Native plants · Georgia

Native plants of Heard County

73 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Heard 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

Heard 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: 73 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 22 Typical Georgia county: 58
Share by type (all 73 native species): Percent of the 73 native species in each growth type

Tree 8% (6)
Shrub 5% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 38% (28)
Grass or grass-like 23% (17)
Vine 5% (4)
Fern 19% (14)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (38%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (23%).

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 22

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

Garden-ready native plants of Heard County, Georgia
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
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
butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea	Fern	4.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
common persimmon Diospyros virginiana	Tree	55 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5a
farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum	Tree	28 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
flattened oatgrass Danthonia compressa	Grass or grass-like	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
lanceleaf greenbrier Smilax smallii	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6b
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus	Wildflower (forb)	2.8 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
longleaf pine Pinus palustris	Tree	120 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7a
narrowleaf evening primrose Oenothera fruticosa	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
New York fern Thelypteris noveboracensis	Fern	1.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
northern maidenhair Adiantum pedatum	Fern	1.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia	Shrub	6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7a
possumhaw Viburnum nudum	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
roundhead rush Juncus validus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 7a
shrubby St. Johnswort Hypericum prolificum	Shrub	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
swamp azalea Rhododendron viscosum	Shrub	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
variable panicgrass Dichanthelium commutatum	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 4b
Virginia sweetspire Itea virginica	Shrub	10 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
water oak Quercus nigra	Tree	90 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 51

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.

American alumroot Heuchera americana
annual fimbry Fimbristylis annua
Appalachian stitchwort Minuartia glabra
axilflower Mecardonia acuminata
bluejacket Tradescantia ohiensis
bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
Carolina clover Trifolium carolinianum
Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
crowpoison Nothoscordum bivalve
Curtiss' milkwort Polygala curtissii
cypress panicgrass Dichanthelium dichotomum
ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
Elliott's bentgrass Agrostis elliottiana
fan clubmoss Lycopodium digitatum
fewflower beaksedge Rhynchospora rariflora
fire pink Silene virginica
globe beaksedge Rhynchospora globularis
hairy lipfern Cheilanthes lanosa
heartwing sorrel Rumex hastatulus
hirsute sedge Carex complanata
keeled bulrush Isolepis carinata
lobed spleenwort Asplenium pinnatifidum
longleaf summer bluet Houstonia longifolia
low nutrush Scleria verticillata
maroon Carolina milkvine Matelea carolinensis
meadow garlic Allium canadense
meadow spikemoss Selaginella apoda
Michaux's croton Croton michauxii
netted chainfern Woodwardia areolata
openflower rosette grass Dichanthelium laxiflorum
racemed milkwort Polygala polygama
rare clubmoss Lycopodium obscurum
redring milkweed Asclepias variegata
reflexed sedge Carex retroflexa
Richard's yelloweyed grass Xyris jupicai
Sampson's snakeroot Orbexilum pedunculatum
sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
shiny wedgescale Sphenopholis nitida
Small's ragwort Packera anonyma
snakemouth orchid Pogonia ophioglossoides
sparselobe grapefern Botrychium biternatum
star chickweed Stellaria pubera
vasevine Clematis viorna
Virginia dwarfdandelion Krigia virginica
Virginia groundcherry Physalis virginiana
weak rush Juncus debilis
wild yam Dioscorea villosa
witchgrass Panicum capillare
woodland pinkroot Spigelia marilandica
woolly ragwort Packera tomentosa
yellowroot Xanthorhiza simplicissima

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, Heard County and Georgia
Measure	Heard County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	73	129	1,750
Garden-ready natives	22	58	608
Tree	6	—	202
Shrub	4	—	91
Wildflower (forb)	28	—	908
Grass or grass-like	17	—	403
Vine	4	—	78
Fern	14	—	68

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Heard County.

Carroll County, GA 74 garden-ready
Coweta County, GA 17 garden-ready
Troup County, GA 33 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: Heard County (county FIPS 13149), Georgia. 73 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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