Native plants · Georgia

Native plants of Marion County

26 plant species are recorded as native to Georgia in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Marion County by USDA PLANTS. 20 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Marion County, Georgia

PLANTS records only 20 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Georgia list is a useful second check.

Native species: 26 Typical Georgia county: 129 (median of 159 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 20 Typical Georgia county: 58
Share by type (all 26 native species): Percent of the 26 native species in each growth type

Tree 50% (13)
Shrub 8% (2)
Wildflower (forb) 23% (6)
Grass or grass-like 12% (3)
Vine 4% (1)
Fern 4% (1)

Trees make up the largest share of the native list (50%), followed by wildflowers (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 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 20

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

Garden-ready native plants of Marion County, Georgia
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
Atlantic white cedar Chamaecyparis thyoides	Tree	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b
blackgum Nyssa sylvatica	Tree	95 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
broadleaf arrowhead Sagittaria latifolia	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
common winterberry Ilex verticillata	Tree	10 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
ditch stonecrop Penthorum sedoides	Wildflower (forb)	2.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum	Tree	28 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
flowering dogwood Cornus florida	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
hazel alder Alnus serrulata	Tree	30 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
hop sedge Carex lupulina	Grass or grass-like	4.3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
large gallberry Ilex coriacea	Tree	12 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 8a
marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris	Wildflower (forb)	2 in	Sun	High	Zone 4a
mountain azalea Rhododendron canescens	Shrub	14 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
possumhaw Viburnum nudum	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
red chokeberry Aronia arbutifolia	Shrub	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5b
shallow sedge Carex lurida	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
sweetbay Magnolia virginiana	Tree	60 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 9a
turkey oak Quercus laevis	Tree	40 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7a
water oak Quercus nigra	Tree	90 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
winged sumac Rhus copallinum	Tree	8 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b

Other native species recorded here 6

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.

fringed yelloweyed grass Xyris fimbriata
hirsute sedge Carex complanata
juniper leaf Polypremum procumbens
sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
sidebeak pencilflower Stylosanthes biflora
spurred butterfly pea Centrosema virginianum

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, Marion County and Georgia
Measure	Marion County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	26	129	1,750
Garden-ready natives	20	58	608
Tree	13	—	202
Shrub	2	—	91
Wildflower (forb)	6	—	908
Grass or grass-like	3	—	403
Vine	1	—	78
Fern	1	—	68

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Marion County.

Muscogee County, GA 44 garden-ready
Schley County, GA 7 garden-ready
Talbot County, GA 46 garden-ready
Taylor County, GA 52 garden-ready
Webster County, GA 10 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: Marion County (county FIPS 13197), Georgia. 26 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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