State or province

West Virginia

West Virginia, United States of America: 2 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Landscape and climate

Two ecoregions cover West Virginia, and both are temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. The Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests take most of the state, with the Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests along the eastern edge. Neither is in the Nature Imperiled tier, which is uncommon for the region and reflects how much of the state is steep, forested and hard to clear. The mixed mesophytic forest is the one to know about. It is among the most species-rich temperate forests in the world, with no single dominant canopy tree and an understory to match, and West Virginia sits near its center. A garden here has an unusually deep native list to draw on, and layering is the way to use it.

Native plants of West Virginia

Species in the catalog recorded as native to West Virginia, each with its climate-fit grade and planting guidance.

Adam's needle Allegheny blackberry American arborvitae American basswood American elderberry American hazelnut American holly American hophornbeam American persimmon American plum American red raspberry American sweetgum American sycamore Annabelle hydrangea Aromatic aster Arrowwood viburnum Balsam fir Big bluestem Black cherry Black chokeberry Black oak Black walnut Black willow Black-eyed Susan Blackhaw viburnum Bloodroot Blue false indigo Blue flag iris Blue vervain Boneset Boxelder Bur oak Butterfly weed Canada anemone Canada lily Canadian serviceberry Cardinal flower Carolina allspice (sweetshrub)Catawba rhododendron Chestnut oak Chinkapin oak Chokecherry Christmas fern Common blue violet Common hackberry Common hops Common juniper Common milkweed Common ninebark Common sunflower Common witch hazel Common yarrow Cutleaf coneflower Dense blazing star Dwarf crested iris Eastern cottonwood Eastern prickly pear Eastern red cedar Eastern redbud Eastern white pine Flowering dogwood Foamflower Fox grape Foxglove beardtongue Golden alexanders Gray birch Gray dogwood Green hawthorn Groundnut Hairy alumroot Hardy hibiscus Highbush blueberry Honey locust Indian grass Jack pine Lady fern Lanceleaf coreopsis Largeflower tickseed Little bluestem Mapleleaf viburnum Marginal wood fern Mayapple Maypop (purple passionflower)Mountain laurel Nannyberry New England aster New Jersey tea New York ironweed Northern maidenhair fern Northern red oak Northern spicebush Ohio buckeye Orange coneflower Ostrich fern Pagoda dogwood Paper birch Pawpaw Plains coreopsis Possumhaw viburnum Post oak Pussy willow Quaking aspen Ramps Red maple Red mulberry Red pine Red spruce Red-osier dogwood River birch River oats Sassafras Scarlet bee balm Shagbark hickory Short-toothed mountain mint Side-oats grama Silky dogwood Silver maple Smooth blue aster Southern red oak Spotted Joe-Pye weed Stiff goldenrod Sugar maple Summersweet (sweet pepperbush)Sunchoke Swamp milkweed Swamp sunflower Swamp white oak Sweet Joe-Pye weed Switchgrass Threadleaf coreopsis Trumpet honeysuckle Tulip tree (yellow poplar)Virginia iris White oak White wood aster Whorled milkweed Wild bergamot Wild geranium Wild lupine Wild senna Wild strawberry Woodland phlox Yellow birch Yellow buckeye

Country

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United States of America

Ecoregions here

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests