State Plant Listings
South Carolina
Vegetation References
(Dominant plant species present in each vegetation type are listed in Appendix C)
81 Live Oak-Sea Oats (Quercus-Uniola)
95 Appalachian Oak Forest (Quercus)
101 Oak-Hickory-Pine Forest (Quercus-Carya-Pinus)
102 Southern Mixed Forest (Fagus-Liquidambar-Magnolia-Pinus-Quercus)
103 Southern Floodplain Forest (Quercus-Nyssa-Taxodium)
104 Pocosin (Pinus-Ilex)
Botanical Expert
Albert Pittman, Botanist
Heritage Trust Program
PO Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202
(803) 734-3920
internet: PittmanB@dnr.sc.gov
Recommended Flora
Radford, A.E.; H.E. Ahles; C.R. Bell. 1968. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC. 1183 pgs.
Native Plants for Landscape Use in South Carolina
Cactus
Opuntia humifusa (prickly pear)
Ferns
Adiantum capillus-veneris (southern maidenhair fern)
Adiantum pedatum (northern maidenhair fern)
Asplenium platyneuron (ebony spleenwort)
Asplenium trichomanes (maidenhair spleenwort)
Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern)
Botrychium virginianum (rattlesnake fern)
Dennstaedtia punctilobula (hay-scented fern)
Dryopteris carthusiana (shield fern, toothed wood fern, spinulose shield fern)
Dryopteris marginalia (marginal wood fern)
Onoclea sensibilis (sensitive fern, bead fern)
Osmunda cinnamomea (cinnamon fern)
Osmunda claytoniana (interrupted fern)
Osmunda regalia (royal fern)
Phegopteris hexagonoptera (broad beech fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern)
Thelypteris kunthii (southern shield fern, wood fern, river fern)
Thelypteris novaboracensis (New York fern, tapering fern)
Woodwardia areolata (netted chain fern)
Woodwardia virginica (Virginia chain fern)
Forbs (annuals/biennials)
Campanulastrum americanum (American bellflower, tall bellflower)
Corydalis sempervirens (pale corydalis)
Glandularia canadensis (rose vervain, sweet William)
Ipomopsis rubra (standing cypress)
Lobelia spicata (pale lobelia)
Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose)
Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan)
Sabatia brevifolia (narrow-leaved sabatia)
Senecio glabellus (butterweed)
Forbs (perennials)
Acorus calamus (sweet flag, calamus)
Actaea pachypoda (white baneberry)
Ageratina altissima var. altissima (white snakeroot)
Allium canadense (wild garlic)
Allium cernuum (nodding onion)
Amsonia ciliata (blue funnel lily, blue star)
Amsonia tabernaemontana (blue star)
Anemone caroliniana (Carolina anemone, southern thimbleweed)
Anemone virginiana (thimbleweed, tall anemone)
Antennaria spp. (pussytoes, everlasting)
Aquilegia canadensis (columbine)
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-pulpit, Indian turnip)
Asarum canadense (wild ginger)
Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed)
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly weed)
Asclepias verticillata (whorled milkweed)
Aster divaricatus (white wood aster)
Aster dumosus (bushy aster)
Aster laevis (smooth aster)
Aster novae-angliae (New England aster)
Aster pilosus (frost aster)
Aster puniceus (red-stem aster, swamp aster)
Astilbe biternata (false goatsbeard)
Astragalus canadensis (milk vetch, Canada milk vetch)
Baptisia alba (white false indigo)
Camassia scilloides (wild hyacinth)
Canna flaccida (golden canna)
Cardamine diphylla (two-leaved toothwort)
Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)
Chelone lyonii (turtlehead)
Chrysogonum virginianum (green-and-gold)
Chrysopsis mariana (Maryland golden aster)
Cimicifuga racemosa (bugbane, black cohosh)
Claytonia virginica (narrow-leaved spring beauty)
Collinsonia canadensis (stoneroot, citronella horsebalm)
Coreopsis auriculata (early coreopsis)
Coreopsis grandiflora (coreopsis)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lance-leaved coreopsis)
Coreopsis tripteris (tall coreopsis)
Coreopsis verticillata (whorled coreopsis)
Delphinium carolinianum (blue larkspur)
Dicentra cucullaria (dutchman's breeches)
Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)
Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master, button snake-root)
Erythronium americanum (eastern trout lily, yellow trout lily)
Eupatorium coelestinum (mist flower)
Eupatorium fistulosum (Joe-pye weed)
Eupatorium perfoliatum (boneset)
Eupatorium purpureum (Joe-pye weed)
Euphorbia corollata (flowering spurge)
Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Galium triflorum (sweet-scented bedstraw)
Gentiana saponaria (closed gentian, soapwort gentian)
Geranium maculatum (wild geranium, cranesbill)
Hedyotis nigricans (bluets)
Helenium autumnale (common sneezeweed)
Helianthus simulans (narrow-leaved sunflower, swamp sunflower)
Helianthus strumosus (woodland sunflower)
Heliopsis helianthoides (ox-eye sunflower, false sunflower)
Hepatica nobilis var. acuta (sharp-lobed hepatica)
Heuchera americana var. hirsuticaulis (alumroot)
Hibiscus moscheutos (swamp rose mallow, marshmallow hibiscus)
Houstonia caerulea (bluets)
Houstonia longifolia var. longifolia (long-leaved bluets, pale bluets)
Houstonia procumbens (innocence)
Hydrophyllum virginianum (Virginia waterleaf)
Hymenocallis caroliniana (spider lily, rain lily)
Hypoxis hirsuta (yellow star grass)
Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris)
Iris prismatica (slender blue flag, coastal iris)
Iris virginica (southern blue flag)
Kosteletzkya virginica (seashore mallow)
Lespedeza capitata (roundheaded bush clover)
Liatris aspera (rough blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris elegans (gayfeather)
Liatris spicata (marsh blazing star, gayfeather)
Liatris squarrosa (blazing star)
Lilium canadense (wild yellow lily, Canada lily)
Lilium michauxii (Carolina lily)
Linum virginianum (woodland flax)
Lithospermum caroliniense (hairy puccoon, hispid gromwell)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower)
Lupinus perennis (wild lupine)
Lysimachia ciliata (fringed loosestrife)
Maianthemum racemosum ssp. racemosum (false Solomon's seal, false spikenard)
Manfreda virginica (rattlesnake master, false aloe)
Mitchella repens (partridge berry)
Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot, horsemint, beebalm)
Nuphar lutea (yellow pond lily, cow lily, spatter dock)
Oenothera fruticosa (sundrops)
Orontium aquaticum (golden club)
Osmorhiza claytoni (sweet cicely, sweet jarvil)
Pachysandra procumbens (Alleghany spurge)
Penstemon australis (beardtongue)
Penstemon smallii (small's beardtongue)
Phlox carolina (Carolina phlox)
Phlox pilosa (prairie phlox, downy phlox)
Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox)
Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant, false dragonhead)
Podophyllum peltatum (May apple)
Polygonatum biflorum (Solomon's seal)
Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (slender mountain mint)
Rhexia virginica (meadow beauty)
Rudbeckia fulgida (black-eyed Susan, orange coneflower)
Rudbeckia laciniata (cut-leaf coneflower)
Salvia lyrata (cancer weed, lyre-leaf sage)
Sanguinaria candensis (bloodroot)
Sedum ternatum (wild stonecrop)
Senecio aureus (golden ragwort)
Silene stellata (starry campion)
Silene virginica (fire pink)
Silphium terebinthinaceum (prairie dock)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (narrow-leaved blue-eyed grass)
Sisyrinchium atlanticum (eastern blue-eyed grass)
Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod, wreath goldenrod)
Solidago juncea (early goldenrod, plume goldenrod)
Solidago nemoralis (gray goldenrod, old-field goldenrod)
Solidago odora (sweet goldenrod)
Solidago rigida (stiff goldenrod)
Solidago rugosa (rough-leaved goldenrod)
Solidago sempervirens (seaside goldenrod)
Solidago speciosa (showy goldenrod)
Solidago ulmifolia (elm-leaved goldenrod)
Spigelia marilandica (Indian pink)
Stokesia laevis (stokes' aster)
Tephrosia virginiana (goat's rue)
Thalictrum pubescens (tall meadow rue)
Thalictrum thalictroides (rue anemone)
Tiarella cordifolia (foam flower)
Tradescantia hirsuticaulis (hairy spiderwort)
Tradescantia ohiensis (Ohio spiderwort)
Tradescantia virginiana (Virginia spiderwort, spider lily)
Trillium cernuum (nodding trillium)
Trillium erectum (wakerobin, purple trillium)
Trillium undulatum (painted trillium)
Uvularia sessilifolia (wildoats, merrybells)
Vernonia noveboracensis (New York ironweed)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root)
Viola affinis (Florida violet)
Viola canadensis (Canada violet)
Viola pedata (bird-foot violet)
Viola soraria (common blue violet, meadow violet)
Yucca aloifolia (Spanish dagger)
Zephyranthes atamasca (atamasco lily, Easter lily)
Zizia aptera (heart-leaved golden alexanders)
Zizia aurea (golden alexanders)
Grasses/Grass-like plants
Agrostis scabra (ticklegrass, fly-away grass)
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)
Andropogon ternarius (splitbeard bluestem)
Andropogon virginicus (broom sedge)
Arundinaria gigantea (giant cane)
Carex stipata (awl-fruited sedge)
Chasmanthium latifolium (inland sea oats, wild oats, river oats, broad-leaf uniola)
Danthonia spicata (poverty grass)
Distichlis spicata (seashore saltgrass)
Elymus hystrix var. hystrix (bottlebrush grass)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass, tumblegrass)
Juncus effusus var. solutus (soft rush)
Leersia oryzoides (rice cut grass)
Muhlenbergia capillaris (gulf muhly, hair grass)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Saccharum giganteum (sugarcane plume grass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Scirpus atrovirens (dark green bulrush)
Scirpus cyperinus (wool grass)
Scirpus tabernaemontani (great bulrush)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)
Spartina patens (marsh hay cordgrass, salt meadow cordgrass)
Tripsacum dactyloides (eastern gama grass)
Typha latifolia (cattail)
Shrubs (deciduous)
Alnus serrulata (smooth alder)
Amelanchier arborea (downy serviceberry, shadbush, Juneberry)
Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo, Indigo bush)
Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry)
Baccharis halimifolia (sea myrtle, groundsel bush)
Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry, French mulberry)
Calycanthus floridus (Carolina allspice, sweet shrub)
Castanea pumila (chinquapin)
Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea, red root)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush)
Clethra alnifolia (summer sweet)
Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)
Cornus alternifolia (pogoda dogwood, alternate- leaved dogwood)
Cornus racemosa (gray dogwood)
Corylus americana (American hazelnut or filbert)
Corylus cornuta (beaked hazelnut or filbert)
Diervilla sessilifolia (southern bush honeysuckle)
Dirca palustris (leatherwood, ropebark)
Erythrina herbacea (coral bean)
Euonymus americana (strawberry bush, brook euonymus, hearts-a-bustin')
Euonymus atropurpurea (wahoo, burning bush)
Forestiera acuminata (swamp privet)
Fothergilla major (witch alder)
Frangula caroliniana (Carolina buckthorn)
Hydrangea arborescens (wild hydrangea)
Hypericum hypericoides ssp. hypericoides (St. Andrew's cross)
Hypericum prolificum (shrubby St. John's wort)
Ilex verticillata (winterberry, black alder)
Itea virginica (Virginia willow, sweetspire, tassel-white)
Lindera benzoin (spicebush)
Lycium carolinianum (Christmas berry, matrimony vine)
Lyonia ligustrina (male-berry, male-blueberry)
Physocarpus opulifolius (ninebark)
Rhododendron arborescens (smooth azalea)
Rhododendron atlanticum (dwarf, or coastal azalea)
Rhododendron calendulaceum (flame azalea)
Rhododendron canescens (wild, piedmont, or sweet azalea)
Rhododendron periclymenoides (pinxterbloom azalea)
Rhododendron viscosum (swamp azalea)
Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)
Rhus copallinum (dwarf or winged sumac)
Rhus glabra (smooth sumac)
Rhus hirta (staghorn sumac)
Rosa carolina (Carolina rose)
Rosa setigera (Illinois or prairie rose)
Rubus occidentalis (black raspberry, thimbleberry)
Rubus odoratus (thimbleberry)
Sambucus canadensis (elderberry, common elder)
Sambucus racemosa var. pubens (scarlet elderberry, red-berried elder)
Spiraea tomentosa (steeplebush, hardhack)
Staphylea trifolia (bladdernut)
Stewartia malacodendron (silky camellia)
Styrax americanus (American silverbells)
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (coralberry, Indian currant)
Vaccinium arboreum (sparkleberry, farkleberry)
Vaccinium corymbosom (highbush blueberry)
Viburnum acerifolium (maple leaf viburnum)
Viburnum dentatum (southern arrowwood)
Viburnum nudum (possumhaw viburnum)
Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides (wild raisin)
Viburnum prunifolium (black haw, nanny berry)
Viburnum rufidulum (southern or rusty black haw)
Shrubs (evergreen)
Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)
Gaultheria procumbens (wintergreen, checkerberry)
Gaylussacia brachycera (box huckleberry)
Gordonia lasianthus. (loblolly bay, gordonia)
Ilex glabra (inkberry, bitter gallberry)
Ilex vomitoria (yaupon)
Juniperus communis (common juniper)
Kalmia angustifolia (sheep laurel, lambkill kalmia)
Kalmia latifolia (mountain laurel)
Leucothoe axillaris (coast leucothoe)
Myrica cerifera (wax myrtle, southern bayberry, candleberry)
Rhododendron carolinianum (Carolina rhododendron)
Rhododendron catawbiense (purple rhododendron, red laurel)
Rhododendron maximum (rosebay, great laurel)
Serenoa repens (saw palmetto)
Trees (deciduous)
Acer barbatum (Florida maple, southern sugar maple)
Acer leucoderme (chalk maple)
Acer negundo (box elder)
Acer pensylvanicum (striped maple)
Acer rubrum (red maple)
Acer saccharinum (silver maple)
Acer spicatum (mountain maple)
Aesculus flava (sweet buckeye, yellow buckeye)
Aesculus pavia var. pavia (red buckeye)
Amelanchier canadensis (shadblow serviceberry, Juneberry)
Betula lenta (cherry birch)
Betula nigra (river birch)
Carpinus caroliniana (blue beech, hornbeam, musclewood)
Carya alba (mockernut hickory)
Carya cordiformis (bitternut, swamp hickory)
Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)
Celtis laevigata (sugarberry, hackberry)
Celtis occidentalis (hackberry, sugarberry)
Cercis canadensis (redbud)
Chionanthus virginicus (fringe tree, old man's beard)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Crataegus crus-galli (cockspur hawthorn)
Crataegus marshallii (parsley hawthorn)
Crataegus phaenopyrum (Washington hawthorn)
Crataegus punctata (dotted hawthorn, white thorn)
Cyrilla racemiflora (leatherwood, yiti)
Diospyros virginiana (persimmon)
Fagus grandifolia var. caroliniana (beech)
Fraxinus americana (white ash)
Fraxinus pensylvanica (green ash)
Gleditsia triacanthos (honey locust)
Halesia diptera (American snowdrop tree, two-winged silverbell)
Halesia tetraptera (Carolina silverbell)
Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel)
Ilex decidua (possum-haw, deciduous holly)
Juglans cinerea (butternut, white walnut)
Juglans nigra (black walnut)
Liquidambar styraciflua (sweet gum)
Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Magnolia acuminata (cucumber tree)
Magnolia pyramidata (pyramid magnolia)
Malus angustifolia (southern crabapple, wild crabapple)
Nyssa sylvatica (black gum, tupelo)
Ostrya virginiana (ironwood, hophornbeam)
Oxydendrum arboreum (sourwood)
Platanus occidentalis (sycamore, plane-tree)
Populus deltoides (eastern cottonwood)
Prunus americana (wild plum)
Prunus angustifolia (chickasaw plum)
Prunus mexicana (Mexican plum)
Prunus pensylvanica (fire or pin cherry)
Prunus serotina (black cherry)
Ptelea trifoliata (wafer ash, common hoptree)
Quercus alba (white oak)
Quercus bicolor (swamp white oak)
Quercus coccinea (scarlet oak)
Quercus falcata (southern red oak, Spanish oak)
Quercus laurifolia (laurel oak)
Quercus lyrata (overcup oak)
Quercus marilandica (blackjack oak)
Quercus muhlenbergii (chinkapin oak, chestnut oak)
Quercus phellos (willow oak)
Quercus rubra (red oak)
Quercus shumardii (shumard oak)
Quercus stellata (post oak)
Quercus velutina (black oak)
Salix nigra (black willow)
Sassafras albidum (sassafras)
Sorbus americana (mountain ash)
Taxodium distichum (bald cypress)
Ulmus americana (American elm)
Ulmus rubra (red elm, slippery elm)
Trees (evergreen)
Chamaecyparis thyoides (white cedar)
Ilex opaca (American holly, Christmas holly)
Juniperus virginiana (eastern red cedar)
Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia)
Persea borbonia (red bay)
Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine)
Pinus elliotii (slash, pitch, or yellow slash pine)
Pinus glabra (spruce pine)
Pinus palustris (longleaf pine)
Pinus rigida (pitch pine)
Pinus taeda (loblolly pine)
Pinus virginiana (Virginia pine)
Prunus caroliniana (cherry laurel)
Quercus virginiana (live oak, coastal live oak, southern live oak)
Tsuga caroliniana (Carolina hemlock)
Vines (deciduous)
Bignonia capreolata (cross vine)
Campsis radicans (trumpet creeper, trumpet vine)
Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet)
Clematis crispa (leatherflower)
Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower)
Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Passiflora incarnata (passion flower, maypop)
Vitis riparia (riverbank grape)
Vitis rotundifolia (muscadine grape)
Vine (evergreen)
Gelsemium sempervirens (yellow jessamine, Carolina jessamine)
Federally Listed Endangered Species
American chaffseed (Schwalbea americana)
Black-spored quillwort (Isoetes melanospora)
Bunched arrowhead (Sagittaria fasciculata)
Canby's dropwort (Oxypolis canbyi)
Dwarf-flowered heartleaf (Hexastylis naniflora)
Harperella (Ptilimnium nodosum (fluviatile))
Little amphianthus (Amphianthus pusillus)
Miccosukee gooseberry (Ribes echinellum)
Michaux's sumac (Rhus michauxii)
Mountain sweet pitcher-plant (Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii)
Persistent trillium (Trillium persistens)
Pondberry (Lindera melissifolia)
Relict trillium (Trillium persistens)
Rough-leaved loosestrife (Lysimachia asperulaefolia)
Schweinitz's sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii)
Seabeach amaranth (Amaranthus pumilus)
Small whorled pogonia (Isotria medeoloides)
Smooth coneflower (Echinacea laevigata)
Swamp pink (Helonias bullata)
South Carolina Noxious Species
Because the noxious weed lists have continually changed since we gathered them in 1994, we are not including them at this time. Not all States have noxious weed lists. Those that do, do not use the same standards of importance and are not comparable. States typically have included plants that interfere with agriculture (Canada thistle), or cause human health problems (poison ivy). Some States are now including a category of plants that invade and degrade the environment (purple loosestrife). Check with your State's Agriculture Department or Weed Scientist listed below. The noxious weed list can be used two ways on roadsides: 1) check to not inadvertently plant these invasive plants, and 2) note the plants you are legally responsible to control. Many States now check adjacent State lists to avoid planting their neighbors' problem plants. Because weeds do not respect political boundaries, and because by their very nature weeds continue to adapt and expand, monitoring and controlling invasives at State borders is a wise part of vegetation management.
(Weed and Seed Laws)
Clemson University
Department of Plant Industry
511 Westinghouse Road
Pendleton, SC 29670
Edward C. Murdock
Clemson University, Agronomy
275 Poole Agricultural Center
Clemson, SC 29634
(864) 656-3517
South Carolina Resources
Heritage Trust
SC Wildlife & Marine Resources
PO Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202
(803) 734-3893
The Nature Conservancy Field Office
PO Box 5475
Columbia, SC 29250
Wildflower Alliance of South Carolina
PO Box 12181
Columbia, SC 29211
Brookgreen Gardens
1931 Brookgreen Drive
Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
(843) 237-4218
Native Plant Society
PO Box 12181
Columbia, SC 29211
