“Native” and other common terms

Below are some common terms seen in the native plant industry:

• Native: plants that have evolved in a specific region independently of people. Typically, we consider plants native if they occurred in that region prior to European colonization.
• Non-native: plants that have been brought into the region by people. Not all non-native plants are invasive.
• Invasive: non-native plants that escape cultivation and overwhelm native vegetation. You can find more information on the NC Invasive Plant Council website here.
• Variety: a significant naturally occurring variation within a single species. Scientific species names are binomial: in Asclepias incarnata “Asclepias” is the genus and “incarnata” is the species. Plants have immense variation within species and sometimes there’s enough of a pattern to warrant naming a variety, abbreviated to “var.”: Asclepias incarnata var. pulchra. There is usually overlap between varieties, which is why they are not separate species. Varieties occur naturally.
• Cultivar: plants that have been human-selected or bred. This is the sister-term to “wild-type.” Cultivars have artificially selected (or created) traits that makes them more desirable to humans. Cultivars are usually propagated by creating a clone of the parent plant. Cultivars are always listed with names after the species: wild-type Ilex verticillata and cultivar Ilex verticillata ‘Southern Gentleman’. “Nativar” is a term to describe cultivars of native plants.
• Wild-type: plants that have not been human-selected or bred; comparable to what’s found in the wild. This is the sister-term to “cultivar.” Wild-type plants can be propagated in several ways including seed, division, and cuttings. Seed propagation leads to the most genetic mixture, which allows for adaptations.
• Ecotype: a population that has adapted to a specific geography. Plants vary significantly within a species and are slow to move around. Local populations often adapt to the region, and this is usually invisible (often genetic). A plant from a significantly different ecotype may not grow well in another, even if the species looks the same and is native to that region