Native or Nativar?

Native or Nativar?  Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider

By Emmy Ulmschneider, Permian Basin Master Gardener

You are tired of row after row of English green turf landscapes down your street and have become interested in having a yard that reflects America.  You have attended several lectures on the importance of native plants and the critical role they play in supporting our native American wildlife, particularly our birds and pollinators.  And you have finally decided that you want to be part of this movement.  Where do you start, and why is this so important?  You start by planting native plants, real native plants!

To understand why planting real natives and creating native habitat is so important, we need to understand biodiversity.  Biodiversity is defined as the variety of individuals, species, and ecosystems.  As we lose species, we weaken the relationships within ecosystems, and that in turn weakens the biodiversity that supports all life, including our own.  We are truly all connected to Earth, to its life forms and to the complex interrelationships between the physical and the biotic world that support us.  Our food, our clean water, the air we breathe, the soil beneath our feet, and many of the products we buy are all a function of the ecosystems that support us.  The benefits ecosystems provide are termed ecosystem services:  provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services provided free of charge to humans and on which our lives depend.  Although most of the services deal in material benefits that make our lives possible, cultural services enrich our lives, inspiring the creativity, intellectual, and spiritual development that make us human. 

But how do you know that the plant you are planting is a true native?  When you shop for a native, the label can tell you if you are getting a real-deal native or a nativar.  What’s the difference?   A native plant is one that has evolved naturally over time in a particular area, forming ecological ties between plants and the wildlife they support. A nativar is a human-cultivated variety of a native plant that is bred to have desired traits, such as disease resistance, or a different size or color that appeals to humans.   But, in terms of wildlife habitat, they may not be equal because the trait that humans have selected for may not be one used by our native wildlife.  Often “nativars” are the only “native” plant one can find at a nursery.   You can identify truly native plants from nativars by simply looking at the plant label.    For instance, the label that says Winecup,  Callirhoe involcrata indicates a native plant grown from seed, and a label that says Salvia greggii  ‘Furman’s Red’ identifies a human-bred variety or nativar of Texas Sage, which has been selectively bred for its color or growth form and is grown, usually asexually, in a nursery.  So, its seeds may not breed true to the parent plant.  In addition, if you are planting for habitat, the very traits that make a nativar attractive to humans may make them less beneficial to organisms in a home garden ecosystem.   You may also come across the abbreviation var., which stands for variety.  Salvia chamaedryoides var. isochroma means that the variety is found in the wild and its seeds breed true to the parent plant.  

So, shop for natives, but do so with knowledge and care.  Your selection matters.

If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700.   Additional information and our blog for access to past articles are available at westtexasgardening.org.  Click on “Resources

Native or Nativar?  Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider