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“Native” and other common terms

The plants grown at Mellow Marsh Farm are wild-type, southeastern native species: we do not sell cultivars or non-native plants. We propagate mostly from seed collected in the Carolinas and Virginia to ensure local provenance and strong genetic diversity.

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

Mellow Marsh Farm has a strong foundation in ecology and conservation. Our guiding practice is to provide healthy southeastern native plant material that supports the complex communities living here. We strive to offer local ecotype material with high genetic diversity.

There is still a lot unknown about cultivars and how the wild community interacts with them. Research shows it depends on what features are changed, but changing any feature disrupts natural evolutionary partnerships (like specialized bees with specific flowers). Additionally, since cultivars are not seed propagated, they will never have the same level of genetic diversity as wild-type plants.