Unusual Natives Southeast & Deep South

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Brooklyn Botanic Garden
1000 Washington Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11225

Phone: 718-623-7200

By Joan McDonald on April 1, 2000

Southeast & Deep South

Chamaelirium luteum (Devil's bit)
"A lovely, little-known wildflower that's more beautiful than its name. Rarely offered in cultivation."
—Dianne Ford, Niche Gardens

This plant's 2-4 foot columns of white flowers tower over others in early and mid-summer. Specimens are either male or female, so plants of both sexes are necessary for fertile seed. The fruit is a small pod which splits open into three parts, the dry empty shells remaining on the stem. Grow in moist, peaty soil, and partial shade. An important food source for butterflies.
Zone 4-8.

Sabatia bartramii (Bartram's marsh-pink)
"Unlike the biennial sabatias, this one is long-lived."
—Don Jacobs, Eco-Gardens

On this plant, rosettes of narrow, succulent leaves grow from the base of the stem. Its green foliage bursts upwards to 2 feet in spring. In mid-summer, clusters of brilliant, hot pink flowers appear, with dramatic yellow eyes. Plant in very moist to boggy soil and full to partial light.
Zone 7-10.

Silene polypetala (Pink catchfly/Fringed campion)
"This rare evergreen groundcover spreads nicely in semi-shade and has pretty pink-fringed flowers."
—Donna Legare, Native Nurseries

This exquisite rock-garden perennial blooms for about a month in late spring. Its evergreen foliage is a pleasing foil for its delicate flowers. The leaves, up to 2 inches long, form a mat 18 inches across and between 6 and 16 inches tall. Likes moist, moderately fertile, well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline soil and partial to heavy shade.
Zone 6-8.


More famous wildflowers of the Southeast and Deep South: Asclepias syriaca (common milkweed), Callirhoe papaver (poppy mallow/wine cups), Coreopsis integrifolia (chipola trickseed), Gaillardia pulchella (blanket flower), Hepatica acutiloba (sharp-leaved hepatica), Hepatica americana, Mertensia virginica (Virginia bluebells), Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox), Senecio aureus (golden ragwort), Solidago species (goldenrods), Tradescantia hirsutifolius (spiderwort), Trillium underwoodii (Underwood's trillium), Trollius laxus (spreading globeflower), and Verbena canadensis (rose verain).

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