Native plants · Georgia
Native plants of Henry County
37 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Henry County by USDA PLANTS. 18 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.
County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP
Henry County, Georgia
PLANTS records only 18 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Georgia list is a useful second check.
- Native species
- 37 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 18 Typical Georgia county: 58
- Share by type (all 37 native species)
-
Percent of the 37 native species in each growth type
Trees make up the largest share of the native list (30%), followed by wildflowers (27%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 18
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American beech Fagus grandifolia | Tree | 80 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3a |
| American elm Ulmus americana | Tree | 120 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 2b |
| black willow Salix nigra | Tree | 100 ft | Sun | High | Zone 1b |
| blackjack oak Quercus marilandica | Tree | 25 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia | Tree | 12 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4b |
| cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomea | Fern | 4.9 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4a |
| graybark grape Vitis cinerea | Vine | 50 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 6b |
| green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica | Tree | 80 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 2b |
| hazel alder Alnus serrulata | Tree | 30 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
| lanceleaf greenbrier Smilax smallii | Vine | 1 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 6b |
| mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium | Shrub | 6 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4b |
| mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia | Tree | 6 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 5a |
| New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus | Shrub | 3 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 4b |
| northern red oak Quercus rubra | Tree | 81 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3b |
| rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum | Fern | 1.4 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3b |
| trumpet honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens | Vine | 16 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4a |
| water oak Quercus nigra | Tree | 90 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
| willow oak Quercus phellos | Tree | 100 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 19
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.
Hidden while “Garden-ready only” is on.
- American alumroot Heuchera americana
- Elliott's bentgrass Agrostis elliottiana
- false aloe Manfreda virginica
- fan clubmoss Lycopodium digitatum
- flame azalea Rhododendron calendulaceum
- fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica
- globe beaksedge Rhynchospora globularis
- longbract wild indigo Baptisia bracteata
- Michaux's croton Croton michauxii
- rare clubmoss Lycopodium obscurum
- sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
- slenderleaf false foxglove Agalinis tenuifolia
- smooth Solomon's seal Polygonatum biflorum
- spotted geranium Geranium maculatum
- standing-cypress Ipomopsis rubra
- whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
- whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
- wild yam Dioscorea villosa
- witchgrass Panicum capillare
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.
| Measure | Henry County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 37 | 129 | 1,750 |
| Garden-ready natives | 18 | 58 | 608 |
| Tree | 11 | — | 202 |
| Shrub | 4 | — | 91 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 10 | — | 908 |
| Grass or grass-like | 3 | — | 403 |
| Vine | 4 | — | 78 |
| Fern | 5 | — | 68 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Henry County.
- Butts County, GA 9 garden-ready
- Clayton County, GA 25 garden-ready
- DeKalb County, GA 112 garden-ready
- Rockdale County, GA 35 garden-ready
- Spalding County, GA 118 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
- Henry County (county FIPS 13151), Georgia. 37 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