What Does "Native" Really Mean?

By: Annie

In this article, we will dive into the many definitions that apply to the term “native plants” and help you decide where within that definition your heart lies.

The term "native plants" holds significant importance for gardeners, landscapers, and conservationists alike. It refers to plant species that naturally occur and have evolved in your area's diverse ecosystems. These plants have adapted over time to California's unique climate, soil conditions, and ecological factors, making them well-suited for sustainable landscaping and gardening practices.

One of the primary reasons native plants are highly valued by California gardeners is their ability to thrive with minimal water input. California's Mediterranean climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, making water conservation a top priority for gardeners. Native plants have evolved to withstand these seasonal fluctuations, making them inherently drought-tolerant and resilient to periods of water scarcity. By incorporating native plants into their landscapes, gardeners can reduce their reliance on irrigation, conserve water resources, and promote environmental sustainability.

Furthermore, native plants play a vital role in supporting local biodiversity and preserving California's unique ecosystems. These plants have developed complex relationships with native wildlife, including birds, insects, and mammals, providing food, shelter, and habitat. By cultivating native plant species in their gardens, California gardeners can create valuable habitat corridors and restore ecological balance in urban and suburban environments. Additionally, native plants help to maintain healthy soil ecosystems, prevent erosion, and mitigate the impacts of climate change by sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In addition to their practical benefits, native plants are valued for their cultural significance and historical importance to California's indigenous peoples. Many native plant species have been used for centuries by Native American tribes for food, medicine, and ceremonial purposes. By incorporating native plants into their landscapes, California gardeners can honor and preserve the rich cultural heritage associated with these plants, fostering a deeper connection to the land and its indigenous inhabitants.

Despite the many benefits of native plants, challenges remain in promoting their widespread adoption in California landscapes. Invasive plant species, habitat destruction, and urbanization threaten the survival of native plant communities, underscoring the importance of conservation efforts and responsible land stewardship. Gardeners can play a crucial role in supporting native plant conservation by choosing locally sourced and genetically appropriate plant materials, avoiding the use of invasive species, and participating in habitat restoration projects.

So, we can all agree that native plants are important to us and our ecosystem. But how tightly should we define the word “native”?

A few examples of that term for someone living in the San Francisco Bay Area might be:

1. Native to the Western USA
   This means plants adapted to live in the 13 westernmost states, which includes the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin to the Pacific Coast, and the mid-Pacific islands state, Hawaii. The West contains several major biomes, including arid and semi-arid plateaus and plains, forested mountains, the long coastal shoreline of the American Pacific Coast, and the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
   

2. Native to the Pacific Northwest
   The Pacific Northwest is an area in the northwest corner of the United States and Canada. The boundaries include Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. Parts of southeast Alaska and western Montana are also a part of the Pacific Northwest.
   

3. Native to California
   All 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2) of it, massively varying ecosystems and politics included! The similarly sized though not exactly the same California Floristic Province is highly diverse - nearly 3,500 species of plants grow here, more than 61 percent are found nowhere else in the world, and about 52 plant genera are also endemic.
   

4. Native to Northern California
   This megaregion encompasses 23,171 sq mi (60,010 km2) of space.
   

5. Native to the Bay Area
   The nine county area comes in at 6,966 sq mi (18,040 km2) of land.
   

6. Native to your locality
   The city of San Francisco covers an area of 46.87 square miles (48 km2) and contains about 500 species of plants. Or, to get hyper local, the Presidio area of San Francisco covers 2.3 square miles and incidentally is the only home of the extremely rare Franciscan Manzanita (Arctostaphylos franciscana).
   

7. Defined by your municipality’s ordinances.
   Despite recently failed stiffer requirements, San Francisco municipal ordinances state that new plantings should meet guidelines regarding the use of species native to San Francisco itself or cultivars that have parents which are native to the county, and some other municipalities are even more stringent, stating that plants cannot be used if they will affect native populations within a 5 mile radius. get your maps and plant lists out and get ready to study them!

(By the way, to help you find plants that are native to your locality, we find https://calscape.org/ very useful.)

I think you get my point - and how confusing it can be for people who just want a nice garden with some natives to decide what to do.

If all that wasn’t enough to make you ponder, you’ll also need to know that native plants come in several flavors:

1. Native species and their subspecies
   This is straightforward, we hope!

2. Varieties
   In plant taxonomy, a variety is a plant within a species group in nature that forms a trait, most often the result of natural mutations - longer leaves, lighter or darker colors, various flower colors and shapes for example. The trait is stable and can be reproduced either by seed or by cuttings or grafting.

3. Cultivars
   This refers to a plant selected by humans for a certain trait - bigger, longer lasting flowers or brilliant foliage color, disease or pest resistance and on and on. Cultivars can be derived from non-native plants or native ones, and may also have sterile flowers and produce no seeds. Most cultivars are created by cloning (asexual reproduction, such as with plant cuttings or tissue culture), some cultivars are strains (seed-grown, relatively true to type) or hybrids and then there are those created via genetic manipulation in a laboratory.
   
   An example might be that within a population of a native plant species in the wild, like Salvia clevelandii, there may be some plants that are more compact in stature than others. A cutting might be made of one of those compact individuals, and that plant propagated asexually to preserve the compact structure gene. Voilà: Salvia clevelandii ‘Winifred Gilman.’ 

4. Nativars
   This is a subset of cultivars: it’s a cultivar of a native plant - the result of human selection for a specific plant trait or traits. Some nativars can have sterile flowers and seeds, but some can reproduce and negatively affect local populations of native species.

5. Hybrids
   A plant created by cross-breeding two or more entirely different species (or rarely, different genera) to create a new plant is a hybrid. An example would be crossing an Agave with a Manfreda to produce the Mangave that’s becoming very popular right now. Hybrids occur in nature and also via intentional cross breeding by people. They can be created with native crossed with non-native species, and the cross is sometimes indicated by an X in its name. An example of a hybrid derived from cross-breeding two native species is Calamagrostis nutkaensis x C. foliosa (Little Nootka Reed Grass). 

The argument against these cultivars, nativars and hybrids is that individuals in a population that were NOT selected for propagation might also have produced more nectar for butterflies than the selected individuals, but cuttings are not taken of those individuals. Having some of the selected cultivars on the marketplace may not be a problem. However, if that cultivar becomes dominant in the marketplace and in landscaping, the other, possibly invisible but environmentally important genetic traits of this plant disappear from plants in cultivation.

In conclusion, while it can be mind boggling to come to a suitable definition of the term, "native plants" hold special significance for gardeners in California, representing a commitment to water-wise landscaping, ecological restoration, and cultural heritage. 

In your own garden, you might want to grow strictly native species, or be ok with nativars, hybrids and even non native plants mixed together. But by embracing native plant species in their gardens and landscapes, Californians can create beautiful, resilient, and sustainable outdoor spaces that benefit both people and the environment. Through education, outreach, and community engagement, we can continue to promote the importance of native plants and cultivate a deeper appreciation for California's natural heritage.