Upper Peninsula

Deciding which native species to focus on can be overwhelming. To assist your selection, we have developed a list of about 50 plant species that are common to the Upper Peninsula. The list is meant as a place to start as you learn about native plants, and consider a planting of your own. Not all are suitable for all applications. For more information about these species, as well as others to consider, contact your local native plant producer and see the plant fact sheets at this website.

Wildflowers
Ferns
Trees, Shrubs, Vines
Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

Wildflowers
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Aquilegia canadensis	Wild Columbine	Red/Yellow	YES	YES	YES	1-3	NO	YES	NO	LH, B
Asclepiasincarnata	Swamp Milkweed	Pink	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	YES	LH, N
Campanula rotundifolia	Harebell	Blue	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	--
Chamerion angustifolium (Epilobium angustifolium)	Fireweed	Purple	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	NO	LTD, O
Coreopsis lanceolata	Sand Coreopsis	Yellow	YES	NO	NO	1-2	YES	YES	NO	B, N
Eupatoriadelphus maculatus (Eupatorium maculatum)	Spotted Joe-pye Weed	Pink	YES	YES	NO	4-5	NO	YES	YES	N
Eupatorium perfoliatum	Common Boneset	White	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	N, PP
Eurybia macrophylla (Aster macrophyllus)	Big-leaved Aster	Violet	NO	YES	YES	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N
Euthamia graminifolia	Grass-leaved Goldenrod	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	3-4	NO	YES	YES	--
Heliopsis helianthoides	False Sunflower	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	4-6	NO	YES	NO	--
Iris versicolor	Wild Blue Flag	B lue	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	N
Liatris aspera	Rough Blazing Star	Pink	YES	NO	NO	3-4	YES	YES	NO	N
Maianthemum racemosum (Smilacina racemosa)	False Spikenard, False Solomon's Seal	White	NO	YES	YES	1-2	NO	YES	NO	--
Maianthemum stellatum (Smilacina stellata)	Starry False Solomon's Seal	White	YES	YES	NO	1-2	YES	YES	YES	--
Monarda fistulosa	Wild Bergamot	Lavender	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	N
Rudbeckia hirta	Black-eyed Susan	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	1-3	YES	YES	NO	LH, N,
Scutellaria lateriflora	Mad-dog Skullcap	Blue	YES	YES	NO	2-3		YES	YES	--
Symphyotrichum laeve (Aster laevis)	Smooth Aster	Lavender	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	LH, N, PP
Symphyotrichum puniceum (Aster puniceus)	Swamp Aster	Pale blue	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	LH, N
Thalictrum dasycarpum	Purple Meadow-rue	White	YES	YES		3-7	NO	YES	YES	--
Thalictrum dioicum	Early Meadow-rue	White	NO	YES	YES	2-3	NO	YES	NO	--
Verbena hastata	Blue Vervain	Blue	YES	YES	NO	3-5	NO	YES	YES	N

Key to letter codes:
B: Provides food (fruit, seed, or nectar) or nesting habitat for birds
GC: Groundcover
LH: Larval host for butterflies
LS: Well-suited for landscaping; not well-suited to gardens
LTD: Limited plant material supply
N: Provides nectar for butterflies
NS: Does not establish well from seed
O: Opportunistic - spreads aggressively
PP: Attract pollinators and predatory insects
S: Spreads by underground suckers

Ferns
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet
Adiantum pedatum	Maidenhair Fern	-	NO	YES	YES	1	YES	YES	YES
Matteuccia struthiopteris	Ostrich Fern	-	YES	YES	YES	3-4	YES	YES	YES
Osmunda claytoniana	Interrupted Fern	-	YES	YES	YES	3-4	YES	YES	NO

Trees, Shrubs, Vines
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Acer rubrum	Red Maple	Red	YES	YES	NO	50-100	NO	YES	NO	--
Acer saccharum	Sugar Maple	Yellow	YES	YES	NO	60-100	NO	YES	NO	--
Amelanchier arboria	Serviceberry, Northern Juneberry	White	YES	YES	NO	12-25	YES	YES	NO	B, LH
Betula papyrifera	Paper Birch	Brown	YES	YES	NO	30-60	NO	YES	NO	LH
Clematis virginiana	Virgin's Bower	White	YES	YES	NO	vine	NO	YES	YES	--
Cornus canadensis	Bunchberry	White	NO	NO	YES	.5-1	NO	YES	YES	LTD
Cornus sericea (Cornus stolonifera)	Red-osier Dogwood	White	YES	YES	YES	3-9	YES	YES	YES	LH, B, N, S
Juniperus communis	Ground Juniper	-	YES	NO	NO	3-5	YES	YES	NO	B
Physocarpus opulifolius	Ninebark	White	YES	YES	NO	3-9	NO	YES	YES	N
Prunus virginiana	Choke Cherry	White	YES	YES	NO	10-30	YES	YES	NO	LH, N, S
Quercus rubra	Red Oak	Green	YES	NO	NO	65-90	NO	YES	NO	LH
Sambucus nigra (Sambucus canadensis)	Elderberry	White	YES	YES	NO	5-12	NO	YES	YES	B
Sambucus racemosa (Sambucus pubens)	Red-berried Elder	White	YES	YES	NO	5-12	YES	YES	YES	B
Vaccinium angustifolium	Wild Lowbush Blueberry	White	YES	YES	YES	.5-2	YES	YES	YES	--
Viburnum lentago	Nannyberry	White	YES	YES	NO	15-30	NO	YES	NO	B, N, LH

Grasses, Sedges, Rushes
NATIVE PLANT NAME		FLOWERS	SUN			SIZE	MOISTURE			NOTES
Scientific	Common	color	full	part	shd	height (feet)	dry	ave	wet	(see bottom for code key)
Andropogon gerardii	Big Bluestem	Green	YES	NO	NO	5-7	YES	YES	YES	--
Carex scoparia	Lance-fruited Oval Sedge	Green	YES	NO	NO	1-2	NO	YES	YES	LTD
Carex stricta	Tussock Sedge	Green	YES	NO	NO	2-4	NO	NO	YES	LH, LS
Carex vulpinoidea	Fox Sedge	Green	YES	YES	NO	2-3	NO	YES	YES	LH
Elymus virginicus	Virginia Wild-rye	Green	YES	YES	NO	2-4	NO	YES	YES	--
Glyceria striata	Fowl Manna Grass	Green	YES	YES	NO	1-3	NO	YES	YES	LH
Hierochloe hirta (Hierochloe odorata)	Northern Sweetgrass	Green	YES	YES	NO	1-2	NO	YES	YES	NS
Panicum virgatum	Switch Grass	Green	YES	YES	NO	3-5	YES	YES	YES	LH
Schizachyrium scoparium (Andropogon scoparius)	Little Bluestem	Green	YES	NO	NO	2-4	YES	YES	NO	LH

MSU Extension Native Plants and Ecosystem Services

Upper Peninsula

Wildflowers

Ferns

Trees, Shrubs, Vines

Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

Regional Plant Lists

MSU Extension Native Plants and Ecosystem Services