Native plants · Georgia

Native plants of Evans County

39 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Evans County by USDA PLANTS. 22 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Evans County, Georgia

PLANTS records only 22 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Georgia list is a useful second check.

Native species: 39 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 22 Typical Georgia county: 58
Share by type (all 39 native species): Percent of the 39 native species in each growth type

Tree 28% (11)
Shrub 13% (5)
Wildflower (forb) 36% (14)
Grass or grass-like 21% (8)
Fern 3% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (36%), followed by trees (28%).

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 9a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 22

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

Garden-ready native plants of Evans County, Georgia
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana	Tree	20 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
bedstraw St. Johnswort Hypericum galioides	Shrub	2.5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 7a
bristly buttercup Ranunculus hispidus	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
broomsedge bluestem Andropogon virginicus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
dwarf azalea Rhododendron atlanticum	Shrub	2.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 8a
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana	Tree	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3a
fetterbush lyonia Lyonia lucida	Shrub	6.6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7b
hairy chaffhead Carphephorus paniculatus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 8a
laurel oak Quercus laurifolia	Tree	70 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa	Tree	85 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
orangegrass Hypericum gentianoides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 12a
possumhaw Viburnum nudum	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
redbay Persea borbonia	Tree	70 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 8a
roundpod St. Johnswort Hypericum cistifolium	Shrub	2.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
saw palmetto Serenoa repens	Tree	7 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 8a
splitbeard bluestem Andropogon ternarius	Grass or grass-like	3.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 5b
swamp azalea Rhododendron viscosum	Shrub	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
swamp sunflower Helianthus angustifolius	Wildflower (forb)	5.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
swamp titi Cyrilla racemiflora	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	—	Zone 6b
tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera	Tree	120 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
water oak Quercus nigra	Tree	90 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
waterthread pondweed Potamogeton diversifolius	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 17

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.

coastal lovegrass Eragrostis refracta
cylindricfruit primrose-willow Ludwigia glandulosa
darkgreen sedge Carex venusta
gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum
juniper leaf Polypremum procumbens
netted chainfern Woodwardia areolata
pineywoods dropseed Sporobolus junceus
poorjoe Diodia teres
seedbox Ludwigia alternifolia
sidebeak pencilflower Stylosanthes biflora
slender fimbry Fimbristylis autumnalis
slender Indiangrass Sorghastrum elliottii
star chickweed Stellaria pubera
stinking camphorweed Pluchea foetida
sundial lupine Lupinus perennis
Texas signalgrass Urochloa texana
Virginia winged rockcress Sibara virginica

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, Evans County and Georgia
Measure	Evans County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	39	129	1,750
Garden-ready natives	22	58	608
Tree	11	—	202
Shrub	5	—	91
Wildflower (forb)	14	—	908
Grass or grass-like	8	—	403
Vine	0	—	78
Fern	1	—	68

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Evans County.

Bulloch County, GA 95 garden-ready
Candler County, GA 47 garden-ready
Tattnall County, GA 108 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: Evans County (county FIPS 13109), Georgia. 39 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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