Native plants · Georgia

Native plants of Barrow County

64 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Barrow County by USDA PLANTS. 27 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Barrow County, Georgia

PLANTS records only 27 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Georgia list is a useful second check.

Native species: 64 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 27 Typical Georgia county: 58
Share by type (all 64 native species): Percent of the 64 native species in each growth type

Tree 19% (12)
Shrub 11% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 36% (23)
Grass or grass-like 13% (8)
Vine 8% (5)
Fern 14% (9)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (36%), followed by trees (19%).

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 zones 8a to 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 27

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

Garden-ready native plants of Barrow County, Georgia
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American pokeweed Phytolacca americana	Wildflower (forb)	7.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
blackgum Nyssa sylvatica	Tree	95 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium	Tree	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
cat greenbrier Smilax glauca	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
common winterberry Ilex verticillata	Tree	10 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana	Vine	15 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
dwarf St. Johnswort Hypericum mutilum	Wildflower (forb)	2.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum	Tree	28 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
giant cane Arundinaria gigantea	Shrub	25 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
laurel greenbrier Smilax laurifolia	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 6b
needlepod rush Juncus scirpoides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 7a
New York fern Thelypteris noveboracensis	Fern	1.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
nodding lady's tresses Spiranthes cernua	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
possumhaw Viburnum nudum	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
slippery elm Ulmus rubra	Tree	85 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3a
smooth sumac Rhus glabra	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
St. Peterswort Hypericum crux-andreae	Shrub	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6b
swamp azalea Rhododendron viscosum	Shrub	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
swamp rose Rosa palustris	Shrub	8.2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolius	Wildflower (forb)	5.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
sweetbay Magnolia virginiana	Tree	60 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 9a
tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera	Tree	120 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
velvet panicum Dichanthelium scoparium	Grass or grass-like	4.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
water oak Quercus nigra	Tree	90 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
willow oak Quercus phellos	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 37

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.

Adam's needle Yucca filamentosa
American pillwort Pilularia americana
annual fimbry Fimbristylis annua
Atlantic pigeonwings Clitoria mariana
bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
clammy hedgehyssop Gratiola neglecta
common boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum
cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
dogfennel Eupatorium capillifolium
early saxifrage Saxifraga virginiensis
eastern sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus
ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
Elliott's bentgrass Agrostis elliottiana
foxtail clubmoss Lycopodiella alopecuroides
globe beaksedge Rhynchospora globularis
greater marsh St. Johnswort Triadenum walteri
greater tickseed Coreopsis major
hairy angelica Angelica venenosa
hairy lipfern Cheilanthes lanosa
handsome Harry Rhexia virginica
Heller's cudweed Pseudognaphalium helleri
keeled bulrush Isolepis carinata
Maryland meadowbeauty Rhexia mariana
meadow spikemoss Selaginella apoda
Michaux's croton Croton michauxii
netted chainfern Woodwardia areolata
northern selaginella Selaginella rupestris
sand bittercress Cardamine parviflora
shaggy hedgehyssop Gratiola pilosa
sidebeak pencilflower Stylosanthes biflora
sneezeweed Helenium amarum
sparselobe grapefern Botrychium biternatum
spring lady's tresses Spiranthes vernalis
spurred butterfly pea Centrosema virginianum
St. Andrew's cross Hypericum hypericoides
woolly ragwort Packera 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, Barrow County and Georgia
Measure	Barrow County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	64	129	1,750
Garden-ready natives	27	58	608
Tree	12	—	202
Shrub	7	—	91
Wildflower (forb)	23	—	908
Grass or grass-like	8	—	403
Vine	5	—	78
Fern	9	—	68

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Barrow County.

Gwinnett County, GA 54 garden-ready
Jackson County, GA 89 garden-ready
Oconee County, GA 38 garden-ready
Walton County, GA 60 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: Barrow County (county FIPS 13013), Georgia. 64 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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