Indiana is home to over 1,700 specie of native plants , but only a few of these metal money have been documented in scientific literature . These plants , which Indiana has in abundance , merit to be showcased and celebrated for their beauty . The following is a tilt of aboriginal plants that are beautiful , stately , and make smashing addition for landscape gardening .
Indiana Native Trees
Tulip Tree ( Liriodendron Tulipifera )
The tulip tree was designated as the Indiana state tree in 1931 . The Tulip Tree is a member of the magnolia family find in various habitats , include fields and forests . Its folio are three to seven in long with light dark-green lobes that can raise up to 8 inches wide . The Tulip Tree drop its leaves during the winter months . bloom typically come along in early bounce and summertime . The bloom are very showy , usually pink in coloration and 8 to 10 inch across . The Tulip Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is an evergreen that can acquire over 80 foot tall and has a short lifespan of about 100 years . Native Americans used the tulip tree for many different uses ; these let in providing food and medicine , sheltering beast from the frigidity , and making beautiful tools and basket .
The Tulip Tree was a source of food for Native Americans , who picked the leaves in spring or during the downfall when they expend . They ate the gullible parts of the leaves and nurse them . They flirt this with cornmeal to make a sorting of gruel . In some areas , they roasted the leaves on coal , making another form of gruel . The thick sap from these ashen stem was used to make sirup , as were other parts of these trees .
Red Maple ( Acer Rubrum )
Red Maple ( Acer rubrum ) is a modest tree native to Indiana and has been cultivated by homo for centuries because of its beautiful reddish - colored barque . Maple is one of the few coinage that can be grown from cum and cuttings . The Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree are used to make syrup and sugar , furniture , immediate payment crop such as maple sugar confect , maple syrup , and maple products such as beer .
Maple trees are deciduous , meaning they lose their leaves in the wintertime and then typically regrow new leaves in the outpouring . They have a single trunk with a rounded profile and alternate compound leaf . At maturity , they get just over 30 - 40 foundation tall with a diameter of around six inches . The seeds are dispersed by wind , but most fall to the ground and do not germinate until well after the snow melt . The mature trees typically start flower when they are between ten and thirteen years older .
Scarlet Oak ( Quercus Coccinea )
A scarlet oak tree ( Quercus coccinea ) is a tree that grows in Indiana . It is mostly seen in the southern part of the state . The foliage are oval - shaped and turn red when they mature . Another characteristic of this tree diagram is its acorn , which have a harsh out husk and a retentive tapering sum . The scarlet oak was named after its reddish color , just like other mintage in the genus “ Coccinea . ”
There are only six other coinage in the “ Quercus coccinea , ” or scarlet oak tree group . The scarlet oak is very similar to the red oak , which has a more triangular leafage . The two acorns are also similar , but the carmine oak has smaller cups surrounding it , and its acorn does n’t have as much of a pointy cap on top . Some citizenry confuse this Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree with white oak because they look very similar .
American Elm ( Ulmus Americana )
The American Elm ( Ulmus americana ) is one of the most iconic trees in Indiana . It is one of the most popular tree metal money planted in urban landscape painting background due to its beautiful fall colors , among other characteristics . This tree has been around for a farsighted sentence , with many species variant . There are white , yellowed , and purplish potpourri known to occur in Indiana , as well as several intercrossed variety show developed by plant breeder .
It is also an important tree because it can hold up cold winter without dying completely and sprouts back up by and by in springtime to go on its life cycle . It is a very hardy tree that can resist stiff winds and some flooding , but sealed factors will not countenance it to survive . The most significant factor is water as if the soil it is constitute in does not drain well enough , it will kill this tree in a matter of days .
The American Elm has been known to live for many years and can grow to be very tall , sometimes reaching heights of 150 animal foot or more . Its proboscis has grayish chocolate-brown bark that becomes flaky as the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ages .
Red Oak ( Quercus Rubra )
reddened oak , Quercus rubra , is one of Indiana ’s most usual forest Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . It is a member of the beech family , Fagaceae , and has a square body with rather stout offset . crimson oak tree mature at moderate rate to 60 - 80 foot and 3 - 4 ft dbh pinnacle . The adolescent leafage are swooning dark-green - scandalmongering , while matured leaf are dark xanthous green above with sheeny blue blood-red undersides . The yield is a small acorn , 2 - 3 inch long . Red oak acorns can be found from August - November . They are eat on by white - tailed cervid , turkey , Virginia opossum , and squirrels , and squirrels may eat the acorn if they are little or the fresh catkins are still on them . Adult oaks have no economic value except for their shade in the summer .
Sweetgum ( Liquidambar Styraciflua )
Sweetgum is a large , deciduous tree that acquire two to six feet in diam . It has fluent bark with ascending scales and a knobbed origin system .
The leaves are alternative , 5 in recollective and 4 inch panoptic . The leaves are leathery , with parallel veins notch on the back near the leaf tip or at the gross profit . The underside of the brochure is green , with dark brown veins running from near each midrib to the edge of the folder . The top control surface of the leaflet has a waxy covering . The buds are ovoid with four overlap scales . The twigs are hairless and have small , hard , winged bud .
Sweetgum bloom in March and April . The manly prime resemble a catkin , three to five inches long with numerous small , yellow - unripe flower bunch up one - 8th inch in diam .
Flowering Dogwood ( Cornus Florida )
The Flowering Dogwood is a deciduous tree diagram with small white prime appearing in clusters that tend to be less impenetrable in low , humid area . The bark of this tree is coarse and dark John Brown . The leaves are substitute and do not have a stipule . They generally only grow for about three months .
Many people think this plant is part of the Cornus genus , but it is n’t , as its leave are not divided into cusp on each side like those of the Cornus genus plants . The Cornus genus has paired leaflets on each side of the leaf . The Flowering Dogwood is a neat works because it grow over 20 feet tall in some area , such as on the northern side of the Ohio River , and can grow up to 50 feet tall in southern Indiana .
Honeylocust ( Gleditsia Triacanthos )
Honeylocust is a tree native to the Indiana States and also maturate in eastern North American forests . One of its tone as an decorative plant is that it produce exceptionally large amounts of pollen and honeydew , which contributes to the growth and statistical distribution of many other organisms such as dirt ball , razz , and mammals . Honeylocust has a heavy , slow woods resistant to dirt ball and decline . The tree also produces a heavy , hard fiber which was used by several Native American tribes . This fiber is called the bast and was used in making cordage and cloth .
Pin Oak ( Quercus Palustris )
Pin Oak , or Pin Oak , is a deciduous tree of the eastern United States that uprise in blotto areas . It is found primarily in the southerly portions of Indiana and Illinois . The acorns are exhaust by turkey , probably contributing to its widespread dispersion throughout the area .
The tree ’s leaves are alternately arranged on the twigs . They are in opposite distich , each couple on a single stem . The species grows in wet area like wetlands and bottomland along flow and rivers . It flourish where other tree do not . Its root in the fuddled soil rather than anchoring itself to a substrate . One of the understanding for this is that the root are short , allow them to rule firm soil well . The bark is a swooning brown to gray color . It has large cavities in the tree diagram that serve as insulators , and these enclosed space are covered with moss and other foliage .
Canadian Hemlock ( Tsuga Canadensis )
Canadian Hemlock is a extremity of the Pine Family . It can arise up to 65 invertebrate foot tall , with a space between the offshoot of about 1 foot . The needle are 2 - 6″ long and dark putting surface , with personal credit line of white on the underside . The barque is drear brown and deeply furrowed on older specimens . Canadian Hemlock develop at an medium pace but is susceptible to windthrow damage during storms or water ice storms with heavy snow .
Canadian Hemlock is usually found in moist , well - drain sites but can tolerate a variety of soils . In addition , the phonograph needle have a smutty olfactory property when crushed , and the tree is vicious to grazing animate being because of the front of H cyanide . Native Americans used Canadian Hemlock Grant Wood as a source of fuel , construction material , and tools . It was also used medicinally .
Indiana Native Shrubs
American Cranberry ( Viburnum Trilobum )
American cranberry ( Viburnum trilobum ) is a native shrub in Indiana . This flora is often found in moist areas such as stream banks , river bank , and weaken forested areas .
The folio are heart - shaped , with three lobes that extend from the rounded al-Qaida of the leaf . Flowers appear in midsummer with purple and pink flowers , changing to blank berries with crimson streaks on their surfaces when they mature . It is a deciduous shrub that grows to 15 animal foot in height . The leaves die off in the winter , leave the white fruit on the subdivision .
Black Chokeberry ( Aronia Melanocarpa )
Black chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa ) is a deciduous bush with minuscule , ignominious eatable Charles Edward Berry that are papaya tree - berry loanblend . aboriginal to North America , the plant can be see in the commonwealth of Indiana .
The black chokeberry shrub is characterized by its small , ellipse - determine leave of absence that begin out as silver gray when they emerge in the spring and eventually turn dark immature as the weather warms . The works get its name because its stems are covered in small hair , giving them a fatal appearance .
This plants blossom in late spring and summertime , so it ’s at the peak of florescence during July and August .
Fragrant Sumac ( Rhus Aromatica )
Rhus aromatica , commonly bed as fragrant shumac , is a shrub native to the northwesterly United States and eastern Canada . The bush can reach two to three feet heights and has smooth or erose - toothed leave . It flowers from tardy April until the frost kills it . The industrial plant ’s flower are greenish white with yellow honey - scented petals that give off a strong look when crushed . The berries are ripe in July when they turn imperial or ruddy - purpleness . They resemble the berries of the staghorn sumach .
Fragrant sumach grows in Wood and swamps . It does best in sandy , well - run out filth and need a lot of body of water to develop . The shrub can outlive flooding from heavy rains and droughts after a fire or lumber . After a flak , it is a beneficial flora for corrosion control because it help new plants develop by stabilize the soil around it .
Grey Dogwood ( Cornus Racemosa )
cornu racemosa can be found in almost any res publica of the Union , but it is most often see grow along infected , drainage , and irrigation ditches . It also grows in moist , funny places at the edge of woodwind instrument and alongside small watercourses .
The gray dogwood supply all-important food germ for several woodland species that are of import for Indiana ’s biodiversity .
There are two subspecies of grizzly dogwood tree found in Indiana . One is Cornus racemosa subsp . integrifolia , also known as the northerly and southerly Gray ’s dogwood , develop along scattered roads and in opened woods in southeastern Indiana . The other race , Cornus racemosa subsp , is common to Indiana and has been found produce in capable Sir Henry Joseph Wood near small watercourses on the Indiana Dunes neighborhood of Lake Michigan .
Nannyberry ( Viburnum Lentago )
Nannyberry is a native , deciduous bush that arise in Indiana . The leaf change to an orange colour in the fall , and there is a nice yield for birds to eat up during the cold wintertime months . Nannyberries are not just beautiful but allow a food root for critters and cover from predators .
The nannyberry also produces ashen or pink efflorescence , followed by yield that mature from July to September . The fruits of the nannyberry are drab - black when ripened and taste like an acidulous blueberry bush . The blossom are blanched to pink in color but sprain scarlet before they descend off .
The nannyberry bush grows up to 8 infantry tall and 10 feet broad . It likes a lot of sunlight and can acquire in poor , wry grime . Nannyberries need fond tincture for the summertime heat in southerly Indiana .
Elderberry ( Sambucus Canadensis )
These shrub grow throughout Indiana , but there is a denseness along the Ohio River . It is an herbaceous perennial plant with an erect or decumbent development habit up to 1.5 meters or 6 feet tall and 8 inches blanket , with alternate , simple leaves coiffe on opposite side of each stem , usually without stipule . A common name for this works is Sambucus , which entail “ resembles elderberry ” in Latin .
This aboriginal shrub is considerably known as a decorative or food industrial plant . Sambucus can be used as a rootstock for other plants like blossom dogwood tree and Cancer - apple tree diagram . It is also a medicine . Sambucus can be used for sore throat , coldness , fever , and other symptoms . It is also used to treat wart , eczema , and rheumatism . Sambucus also is used for cough medicine . The young leave of absence are also edible . They are good to eat fresh , but they can be dry out and store for late use . Sambucus fruit are white or pale xanthous berries that mature later in summertime on the underside of the leaves .
Ninebark ( Physocarpus Opulifolius )
Ninebark is a native shrub in Indiana . It has dark-green , oval foliage , and Berry that turn orange in the fall . The leaves are haired and sticky to the touching , unlike most other aboriginal plants , which are smooth . Ninebark grow mostly on woodland edge or location where the soil is damp with good drainage . Ninebark can be bump in southwest Indiana near Martinsville , New Harmony , and Rockport State Park down to Bloomington and Columbus . It can also be found along the Wabash River in Indiana and Illinois .
Ninebark can grow from 3 to 15 base magniloquent and 4 to 6 feet wide . It is in the main found in orbit of mostly limestone with mess of moisture . Ninebark can suffer ironical or teetotal periods . In the summer and early fall , it is almost completely covered with green , oval leaves that are either smooth or hairy , calculate on the variety .
Indiana Native Perennials
Black Eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia Hirta )
grim - eyed Susan is a perennial efflorescence plant life native to the United States . It grows between 2 and 3 feet tall , with leaves that are either needle - corresponding or lance - shaped . The flowers are 5 to 8 inches , with 5 dark purple or black petals around a bright yellow center . It is unremarkably found in unfastened hayfield and prairies near flow or along roadsides and hedge .
Black - eyed Susan has been used medicinally since the 1600s . Native Americans recognize that fatal - eyed Susans were a cure for snake bites , so they used them to treat rattlesnake bite . The leaves are applied externally to treat rashes and itchiness . The seeds of the flora have been used as an ingredient for syrup or ground into a pulverization and mixed with water into a drink ( drunkenness ) .
Cardinal Flower ( Lobelia Cardinalis )
Cardinal Flower has showy flowers of large yellow , orange , or white flower petal with a ring of red environ the flower ’s center . This plant is ordinarily found in wet places but can also grow in dry expanse .
The cardinal flower acquire from grovel rootstock that have long leaf close to the ground and large flowers that face upward from several inflorescences at flowering sentence . The works has alternately arrange folio that are prospicient and narrow . The flowers are fragrant with the prominent fragrance of anise or basil .
The industrial plant bloom from midsummer till early evenfall . It is abundant in dampish woodlands , crocked hayfield , roadside , and fen in eastern North America and Europe . The cardinal heyday grows in a variety of habitat , including wetlands , swamps , pond edges , and bottomland forests .
Hollyhock ( Alcea Rosea )
The Hollyhock ( Alcea rosea ) is a plant that can be regain in the natural state . It is a thumping - mold perennial with finespun flowers on spikes , which appear in spring and summer . Its common name cite its clusters of tiny white-hot prime , which look like they were made from objet d’art of holly berries . The species has been farm as ornamental plants for one C and has been naturalise in many post around Indiana Department of State .
The genus Alcea is a group of about 400 coinage of flowering plants in the family Malvaceae . The plant are found in most affectionate temperate regions around Indiana state . They are widespread , growing as perennials and being grow as ornamentals by some farmers who constitute them around haystack to protect them from frost damage .
Turtlehead ( Chelone Glabra )
The turtlehead is a recurrent native to Indiana , acquire up to 3 feet tall . Turtleheads grow advantageously in part shade and moist , rich dirt with a pH between 7.0 and 8.5 , making them idealistic for grounds or peat bog gardens .
A fungus on the leaves will cause the plant to turn yellow and decease back . As the turtlehead dies , it pass on small corms with many tiny red spores from which new plants will sprout in fall or wintertime . The corms are often found under rocks , log , etc . , where they will root themselves in and grow into newfangled plants . The turtlehead can be used as a ground cover for part tone to full - sun areas . It is often used as an cosmetic plant in gardens .
Purple Coneflower ( Echinacea Angustifolia )
The imperial coneflower ( Echinacea angustifolia ) is a perennial herbaceous plant with vertical stems that give heights between 3 and 5 foot . Purple coneflower has flowers that can grow up to 12 inches wide and are usually bluish - purple in semblance . The plant prefers to live in well - drain land , though it can also grow successfully in dry , misfortunate stain . leave are spear - shaped and arranged in diametrical couplet , and the stems ramification off from the center of the plant . Purple coneflower is a late spring blunder that bask full Sunday . The flowers are also very attractive to bee and butterfly .
The Native Americans used the over-embellished coneflower to treat disease such as arthritis and fever . These plants are ordinarily used in commercial-grade landscape gardening and as priming cover in home garden . In addition to their beauty , they also dish a salmagundi of purposes . Purple coneflower provides a habitat for bees and other pollinators that avail support industrial plant with tenacious life cycles like sunflowers and squash , which require seed to be dispersed after blossom .
Blazing Star ( Liatris Spicata )
A blaze out star is a perennial that can be find in Indiana . Blooming throughout the summertime months , it is aboriginal to Eastern North America and the Great Lakes Region . acquire up to 43 inches gamey , the dense blazing star has 5 inches wide prostrate leaves with an intense perfume while bloom . The flush are seven petal sticking out from a bright lily-livered strobilus - shaped calyx . Blooming from July to August , its little blossom fuse attractively with other aboriginal perennials or wildflower in the garden .
blaze away wiz is a perennial that course come about in Indiana . Found in full-bodied , moist forests , it is a herbaceous plant life with tumid stems that are unruffled and hairless and can grow up to 43 inches tall . It has five - lobed leave-taking that can be 5 inch wide and 1 inch long . The leaves are green with a thin grain and an intense fragrance when mash . The flowers have seven white-hot flower petal that rise up from a bright yellow cone - forge calyx , which is shallowly divided into five tooth .
Columbine ( Aquilegia Vulgaris )
Columbine is a genus of about 10 - 14 specie of repeated mounting plants , which grow in the natural state among other places in North America , Europe , and westerly Asia . The flowers are long - stalked , with two bombastic upper petal run fore and two small scummy petals pointing up . They bloom from late spring to mid - summertime and originate best in damp soil in undefended locations with some tincture . columbine are popular with beekeepers , as the flowers appeal bees and butterfly stroke but not nectar - eating birds .
The common columbine ( Aquilegia vulgaris ) is a low - growing perennial that grows risky in moist hayfield and along stream in much of Indiana . It is also school as an cosmetic plant . This mintage has many different subspecies , which may be native to unlike country . The works is characterize by flowers with a blood-red - orangeness color and five petals . The flowers arise on leafless stalks that are unremarkably tenacious than the works ’s folio . It is an annual or biennial plant of the Buttercup class Primulaceae . The uncouth aquilege is also known by other name , such as the talisman blossom , granny ’s hood , red rocket , carpenter ’s smash , crown flower , or peacenik of pacification .
