Northwest
Native Plants
Northwest
Native Plants
What is a "native plant?" Although many people agree on the first criterion listed below, the second is widely debated.
In order to be 'native,' a plant should have been growing wild, and not have been introduced or brought to the area by man. In the Pacific Northwest, this is generally accepted to mean that a plant should have been growing here before the European settlers moved in. Many plants that grow wild in woodlands and along roads now were unknown to indigenous peoples -- they were brought by white settlers and escaped cultivation. Such commonly seen plants like foxgloves and the ubiquitous English holly are not native, they are "naturalized."
The second test for a Northwest native plant is not as clearly defined. That is the geographic range of the plant. Some prefer to classify only plants growing west of the Cascade Mountains from British Columbia to Oregon as true NW natives (as well as the Alaskan panhandle). Others include the drier regions of the area, encompassing all of Washington, Oregon, parts of British Columbia, Idaho and Northern California. And we know of one person who restricts his use of the term 'native' to only plants growing wild on Whidbey Island -- which lets out many nice plants that never made the jump across the water.
The following is a list of plants we generally try to stock here at the nursery, or can get easily enough as a special order. We generally do not stock a great number of each item, but have a few of many different items.
* - something that we occasionally have, but not easy to find in commerce.
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Acer glabrum - Douglas' maple
Achlys triphylla - vanilla leaf
Adiantum pedatum - maidenhair fern
Allium cernuum - nodding onion
Amelanchier alnifolia - serviceberry
Andromeda polifolia- bog rosemary
Anemone drummondii - windflower *
Anemone multifida - Hudson's windflower *
Antennaria rosea - pink pussytoes *
Aquilegia formosa - columbine
Arbutus menziesii - madrona
Arctostaphylos uva-urs - kinnikinnik
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Vancouver Jade' - kinnikinnik
Armeria maritima - thrift
Artemesia pycnocephala 'David's Choice' - artemesia
Artemesia tridentata - sagebrush
Aruncus sylvester (dioicus) - goatsbeard
Asarum caudatum -wild ginger
Athyrium distentifolium -alpine lady fern
Balsamorhiza sagitatta - balsamroot *
Berberis (Mahonia) aquifolium - tall Oregongrape
Berberis (Mahonia) nervosa - long leaved Oregongrape
Berberis (Mahonia) repens - creeping Oregongrape
Betula occidentalis - river birch
Blechnum spicant - deer fern
Calocedrus decurrens -incense cedar
Caltha asarifolia - bog marigold
Camassia leitchlinii - camas
Camassia quamash - camas
Carex obnupta - slough sledge
Ceanothus gloriosus - Point Reyes ceanothus
Cercis occidentalis - Western redbud
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana - Port Orford cedar
Chamaecyparis nootkatensis - Nootka cypress
Cimicifuga elata - fairy candles *
Cornus canadensis -bunchberry
Cornus nuttallii - Pacific dogwood * (we have just about given up trying to have this tree in stock, due to the disease that attacks it and makes getting it established very difficult.)
Cornus stolonifera -red-twig dogwood
Corylus cornuta - hazelnut
Cowania stransveriana - cliffrose
Crataegus douglasii - black hawthorn
Cystopteris fragilis - bladder fern
Deschampsia caepitosa - tufted hair grass
Dicentra formosa - Pacific bleedingheart
Dodecatheon hendersonii - shooting stars
Dryopteris expansa - shield fern
Erigeron speciosus - showy aster
Erythronium hendersonii - fawn lily
Erythronium oregonum - Oregon fawn lily
Erythronium revolutum - coast fawn lily
Erythronium tuolumense - fawn lily
Fallugia paradoxa - Apache plume
Fragaria chiloensis - evergreen strawberry
Fragaria virginiana - ground strawberry
Fraxinus latifolia - Oregon ash
Garrya buxifolia - silk tassel
Gaulteria shallon - salal
Gymnocarpium dryopteris - oak fern
Heracleum lanatum - cow parsnip
Holodiscus discolor - oceanspray
Iris douglasiana - Douglas's Iris
Iris innominata - golden iris
Iris missouriensis - western iris
Iris tenax - Oregon iris
Iris x pacifica - Pacific Coast hybrids
Juniperus scopulorum - Rocky Mountain juniper
Kalmia microphylla - Western bog laurel
Larix occidentalis - Western larch
Linnaea borealis - twinflower
Ledum groenlandicum - Labrador tea
Lonicera ciliosa - honeysuckle
Lysichiton americanum - skunk cabbage
Maianthemum dilatatum - False-lily-of-the-valley
Malus fusca - western crabapple
Menzeisia ferruginea - fool's honeysuckle
Mertensia platyphylla - Washington bluebells
Mimulus cardinalis - crimson monkeyflower *
Montia (Claytonia) parvifolia - streamside spring beauty
Montia (Claytonia) sibirica - western spring beauty
Myrica californica - Pacific waxmyrtle	
Oemleria cerasiformis - Osoberry, Indian plum
Oplopanax horridum - devil's club
Oxalis oregana - Oregon woodsorrel
Oxalis oregana alba - white Oregon woodsorrel
Paxistima myrsinites - Oregon box
Penstemon strictus - beardtongue
Philadelphus lewisii - mockorange
Physocarpus capitatus - ninebark
Picea sitchensis - Sitka spruce
Pinus contorta var. contorta - shore pine
Polemonium carneum - pink Jacob's ladder
Polemonium foliosissimum - Jacob's ladder
Polystichum andersonii - Anderson's sword fern *
Polystichum imbricans - sun fern
Polystichum munitum - sword fern
Populus tremuloides - quaking aspen
Potentilla fruticosa - shrubby cinquefoil
Pseudotsuga menziesii - Douglas fir
Purshia tridentata - antelope bush
Rhododendron albiflorum - Cascade rhododendron
Rhododendron macrophyllum - coast rhododendron
Rhododendron occidentale - western azalea
Rhus glabra - smooth sumac
Ribes aureum - golden currant
Ribes cereum - wax currant
Ribes sanguineum - flowering currant
Rosa gymnocarpa - bald hip rose
Rosa nutkana - Nootka rose
Rosa pisocarpa - clustered wild rose
Rosa woodsii - Wood's wild rose
Rubus lasiococcus - dwarf bramble
Rubus pedatus - bird'sfoot bramble
Rubus spectabilis - salmonberry
Salix lasiandra - Pacific willow
Salix scouleriana - Scouler's willow
Salix sitchensis - Sitka Willow
Salix exugia - Coyote Willow
Sambucus cerulea - blue elderberry
Sambucus racemosa - red elderberry
Satureja douglasii - yerba-buena
Sedum laxum - sedum
Shepherdia argentea - buffaloberry
Sidalcea nelsoniana - checker-mallow
Sidalcea oregana - Oregon checker-mallow
Sisyrinchium angustifolium - blue-eyed grass
Sisyrinchium douglasii - satin flower *
Smilacina racemosa - false Solomon's seal
Smilacina stellata - star-flowered Solomon's seal
Solidago canadensis - goldenrod
Spiraea betulifolia var. lucida - shiny-leaved spirea
Spiraea densiflora - subalpine spirea
Spiraea douglasii - hardhack
Streptopus amplexifolius - twisted stalk
Streptopus rosea - pink twisted stalk *
Symphoricarpos albus - snowberry
Symphoricarpos mollis - creeping snowberry
Syntheris missurica - kittentails
Tellima grandiflora - fringecups
Tellima grandiflora odorata - fragrant fringecups
Thuja plicata - Western redcedar
Tiarella trifoliata - foamflower
Tolmiea menziesii - piggyback plant
Trientalis latifolia - starflower
Trillium chloropetalum - giant trillium *
Trillium ovatum - coast trillium
Triteleia hyacinthina - fool's onion
Tsuga heterophylla - Western hemlock
Tsuga mertensiana - mountain hemlock
Umbellularia californica - California bay laurel
Vaccinium membranaceum - black huckleberry
Vaccinium ovatum - evergreen huckleberry
Vaccinium parvifolium - red huckleberry
Vancouveria hexandra - inside-out flower
Vancouveria planipetala - duckfoot
Veronica wormskjoldii - speedwell
Viburnum edule - moosewood
Viburnum ellipticum - oval-leaf viburnum
Viola sempervirens - yellow violet
Call or email us about availability (360.579.1770 / mvg@whidbey.com) We do not generally have a lot of these items in the nursery, and when we do we do not have them in wholesale lots. You may check Storm Lake Growers (located near Monroe) for large quantities of native plants.
Updated: 7 Nov 2005