Download Native Plants for Riparian Buffer Plantings

The following tables list suitable trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous
plants for growing in riparian buffers in the Haw River watershed.
++ always
+ generally
Common Name
± occasionally
Botanical Name
Common Name
Deciduous Holly
Doghobble
Elderberry
Fetterbush
Giant Cane
Hazel-Nut
Hearts a’bustin’
Inkberry
Male-Berry
Maple-Leaf Viburnum
Marsh Mallow
Painted Buckeye
Possum Haw
Red Chokeberry
Rusty Blackhaw
Serviceberry
Silky Dogwood
Silky Willow
Southern Arrow-Wood
Spicebush
Swamp Azalea
Swamp Dogwood
Swamp Rose
Sweet Leaf
Sweet-Shrub
Tag Alder
Virginia Willow
Wild Azalea
Winter Berry
Witch-Hazel
Yellow-Root
– infrequently
Tolerance:
Flood Shade Deer
CANOPY TREES (over 35 feet)
Bald Cypress
Beech
Bitternut Hickory
Black Cherry
Black Walnut
Black Willow
Blackgum
Cherrybark Oak
Elms (winged, american)
Green Ash
Hop-hornbeam
Overcup Oak
Persimmon
Red Maple
Red Mulberry
River Birch
Shagbark Hickory
Shumard Oak
Sourwood
Southern Sugar Maple
Sugarberry
Swamp Chestnut Oak
Sycamore
Tulip Poplar
Tupelo Gum
Water Oak
White Basswood
Willow Oak
Taxodium distichum
Fagus grandifolia
Carya cordiformis
Prunus serotina
Juglans nigra
Salix nigra
Nyssa sylvatica
Quercus pagodaefolia
Ulmus (alata, americana)
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Ostrya virginiana
Quercus lyrata
Diospyros virginiana
Acer rubrum
Morus rubra
Betula nigra
Carya ovata
Quercus shumardii
Oxydendrum arboreum
Acer barbatum
Celtis laevigata
Quercus michauxii
Platanus occidentalis
Liriodendron tulipifera
Nyssa ‘biflora’
Quercus nigra
Tilia heterophylla
Quercus phellos
++
±
±
±
±
++
±
+
±
+
±
+
±
+
±
+
±
+
–
+
+
+
+
±
++
+
–
+
+
+
+
±
±
+
+
+
+
±
+
±
+
±
+
±
+
VINES
±
UNDERSTORY TREES (up to 35 feet)
American Holly
Bladdernut
Box Elder
Fringetree
Ironwood
Parsley Hawthorn
Pawpaw
Redbud
Snowbell
Sweetbay
Umbrella Tree
Ilex opaca
Staphylea trifolia
Acer negundo
Chionanthus virginicus
Carpinus caroliniana
Crataegus marshallii
Asimina triloba
Cercis canadensis
Styrax grandifolia
Magnolia virginiana
Magnolia tripetala
+
±
+
±
±
+
±
–
±
++
±
+
+
±
+
+
+
±
±
Climbing Milkvine
Coral Honeysuckle
Summer Grape
Virgin’s Bower
Virginia Creeper
Wild Yam
Matelea reticulata
Lonicera sempervirens
Vitis aestivalis
Clematis virginiana
Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Dioscorea villosa
Arrow Leaf (Arum)
Black Cohosh
Bladder Sedge
Bluets*
Boneset
Bottlebrush Grass
Broom Sedge
Bur-Reed
Bushy Seedbox
Cardinal Flower
Peltandra virginica
Cimicifuga racemosa
Carex intumescens
Houstonia caerulea
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Elymus hystrix
Carex scoparia
Sparganium americanum
Ludwigia alternifolia
Lobelia cardinalis
+
±
–
±
±
±
+
+
+
+
–
±
HERBACEOUS
–
+
SHRUBS (up to 10 feet)
Beautyberry
Buttonbush
Coral Berry
Tolerance:
Botanical Name
Flood Shade Deer
Ilex decidua
+
+
Leucothoe axillaris
+
+
+
Sambucus canadensis
+
Leucothoe racemosa
+
+
Arundinaria gigantea
+
Corylus americana
–
+
Euonymus americana
±
+
–
Ilex glabra
+
Lyonia ligustrina
+
+
Viburnum acerifolium
–
+
Hibiscus moscheutos
++
Aesculus sylvatica
±
Viburnum nudum
+
Aronia arbutifolia
+
Viburnum rufidulum
–
+
Amelanchier arborea
±
+
±
Cornus amomum
+
+
Salix sericea
++
±
Viburnum dentatum
±
Lindera benzoin
+
+
Rhododendron viscosum
+
Cornus stricta
+
Rosa palustris
++
Symplocos tinctoria
±
+
Calycanthus floridus
±
+
Alnus serrulata
+
Itea virginica
+
Rhododendron periclymenoides ±
–
Ilex verticillata
+
+
Hamamelis virginiana
±
+
±
Xanthorhiza simplicissima
+
++
Callicarpa americana
±
Cephalanthus occidentalis ++
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus ±
++
+
+
±
+
+
+
++
++
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
–
Tolerance:
Flood Shade Deer
Common Name
Botanical Name
Carolina Spring Beauty*
Christmas Fern
Cinnamon Fern
Coneflower
Duck Potato
Dwarf Crested Iris
Foamflower
Fox Sedge
Fringed Sedge
Gray’s Sedge
Great Blue Lobelia
Green Bulrush
Hard Tack
Heart-Leaved Aster
Hop Sedge
Horsetail Rush
Indian Cucumber-Root
Ironweed
Jack-In-The-Pulpit
Jewel-Weed*
Joe-Pye-Weed
Liverleaf*
Lizard’s Tail
Lurid Sedge
Marsh Fern
Monkey Flower
Pickerel Weed
Ranunculus Species
Rice Cutgrass
River Oats
Royal Fern
Sensitive Fern
Skullcap
Snakeroot
Soft Rush
Soft Stem Bulrush
Solomon’s Plume
Southern Wild Rice
Swamp Milkweed
Sweet Chervil
Switchgrass
Toothwart
Trout Lily*
Turtlehead
Tussock Sedge
Umbrella Sedge
Violas
Virginia Wild-Rye
Wind Flower
Woolgrass
Claytonia virginica
Polystichum acrostichoides
Osmunda cinnamomea
Rudbeckia laciniata
Sagittaria latifolia
Iris cristata
Tiarella cordifolia
Carex vulpinoidea
Carex crinata
Carex grayii
Lobelia syphilitica
Scirpus atrovirens
Spiraea tomentosa
Aster divaricatus
Carex lupulina
Equisetum hyemale
Medeola virginiana
Vernonia noveboracensis
Arisaema triphyllum
Impatiens capensis
Eupatorium fistulosum
Hepatica americana
Saururus cernuus
Carex lurida
Thelypteris palustris
Mimulus ringens and M. alatus
Pontederia cordata
Ranunculaceae family
Leersia oryzoides
Chasmanthium latifolium
Osmunda regalis
Onoclea sensibilis
Scuttellaria integrifolia
Sanicula canadensis
Juncus effusus
Scirpus validus
Maianthemum racemosa
Zizaniopsis miliacea
Asclepias incarnata
Osmorhiza longistylis
Panicum virgatum
Cardamine angustata
Erythronium americanum
Chelone glabra
Carex stricta
Cyperus strigosus
Viola spp.
Elymus virginicus
Anemonella thalictroides
Scirpus cyperinus
±
±
+
+
++
+
±
++
+
+
++
++
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
–
++
±
+
+
±
+
+
++
++
+
++
++
+/±
++
±
++
+
+
–
+
++
±
++
++
±
+
±
+
++
++
+
+/±
±
+
++
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
* Not available from nurseries, but species will disperse in from upstream or from tributaries.
.
Establish and maintain native vegetation on
riparian buffers to protect streams.
Native Plant Recommendations
for Stream Banks in the
Haw River Watershed
Riparian Buffer is the land adjacent to a stream where the
presence of vegetation strongly influences water quality, as
in the following ways:
Slows Stormwater: The natural vegetation along
waterways of trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers holds
soil in place, reducing stormwater runoff and flooding.
Protects Water Quality: Natural vegetation acts as a
living filter to remove pollutants before they enter streams.
Keeps Streams Healthy: Forested buffers provide needed
shade and food for a healthy aquatic ecosystem.
Keeps Soil Out: Without the buffer of trees and other
natural vegetation, soil is easily washed into the streams and
stormwater surges undercut the streambank, adding to the
sediment load.
Provides a Wildlife Corridor: The streamside forest and
wetlands are a unique environment, home to many diverse
species of plants and animals. Many reptiles and amphibians
depend on these riparian areas for survival.
The Haw River Assembly is a grassroots non-profit
organization, working since 1982 to restore and protect
the Haw River, its tributaries, and Jordan Lake, and to
build a community that shares this vision.
Join us in our efforts!
You can reach us at:
P.O. Box 187 Bynum NC 27228
(919) 542-5790
[email protected]
www.hawriver.org
The creation of this brochure was sponsored by
The growth of native plants along stream banks contributes
to the health and restoration of the riparian ecosystem. “ Our
particularly dynamic stream and river corridors are regularly
scoured, reshaped, re-vegetated, and altered by exotic plants.
Humans have changed riparian dynamics in many ways and
should now help to rehabilitate this vital ecosystem. Through
careful intervention we can, through invasive exotic plant
removal and indigenous species replacement, help Nature’s
recreative processes.” – Johnny Randall, North Carolina
Botanical Garden
The Scott Family Endowment Fund and
The Wiseacre Farm Fund
of the Triangle Community Foundation
and
The Federal 319 Nonpoint Source Funds
Administered by
The NC Division of Water Quality
© 2003 Haw River Assembly All Rights Reserved
artwork by Emma Skurnick
Protect our streams and promote natural
biodiversity by planting native shrubs, trees and
other vegetation along stream banks.
Stream Steward Campaign
a project of the Haw River Assembly
P.O. Box 187 Bynum, NC 27228
919-542-5790 www.hawriver.org