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A Short List of Readily Available Pinelands Native Plants

This list contains commercially available plants that are native to the New Jersey Pine Barrens region and are good choices for gardening and landscaping.

Some of these plants are considered characteristic Pine Barrens species (PB), and others are common to the Pine Barrens and its periphery (PB & PER). Some, though native to the Pine Barrens, are more typically found in the peripheral area (PER). These designations are found in the column “Typical Region,” and may be helpful as you decide which plants to cultivate in your area.

Some peripheral areas of the Pinelands have richer, less droughty soils with higher pH, and in such places some characteristic Pine Barrens species may not do well. For best results, all of the factors that influence a plant should be taken into consideration, including, especially, soil type (such as sand, sandy loam, or loamy sand), pH, moisture, and available sunlight.

For a printable (Acrobat .pdf) version of this list, click here.

	Common Name	Scientific Name	Typical Region	Blooming Period	Soil Preference	Sun/Shade	Typical Height
Ground Cover	Bear-berry	Arctostaphylos uva-ursi	PB	Late April to mid-May	Very dry, well drained, acid	Sun	1-3 ft
	Pennsylvania Sedge	Carex pensylvanica	PB & PER	Early April to July	Dry to damp	Sun to partial shade	to 16 in
	Trailing Arbutus	Epigaea repens	PB & PER	Early April to early May	Dry, acid	Semi-shade to shade	1-3 ft
	Teaberry	Gaultheria procumbens	PB & PER	Late June to early August	Dry or moist, acid	Semi-shade to shade	2-6 ft
Ornamental Grasses	Indian Grass	Sorghastrum nutans	PER	Mid-August to mid-September	Dry or moist	Sun to partial shade	3-8 ft
	Little Bluestem	Schizachyrium scoparium	PB & PER	Late July to October	Dry to moist	Sun to partial shade	to 4 ft
	Switchgrass	Panicum virgatum	PB & PER	Late July to late September	Wet or dry	Sun to partial shade	3-6 ft
Shrubs - evergreen	Inkberry	Ilex glabra	PB	Mid-June to early July	Moist to dry	Semi-shade to shade	to 5 ft
	Mountain Laurel	Kalmia latifolia	PB & PER	Late May to late June	Dry or moist, acid	Semi-shade to shade	1-3 ft
Shrubs - flowering	Beach Plum	Prunus maritima	PER	Late April to May	Dry, sandy	Sun	6-12 ft
	Black Chokeberry	Aronia melanocarpa	PB & PER	Late April to late May	Wet to somewhat dry	Partial shade	6-12 ft
	Black Huckleberry	Gaylussacia baccata	PB & PER	Early May to July	Dry or moist, acid	Semi-shade to shade	1-3 ft
	Highbush Blueberry	Vaccinium corymbosum	PB	Late April to June	Damp to wet; acidic	Partial shade	to 12 ft
	Low Blueberry	Vaccinium pallidum	PB & PER	April	Dry, acid	Sun	to 2 ft
	Red Chokeberry	Aronia arbutifolia	PB & PER	Late April to late May	Wet to damp, acid	Sun	6-12 ft
	Staggerbush	Lyonia mariana	PB	Late May to late June	Damp to dry, acid	Semi-shade to shade	to 4 ft
	Swamp Azalea	Rhododendron viscosum	PB	Early June to late July	Damp to wet; acid	Partial shade	to 8 ft
	Sweet Bay Magnolia	Magnolia virginiana	PB & PER	Late May to June	Damp to wet	Partial shade	to 30 ft
	Sweet Pepperbush	Clethra alnifolia	PB & PER	Late July to early September	Wet to somewhat dry, acid	Semi-shade to shade	to 10 ft
	Winged Sumac	Rhus copallinum	PER	Late July to early September	Dry	Semi-shade	20-35 ft
Shrubs - semi-evergreen	Northern Bayberry	Morella pensylvanica	PER	Early May to early June	Dry to damp, acid	Sun to semi-shade	2-6 ft
Vines - ornamental	Summer Grape	Vitis aestivalis	PER	Mid-June to early July	Dry	Semi-shade	60 ft
	Virginia Creeper	Parthenocissus quinquefolia	PER	Late June to July	Dry	Partial shade to shade	to 12 ft
Vines - ground cover	Dewberry	Rubus flagellaris	PB & PER	Mid-May to mid-June	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	10 ft
Wildflowers	Maryland Golden Aster	Chrysopsis mariana	PB & PER	August to September	Dry	Sun	12-30 in
	Showy Aster	Aster spectabilis	PB	Late July to late September	Dry	Sun	1-2 ft
	Stiff-leaved Aster	Aster linariifolius	PB & PER	Early September to mid-October	Dry	Sun	6-24 in
	Grass-leaf Blazing-star	Liatris pilosa (=L. graminifolia)	PB	Early August to mid-October	Dry, well-drained	Sun	1-4 ft
	Hairy Boneset	Eupatorium rotundifolium var. ovatum	PB & PER	Early August into September	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	2-5 ft
	Hyssop-leaved Boneset	Eupatorium hyssopifolium	PB & PER	Late July to October	Dry	Sun	1-3 ft
	Goat's Rue	Tephrosia virginiana	PB & PER	Early June to early July	Dry	Semi-shade	1-3 ft
	White Goldenrod	Solidago bicolor	PB & PER	Late August to early October	Dry	Sun	6-30 in
	Wrinkle-leaved Goldenrod	Solidago rugosa	PB & PER	Late August to early September	Damp to dry	Sun	1-7 ft
	Frostweed	Helianthemum canadense	PB & PER	Early May to late July	Dry	Semi-shade	6-12 in
	Horse-mint	Monarda punctata	PER	Late July into October	Dry	Sun	1-3 ft
	Eastern Prickly Pear	Opuntia humifusa	PER	Early June to early July	Dry, well-drained	Sun	1 ft
	Rough Wood Sunflower	Helianthus divaricatus	PB & PER	Mid-July to early September	Dry	Sun	2-6 ft
	Spotted Wintergreen	Chimaphila maculata	PER	Late June to mid-July	Dry, acid	Semi-shade to shade	4-10 in
Trees - deciduous	Black Gum	Nyssa sylvatica	PB & PER	Mid-May to mid-June	Moist	Partial shade	50-75 ft
	Red Maple	Acer rubrum	PB & PER	Mid-March to early April	Damp to wet	Sun to semi-shade	to 80 ft
	Black Oak	Quercus velutina	PER	Late April to mid-May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	to 80 ft
	Black-jack Oak	Quercus marilandica	PB	Late April to mid-May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	30-50 ft
	Chestnut Oak	Quercus prinus	PB & PER	Early to mid-May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	50-60 ft
	Post Oak	Quercus stellata	PB & PER	Early to mid-May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	40-50 ft
	Scarlet Oak	Quercus coccinea	PER	Late April to May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	to 50 ft
	Southern Red Oak	Quercus falcata	PER	Early to mid-May	Dry, acid	Sun to semi-shade	36-72 ft
	White Oak	Quercus alba	PB & PER	Early to late May	Dry	Sun to semi-shade	80-100 ft
	Sassafras	Sassafras albidum	PB & PER	Mid-April to mid-May	Dry to damp, acid	Sun to semi-shade	35-50 ft
Trees - evergreen	Eastern Red Cedar	Juniperus virginiana	PER	Pollen shed mid-March to April	Dry to damp	Partial shade	36-72 ft
	American Holly	Ilex opaca	PER	October to November	Damp to dry	Semi-shade to shade	12-36 ft
	Pitch Pine	Pinus rigida	PB	Pollen shed late April to May	Dry to wet, acid	Sun	72-100 ft
	Shortleaf Pine	Pinus echinata	PB & PER	Pollen shed May or June	Dry	Sun	72-100 ft
	Virginia Pine	Pinus virginiana	PER	Pollen shed late April to mid-May	Dry	Sun	12-36 ft

Pinelands Preservation Alliance

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