Southern 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 southern Lower Michigan. The list is meant as a place to start as you learn about native plants, and consider a planting of your own. Not all of these species 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)
Actaea pachypoda	White Baneberry	White	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Actaea rubra	Red Baneberry	White	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Allium cernuum	Nodding Wild Onion	Pink	YES	YES	NO	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
Arisaema triphyllum	Jack-in-the-Pulpit	Green	NO	YES	YES	1-3	NO	YES	NO	--
Asarum canadense	Wild Ginger	Purple	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	Butterfly weed	Orange	YES	NO	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Caulophyllum thalictroides	Blue Cohosh	Yellow	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Chelone glabra	Turtlehead	White	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	LH
Coreopsis lanceolata	Sand Coreopsis	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	B, 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
Fragaria virginiana	Wild Strawberry	White	YES	YES	YES	.5-1	NO	YES	YES	GC, LH, NS
Geranium maculatum	Wild Geranium	Pink	YES	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Hibiscus moscheutos	Rose Mallow	Pink	YES	NO	NO	4-6	NO	YES	YES	--
Iris versicolor	Wild Blue Flag	B lue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	N
Iris virginica	Southern Blue Flag	B lue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	--
Liatris aspera	Rough Blazing Star	Pink	YES	NO	NO	3-4	YES	YES	NO	N
Liatris spicata	Marsh Blazing Star	Pink	YES	NO	NO	3-4	NO	YES	YES	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		N
Oligoneuron riddellii (Solidago riddellii)	Riddell's Goldenrod	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	2-4	NO	YES	YES	N, PP
Oligoneuron rigidum (Solidago rigida)	Stiff Goldenrod	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	3-5	NO	YES	NO	N
Packera aurea (Senecio aureus)	Golden Ragwort	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	--
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
Polygonatum biflorum	True Solomon's Seal	Green	NO	YES	NO	1-3	NO	YES	NO	--
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,
Silphium terebinthinaceum	Prairie Dock	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	4-10	YES	YES	YES	N,B
Solidago flexicaulis	Broad-leaved Goldenrod	Yellow	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	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
Thalictrum dasycarpum	Purple Meadow-rue	White	YES	YES	NO	3-7	NO	YES	YES	--
Thalictrum dioicum	Early Meadow-rue	White	NO	YES	YES	2-3	NO	YES	NO	--
Tradescantia ohiensis	Common Spiderwort	Blue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	YES	YES	NO	--
Vernonia missurica	Missouri Ironweed	Purple	YES	YES	NO	4-6	NO	YES	YES	N
Veronicastrum virginicum	Culver's Root	White	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	N, PP
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
Athyrium filix-femina	Lady Fern	-	YES	YES	YES	2-3	NO	YES	NO
Matteuccia struthiopteris	Ostrich Fern	-	YES	YES	YES	3-4	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 laevis	Smooth Serviceberry	White	YES	YES	NO	12-25	YES	YES	NO	B, LH
Ceanothus americanus	New Jersey Tea	White	YES	YES	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Cercis canadensis	Redbud, Judas Tree	Pink	YES	YES	NO	12-25	NO	YES	NO	LH, N
Cornus sericea (Cornus stolonifera)	Red-osier Dogwood	White	YES	YES	YES	3-9	YES	YES	YES	LH, B, N, S
Corylus americana	Hazelnut	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	5-9	YES	YES	NO	--
Ilex verticillata	Winterberry	White	YES	YES	NO	6-12	NO	YES	YES	B
Lindera benzoin	Spicebush	Yellow		YES	YES	5-10	NO	YES	YES	LH
Physocarpus opulifolius	Ninebark	White	YES	YES	NO	3-9	NO	YES	YES	N
Prunus serotina	Wild Black Cherry	White	YES	YES	NO	50-85	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Quercus alba	White Oak	Green	YES	NO	NO	70-90	YES	YES	NO	LH, B
Quercus bicolor	Swamp White Oak	Green	YES	NO	NO	50-80	NO	YES	YES	LH
Quercus macrocarpa	Bur Oak	Green	YES	NO	NO	60-85	YES	YES	YES	LH
Quercus rubra	Red Oak	Green	YES	NO	NO	65-90	NO	YES	NO	LH
Sambucus nigra (Sambucus canadensis)	Elderberry	White	YES	YES	NO	5-12	NO	YES	YES	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
Elymus hystrix (Hystrix patula)	Bottlebrush Grass	Green	NO	YES	YES	3-5	YES	YES	NO	LH
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