by Emily Horton
NC Government & Heritage Library, 2012.


Quick Introduction to North Carolina Plant Life:


  • North Carolina has over 4000 native plant species.
  • North Carolina is home to 26 endangered plant species in the United States.
  • North Carolina has over 700 rare plant species, and 162 of these are threatened or endangered in North Carolina.

List of Endangered North Carolina Plants: http://www.ncagr.gov/plantindustry/plant/plantconserve/plist.htm


The wide variety of landforms found in the three regions of North Carolina is evident in the extreme range of vegetation throughout the state. Click on one of the three regions below to see a list of some of the most common plants found in each region.


The Coastal Plain


The Piedmont


The Mountains


 


The Coastal Plain


Clockwise from top left: (1) &quot;Pink Rhododendron,&quot; photo courtesy of Flickr user 'NC Hiker', Posted June 14, 2011. Photo taken at Roan Mountain. (2) &quot;Sea Oats and Ocean Surf,&quot; photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Bumeister1', Image posted on July 18, 2008. Photo taken at <a data-cke-saved-href=
Clockwise from top left: (1)


Marshes and dunes are predominate vegetation types in the Outer Coastal Plain. Additionally, there are areas of preserved forests, which include: Nags Head Woods Preserve of the Nature Conservancy, Hatteras Woods in Buxton, and others scattered throughout Bougue Banks.


The Inner Coastal Plain is home to many swampforests and hardwood swampforests, a a feature which distinguishes it from the the Tidewater sub-region of the Coastal Plains.


Below is a list of several common plant species found throughout the entire Coastal Plains:



Asters



Beech



Black Gum



Blackjack Oak



Catbrier



Cypress



Dotted Horsemint



Dwarf Huckleberry



Gaillardia (aka Fire-Wheel, Indian Blanket)



Gallberry



Goldenrods



Hickory



Hophornbeam



Hypercium (aka St. John's Wart)



Laurel Oak



Lilies



Loblolly Pine



Loblolly Bay



Long Leaf Pine



Orchids



Palmetto (especially on Smith Island, aka Bald Head Island, and other southern islands)



Pine



Pine Hickory



Pitcher Plants



Pocosin (aka Bay, Shrub Bog)



Pond Pine



Post Oak



Purple Rhododendron



Red Cedar



Red Maple



Scrubby Post Oak



Sea Oats



Southern Red Oak



Sunflowers



Swamp Chestnut Oak



Swamp Mallow (aka Marshmallow, Swamp Rose)



Sweet Bay



Sweet Gum



Tulip Poplar



Turkey Oak



Variety of herbs



Venus Flytrap



Water Oak



Wax Myrtle



White Oak



Willow Oak



Wire Grass
Yaupon



Yellow Jessamine

Marshes: Bulrush, Cattail, Cordgrass, Needlerush, Saw Grass
Dunes: Beach Pea, Broomsedge, Croton, Dune Elder, Perennial Grasses, Primrose,; Spurge
Swamp Forests: Cypress Tree, Gum-Cypress Tree
Hardwood Swamp Forests: Ash, Cherrybark Oak, Elm, River Birch, Sweet Gum, Sycamore, Water Oak, Willow Oak


The Piedmont:


Clockwise from top left: (1) &quot;Loblolly Pine,&quot; photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Konomike', Photo taken in Johnston County, NC. Posted on April 26, 2009. (2) &quot;Oak Tree and Bench,&quot; photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Bumeister', Image taken in Chapel Hill, NC on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus. Photo taken on November 19, 2007. (3) &quot;Sweet Gum Seed Tree Pod,&quot; Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Ivy Dawned', Photo taken on September 24, 2008. (4) &quot;Tulip Poplar!&quot; photo courtesy of Flikr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', Photo taken on May 20, 2010 in Laxon, NC.
Clockwise from top left: (1) "Loblolly Pine," photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Konomike', Photo taken in Johnston County, NC. Posted on April 26, 2009. (2) "Oak Tree and Bench," photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Bumeister', Image taken in Chapel Hill, NC on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus. Photo taken on November 19, 2007. (3) "Sweet Gum Seed Tree Pod," Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Ivy Dawned', Photo taken on September 24, 2008. (4) "Tulip Poplar!" photo courtesy of Flikr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', Photo taken on May 20, 2010 in Laxon, NC.
Below is a list of several plant species found throughout the Piedmont Region:


Beech



Blackjack Oak



Carolina Shagbark Hickory



Chestnut Oak



Crabgrass (weed)



Hemlock (scattered)



Horseweed (weed)



Loblolly Pine



Northern Red Oak



Post Oak



Purple Rhododendron



Sand Hickory



Scarlet Oak



Several spring and summer flowering herbs



Shortleaf Pine



Southern Red Oak



Tulip Poplar



White Oak



White Pine



White Tipped Aster (weed)



Like the Inner Coastal Plain, the Piedmont has many hardwood swampforests, which are located in the floodplains. Some of the vegetation in the Swampforests include:



Ash



Elm



River Birch



Swamp Chestnut Oak



Sweet Gum



Sycamore



Tulip Poplar



Willow Oak


The Mountain Region:


Clockwise from top left: (1) &quot;Christmas Tree Production,&quot; photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Soil Science', Photo taken on October 19, 2010. (2) &quot;Blackberries to be,&quot;Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', photo taken on June 3, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. (3) &quot;Mountain Ash,&quot; Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', photo taken on September 4, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. (4) &quot;Hemlock at the Church,&quot; photo courtesy of Melina Stuart. Photo taken on January 7, 2011 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Clockwise from top left: (1) "Christmas Tree Production," photo courtesy of Flickr user 'Soil Science', Photo taken on October 19, 2010. (2) "Blackberries to be,"Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', photo taken on June 3, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. (3) "Mountain Ash," Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', photo taken on September 4, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. (4) "Hemlock at the Church," photo courtesy of Melina Stuart. Photo taken on January 7, 2011 on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The Mountains have two distinct areas of vegetation: the Deciduous Forests, which have more species of trees than all of Europe combined, and the Boreal Conifer Forests.


Below are lists of plant species predominately found in each of these areas:


Deciduous Forests:



Beech



Blackberry



Black Gum



Black Locust



Butternut Hickory



Chestnut Oak



Cucumber Tree



Dogwood



Few herbs sparsely scattered



Flame Azalea



Fraser Magnolia



Hemlock



Lack Oak



Mountain Laurel



Northern Red Oak



Red Maple



Rosebay Rhododendron



Scarlet Oak



Shortleaf Pine



Silverbell



Sourwood



Sugar Maple



Table Mountain Pine



Tulip Poplar



Virginia Pine



White Ash



White Basswood



White Oak



Yellow Birch



Yellow Buckeye

Boreal Conifer Forests:



Balsam



Beech Yellow Birch



Blueberry



Ferns and herbs present



Fir



Fire Cherry



Flame Azalea



Fraser Fir



Hawthorn



Mosses and Liverworts abundant



Mountain Ash



Mountain Laurel



Plott Balsam



Purple Rhododendron



Red Spruce



Rosebay Rhododendron



Shadblow



Spruce



Sugar Maple



Yellow Birch



Yellow Buckeye

Sources:


"Education," North Carolina Native Plant Society, accessed January 24, 2019, https://ncwildflower.org/education/.


Orr, Douglas M. The North Carolina Atlas: Portrait for a New Century. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. 2000.


"The NC Natural Guide to Coastal Flowers of the NC Coast Barrier Islands," Last modified 2003, https://www.ncnatural.com/wildflwr/coastal/index.html (accessed April 3, 2012).

Additional Resources:

List of Endangered North Carolina Plants: https://www.ncnatural.com/wildflwr/endangrd.html


"Native Plants of North and South Carolina," Plant Native, https://plantnative.org/rpl-ncsc.htm (accessed April 3, 2012).


Image Credits:


Photo courtesy of NC Hiker, "Pink Rhododendrom," Posted June 14, 2011. Photo taken at Roan Mountain. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nc_hiker/5839567616 (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of NC Orchid, "Venus Flytraps", posted on October 1, 2004. (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user Bumeister1, "Sea Oats and Ocean Surf." Image posted on July 18, 2008. Photo taken at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Outerbanks, NC. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/bumeister/2793592794 (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user Konomike. "Loblolly Pine." Photo taken in Johnston County, NC. Posted on April 26, 2009. (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user Bumeister. "Oak Tree and Bench". Image taken in Chapel Hill, NC on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus. Photo taken on November 19, 2007. (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flikr user BlueRidgeKitties. "Tulip Poplar!" Photo taken on May 20, 2010 in Laxon, NC.https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/4625196819 (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user Ivy Dawned. Photo taken on September 24, 2008. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/4625196819 (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user Soil Science. "Christmas Tree Production." Photo taken on October 19, 2010. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/soilscience/5097054069 (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user BlueRideKitties. Photo taken on June 3, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. Available from www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/5802076402/ (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Melina Stuart. "Hemlock at the Church." Photo taken on January 7, 2011 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/melystu/5333639810/ (accessed April 4, 2012).


Photo courtesy of Flickr user 'BlueRidgeKitties', "Mountain Ash." Photo taken on September 4, 2011 at Grandfather Mountain, NC. Available from https://www.flickr.com/photos/blueridgekitties/6116641888/ (accessed April 4, 2012).

Citation

Horton, Emily S. "North Carolina Regional Vegetation." NCpedia. NCpedia. Accessed on January 11th, 2025. https://ncpedia.org/vegetation.