S
Cornus racemosa (Cornus foemina)	Gray Dogwood	White	YES	YES	NO	3-10	YES	YES	NO	LH, B, N, S
Cornus sericea (Cornus stolonifera)	Red-osier Dogwood	White	YES	YES	YES	3-9	YES	YES	YES	LH, B, N, S
Ilex verticillata	Winterberry	White	YES	YES	NO	6-12	NO	YES	YES	B
Juniperus communis	Ground Juniper	-	YES	NO	NO	3-5	YES	YES	NO	B
Physocarpus opulifolius	Ninebark	White	YES	YES	NO	3-9	NO	YES	YES	N
Prunus virginiana	Choke Cherry	White	YES	YES	NO	10-30	YES	YES	NO	LH, N, S
Rosa blanda	Wild Rose	Pink	YES	YES	NO	4-5	YES	YES	NO	--
Rosa carolina	Pasture Rose	Pink	YES	YES	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	S
Sambucus racemosa (Sambucus pubens)	Red-berried Elder	White	YES	YES	NO	5-12	YES	YES	NO	B
Viburnum lentago	Nannyberry	White	YES	YES	NO	15-30	NO	YES	YES	B, N, LH

Grasses, Sedges, Rushes
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Andropogon gerardii	Big Bluestem	Green	YES	NO	NO	5-7	YES	YES	YES	--
Carex pensylvanica	Pennsylvania Sedge	Green	NO	YES	NO	.5-1	YES	YES	NO	GC
Carex stricta	Tussock Sedge	Green	YES	NO	NO	2-4	NO	NO	YES	LH, LS
Eragrostis spectabilis	Purple Love Grass	Green	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	NO	NO	LS
Juncus effusus	Soft-stemmed Rush	Green	YES	NO	NO	1-3	NO	NO	YES	--
Panicum virgatum	Switch Grass	Green	YES	YES	NO	3-5	YES	YES	YES	LH
Schizachyrium scoparium (Andropogon scoparius)	Little Bluestem	Green	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	LH
Sorghastrum nutans	Indian Grass	Green	YES	NO	NO	4-6	NO	YES	NO	LH