North Carolina Endemic and Near-endemic Plants
by Mickey Jo Sorrell, 2014.
North Carolina’s endemic plants do not grow in the wild anywhere else on Earth, and the near-endemic plants grow in the wild only in North Carolina and in a nearby area– perhaps South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, or Georgia.
Some of these plants are rare (there are only a few individual plants or groups of plants), some are endangered (at risk of extinction), and some of them are doing very well in their own little corner of the world.
The North Carolina Natural Heritage Program identifies and maps these endemic and near-endemic plant and animal species as part of its mission to preserve the biodiversity of our state,.
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME |
| Appalachian Dwarf Huckleberry | Gaylussacia orocola |
| Appalachian Yellow Asphodel | Narthecium montanum |
| Bigleaf Scurfpea | Orbexilum macrophyllum |
| Buck Creek Aster | Symphyotrichum rhiannon |
| Bunched Arrowhead | Sagittaria fasculata |
| Dune Bluecurls | Trichostema sp. 1 |
| Fraser fir | Abies fraseri |
| Golden Sedge | Carex lutea |
| Goldenrod, Coastal | Solidago villosicarpa |
| Goldenrod, Granite Dome | Solidago simulans |
| Goldenrod, Yadkin River | Solidago plumosa |
| Hartweg's Locust | Robinia hartwigii |
| Hawthorn | Crataegus senta |
| Hawthorn, Pale | Crataegus pallens |
| Heartleaf, Dwarf-flowered | Hexastylis naniflora |
| Heartleaf, French Broad | Hexastylis rhombiformis |
| Heller's Blazing-star | Liatris helleri |
| Highlands moss | Schlotheimia lancifolia |
| Lichen, Bluff Mountain Reindeer | Cladonia psoromica |
| Lichen, Erin's Fellhanera | Fellhanera erinae |
| Lichen, Smoky Mountain Crustose | Fellhanera montesfumosi |
| Mountain Golden-heather | Hudsonia montana |
| Oak Barrens Barbara's-buttons | Marshallia legrandii |
| Oconee Bells, Northern | Shortia galacifolia var. brevistyla |
| Oconee Bells, Southern | Shortia galacifolia var. galacifolia |
| Piedmont aster | Eurybia mirabilis |
| Piedmont Fameflower | Phemeranthus piedmontanus |
| Pink-shell Azalea | Rhododendron vaseyi |
| Quillwort, Thin-wall | Isoetes microvela |
| Quillwort, Virginia | Isoetes virginica |
| Raven Rock Liverwort | Lejeunea glaucescens var. acrogyna |
| Roan Mountain Bluet | Houstonia montana |
| Rugel's Ragwort | Rugelia nudicaulis |
| Sandhills Pyxie-moss | Pyxidanthera brevifolia |
| Savanna Indigo-bush | Amorpha confusa |
| Savanna Onion | Allium sp. 1 |
| Small-anthered Bittercress | Cardamine micranthera |
| Smoky Mountain Mannagrass | Glyceria nubigena |
| Smooth-seeded Hairy Nutrush | Scleria sp. 1 |
| Spreading Avens | Geum radiatum |
| Tall Boneset | Eupatorium saltuense |
| Venus flytrap | Dionaea muscipula |
List of Rare Plant Species of North Carolina, 2012, Natural Heritage Program (endemic plants on p.114) at http://portal.ncdenr.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=b0c4aa96-6cdf-... Accessed 4/4/2014.
Image Credit:
Blevins, David. "Buck Creek Aster, Symphyotrichum rhiannon." 2008. David Blevins Photography. Online at http://www.blevinsphoto.com/blog/archives/311. Accessed 4/4/2014.
27 January 2014 | Sorrell, Mickey Jo