Native plants · Georgia

Native plants of Banks County

61 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Banks County by USDA PLANTS. 25 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Banks County, Georgia

PLANTS records only 25 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Georgia list is a useful second check.

Native species: 61 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 25 Typical Georgia county: 58
Share by type (all 61 native species): Percent of the 61 native species in each growth type

Tree 16% (10)
Shrub 11% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 34% (21)
Grass or grass-like 7% (4)
Vine 21% (13)
Fern 10% (6)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (34%), followed by vines (21%).

Recorded native ranges can include long-established populations that spread from gardens; check your state’s native plant society list for local guidance. How native status is decided.

ZIP codes mainly in this county fall in USDA hardiness zone 8a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 25

Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.

Garden-ready native plants of Banks County, Georgia
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American plum Prunus americana	Tree	24 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
bursting-heart Euonymus americanus	Wildflower (forb)	6 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
cardinalflower Lobelia cardinalis	Wildflower (forb)	5.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4a
Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana	Vine	15 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
eastern baccharis Baccharis halimifolia	Tree	10 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 7a
eastern white pine Pinus strobus	Tree	150 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
Indian woodoats Chasmanthium latifolium	Grass or grass-like	4.6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium	Shrub	6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
northern maidenhair Adiantum pedatum	Fern	1.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
poverty rush Juncus tenuis	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
roundleaf greenbrier Smilax rotundifolia	Vine	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
saw greenbrier Smilax bona-nox	Vine	4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
silky dogwood Cornus amomum	Shrub	10 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
southern red oak Quercus falcata	Tree	75 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6a
spotted St. Johnswort Hypericum punctatum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
trumpet creeper Campsis radicans	Vine	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
trumpet honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens	Vine	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
water oak Quercus nigra	Tree	90 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
willow oak Quercus phellos	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
yellow passionflower Passiflora lutea	Vine	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 36

PLANTS has no growing records for these, so light, moisture, height and zone filters cannot include them. Many are wild species seldom sold by nurseries.

agueweed Gentianella quinquefolia
Atlantic poison oak Toxicodendron pubescens
blisterwort Ranunculus recurvatus
bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
broad beechfern Phegopteris hexagonoptera
Carolina coralbead Cocculus carolinus
carpenter's square Scrophularia marilandica
Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
common moonseed Menispermum canadense
crossvine Bignonia capreolata
cypress panicgrass Dichanthelium dichotomum
dwarf hackberry Celtis pumila
eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
false aloe Manfreda virginica
fan clubmoss Lycopodium digitatum
fragrant bedstraw Galium triflorum
highland doghobble Leucothoe fontanesiana
Indianpipe Monotropa uniflora
openflower rosette grass Dichanthelium laxiflorum
pale Indian plantain Arnoglossum atriplicifolium
racemed milkwort Polygala polygama
rattlesnakeweed Hieracium venosum
redring milkweed Asclepias variegata
seedbox Ludwigia alternifolia
St. Andrew's cross Hypericum hypericoides
striped prince's pine Chimaphila maculata
tall thimbleweed Anemone virginiana
trailing arbutus Epigaea repens
twining snoutbean Rhynchosia tomentosa
vasevine Clematis viorna
white snakeroot Ageratina altissima
whorled yellow loosestrife Lysimachia quadrifolia
wild quinine Parthenium integrifolium
woodland pinkroot Spigelia marilandica
woolly lipfern Cheilanthes tomentosa

Compared with Georgia

The typical county is the median of the 159 Georgia counties with PLANTS county records; the statewide figure counts every species native anywhere in the state. More species is not better or worse: counties differ in size, habitat and how thoroughly they have been surveyed.

Native species counts, Banks County and Georgia
Measure	Banks County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	61	129	1,750
Garden-ready natives	25	58	608
Tree	10	—	202
Shrub	7	—	91
Wildflower (forb)	21	—	908
Grass or grass-like	4	—	403
Vine	13	—	78
Fern	6	—	68

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Banks County.

Franklin County, GA 20 garden-ready
Habersham County, GA 68 garden-ready
Hall County, GA 143 garden-ready
Jackson County, GA 89 garden-ready
Madison County, GA 68 garden-ready
Stephens County, GA 116 garden-ready

Source & data date

Source: USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).; Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.; USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
Citation: USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.; Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
Data date: Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
Zones: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) ZIP table: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed November 3, 2026. Plant zones on this site are our estimate, not the official map.
Scope: Banks County (county FIPS 13011), Georgia. 61 native species from PLANTS county distribution records; garden-ready = species with a PLANTS characteristics record.
Method: A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources

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