At Wild Ones, we’re dedicated to connecting people and native plants. Our Native Plant News blog delivers the latest stories on native plant conservation, scientific discoveries, and habitat restoration from across the nation. This monthly, volunteer-written feature is designed to educate, engage, and inspire action, empowering readers to support biodiversity and promote sustainable landscaping with native flora.
Tennessee: Kicking out the Kudzu
The City of Knoxville is allocating $80,000 to remove kudzu and other invasive species starting in Fort Dickerson Park to improve ecological health and allow native species a chance to recover
Kudzu, popularly called “the plant that ate the South”, is originally from Asia and quickly took over. According to John Shelton-Sarabia, the president of the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council, “we brought it over in the mid-20th century as a form of erosion control. We were building highways, and we wanted to make sure that we could stabilize banks so that rock falls, flooding events, and vegetation loss don’t occur en masse, and kudzu is really good at it. It’s just removing it is the hard part.”.
Kudzu can grow as much as a foot per day during the summer and quickly crowds out native plants, reducing biodiversity. The extensive root systems have to be removed, which is why previous methods, such as targeted goat grazing, have only produced temporary results. Herbicide treatments will be used in the current push to remove kudzu. Privet and honeysuckle are also on the list for removal, and Knoxville officials are planning to plant native species to encourage healthier ecosystems in Knoxville parks.
Georgia: Blooming From the Ashes
Following prescribed fires in the Savannah River Site in March, rare flowers have been observed. This includes wetland plants rose pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides), squarehead flower (Tetragonotheca helianthoides), and a rare subspecies of Georgia sweet pitcher plant (Sarracenia rubra ssp. viatorum). A new population of striped garlic (Allium cuthbertii) was found that thrives in fire-dependent longleaf pine sandhill habitat and tuberous grass pink (Calopogon tuberosus), which bloomed after the prescribed fire, something that hasn’t been observed in over two decades.
According to United States Forest Service ecologist, Hannah Davis, “prescribed fire does more than reduce fuels. It opens the forest, creating the light and space native plants need to persist and to thrive. As these rare flowers return, they show how essential well‑planned fire is for renewing and sustaining the biodiversity of fire‑dependent ecosystems like those found on the Savannah River Site.”
Bloom After the Burn: Rare Flowers Rising from Prescribed Fire-FS.USDA.gov
New York: Bringing Native Shrubs Back to the Long Island Sound
Environmental Coalition of the Pelham (EcoPel) volunteers planted more than 400 native shrubs at the Hutchinson River Parkway on May 9th.
Shrubs were planted to support the historical coastal ecology of the Long Island Sound watershed, supporting the transition of meadow into shrubland edge habitat. The species planted were grown by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Saratoga Tree Nursery and included Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), black chokecherry (Aronia melanocarpa), winged sumac (Rhus copallinum), bayberry (Myrica pensylvanica), and sand cherry (Prunus pumila).
Over the past 5 years, more than 341 volunteers have dedicated approximately 569 volunteer hours through planting more than 2,000 native shrubs across the Pelhams, invasive plant management, and trash cleanup to improve habitat and watershed health. These efforts arose after conversations about the disappearance of wildlife and pollinators from neighborhood landscapes that spurred partnerships between EcoPel, New York State Department of Transportation, cities, community volunteers, and Mario Bulfamante & Sons.
EcoPel volunteers spend a May Saturday planting more than 400 native shrubs at Hutchinson River Parkway Exit 4B-PelhamExaminer.com
Maryland the Beautiful
Anne Arundel County has protected 47 acres of land, adding to the state’s goal to preserve 30% of natural land by 2030 as part of the Maryland the Beautiful Act. So far, the state of Maryland has protected almost 2 million acres of land.
The newest property is part of the Saltworks Creek Natural Area. The land had originally been planned for a 76-townhome development project but the plan fell through. The forested 47-acre land helps filter stormwater, connects wildlife habitat, and builds resilience to environmental change and is vital to the health of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay.
“The county lost over 1,400 acres of tree cover to develop lands between 2013 and 2021 this is a stark reminder of how quickly these natural assets disappear without intentional action,” Chesapeake Conservancy CEO, Susan Shingledecker, said.
Florida: Supporting Pollinators Through Drought
The ongoing drought in Alachua County has experts worried about pollinator populations, as dry conditions limit flowering plants and water sources for wildlife. To help, community members attended a “Pollinator Pots” workshop organized by the Florida Wildflower Foundation. Attendees learned how to create habitat in their yard using containers to support pollinators and support local ecosystems, including native plant selection, design strategies, and maintenance tips.
“There’s a lot that somebody can do in their own backyard,” said Geena Hill, a conservation biologist and board director with the Florida Wildflower Foundation. Hill said the continued lack of rain could reduce the availability of nectar and pollen, potentially limiting foraging and threatening bee survival.
Despite recent rains, drought conditions remain. “We are looking at a deficit of almost 20 inches of rain, so this is a severe drought across the entire county,” said Jen Grice, the director of emergency management for Alachua County.
Save the Strange: Conservation Needed for Nature’s Weirdest Plants
Thousands of rare and ancient plants urgently need protection, according to a study published this month in Science.
Study authors determined uniqueness and extinction risk across all flowering plants (angiosperms) which includes more than 330, 000 species. From this analysis, the scientists determined that 21.2% of angiosperms were at risk of extinction and identified 9,945 priority species due to their unique and threatened evolutionary history. The study focused on species with few surviving relatives. This includes the corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) found in Sumatra, the jellyfish tree (Medusagyne oppositifolia) found in Seychelles, and the salad plant (Kewa acida) found in Saint Helena. If these species were to go extinct, a significant part of evolutionary history would be lost.
“When we talk about [distinctive] species as ‘weird and wonderful’ we tend to think of their physical characteristics, whether that’s their bizarre, jellyfish-shaped flowers, or their sheer size, but it also includes the things we can’t see — their molecules, chemicals, and other properties that we as humans depend on,” said study coauthor Matilda Brown. According to Brown, losing a deep branch of the tree of life could mean the potential loss of the next breakthrough cancer drug or antibiotic, with no second chance.
Among Flowering Plants, Thousands of Evolutionary Oddities at Risk of Extinction-E360.Yale.edu
Félix Forest et al., High risk of extinction across the flowering plant tree of life. Science 392,655-659(2026). DOI: 10.1126/science.adz0773
The Fall of the King of the Great Plains? Oak Trees Under Stress
Dubbed the “King of the Great Plains”, the king’s reign is being threatened as bur oaks (Quercus macrocarpa) die across the Midwest and Great Plains. “We’re not talking square feet here. We’re talking acres,” Nebraska Game and Parks horticulturist Richard Whemeyer said. “I believe Ponca State Park has it the worst. We’re seeing 70% loss of bur oak canopy – just large dead swaths of oaks on our ridgelines. We lost elms, we lost hackberries, we lost ash, red oaks. We’ve lost a lot of species, but the species that happen to be very prominent in these areas were the bur oaks.”
Horticulturists sent specimens to a diagnostic lab, and the direct cause was found: hypoxylon canker. This fungus attacks many tree species, especially hardwoods like oaks. It spreads by spores, which can live in a tree without causing disease until the tree becomes stressed and natural defenses weaken, and the fungus will then spread and cause the tree’s sapwood vessels to collapse, cutting off water and nutrient movement. This fungal disease is more common in the south following periods of drought. But now several Midwestern and Great Plains states are observing hypoxylon canker cases following extreme and more frequent drought periods. A 2023 report by the United States Forest Service said that climate change is increasing the instances and effects that disturbances like drought have on trees and giving opportunistic pests and pathogens, like hypoxylon canker, a chance to attack.
The ‘King of the Great Plains’ is dying. Drought is killing giant oak trees in the Midwest-KCUR.org