What is "Native"?

Blanketflower - Gaillardia pulchella

 

Gaillardia aestivalis

The world of taxonomy is often confusing - at least to those of us relatively new to it. Plants (and animals) often undergo name changes - at times for reasons that seem unnecessary or for no reason. We learn a name only to discover that someone has decreed the name to be in error and it gets changed to something new. I am forever learning new names for old plants and it often is difficult to make the switch without a great deal of effort.  Years ago, it was deemed that all of the dozens of species once placed in the genus Aster were no longer such. They were moved, in large part, to a new genus name, Symphyotrichum, which is much more difficult to spell. To make matters worse, a few of the former "Asters" were not moved to this new genus, but to several other new ones such as Erybia and Sericocarpus.  It's a never ending battle to stay on top of things sometimes.

There are rigid rules that govern the naming of plants and animals and they can't be violated - at least that's the way that taxonomists look at it and, like it or not, they are the ones in charge. The rest of us have little to say about it and we have to go along. After all, the Latin name is the one that matters. Common names are a matter of local dialect and don't really count. We can call a plant any common name that we wish, but if we want everyone to know which plant we are talking about, we must use the Latin. It's just the way it is.

Real confusion, however, occurs when a plant is deemed to change status - especially when it is deemed to be a nonnative and no longer part of our native flora. That occurred recently with an old favorite of many native plant enthusiasts - the common blanketflower (Gaillardia puchella).I suspect that this wildflower has been used in well over half of all native wildflower plantings statewide, and with good reason. It is attractive, relatively easy to grow and it attracts pollinators. It is a useful plant. The problem lies now in its lack of nativity. Native plant nurseries can no longer offer it as a native and those of us striving to plant natives in our landscape can no longer look at it as an option. 

Common blanketflower has been planted pretty much everywhere in wildflower plantings throughout Florida and in nearly every state east of the Mississippi River. It was common in Wisconsin - where I was born and it was planted in Iowa and Kentucky - places I lived before arriving in Florida in 1987. A review by taxonomists, however, has now determined that ii is not native east of the Mississippi River, that our plants were once brought here, and that only the western populations are native. Eastern populations did not occur prior to the arrival of white early settlers. 

We do have a native blanketflower (G. aestivalis), but it is not nearly as showy and it is very rarely offered in the trade. It is not very showy because it tends to lack ray petals and consists only of the central head of disc flowers. A few populations, like in the photo above, have tiny ray petals, but even these do not match the beauty of common blanketflower with its orange and yellow ones. Native blanketflower (I call it rayless blanketflower) has all the qualities that common blanketflower possesses to attract pollinators and it is equally as adaptable in a landscape. It just lacks the pizzazz that draws our attention. It is easy to miss in the field even when it is in bloom unless you watch the bees and butterflies.

Since this status change, I have seen untold posts from folks bemoaning it and threatening to remove common blanktflower from their landscapes because it is no longer "native."  I find that disturbing. If we were doing a habitat restoration project, we would likely have never chosen it to begin with, but in a home landscape we are simply trying to create habitat. In such a setting, I do not believe that a plant's nativity should override its ecological function. For blanketflower (and other plants), its nativity is not affected by its landscape function. It is still the same plant as it was before the status change. 

We should never lose sight of the fact that (in most situations) the goal of our native plant landscapes is to create habitat. A living landscape, as I like to call them, provides for the rest of the living world and the wildlife we seek to create habitat for are not native plant Nazis.  Despite what you may be sometimes led to believe, being native does not infuse a plant with some kind of mystical power that provides it extraordinary habitat qualities. Wildlife have no comprehension of this debate that often plays out among us. They simply look at plants for the qualities they possess and some nonnatives have great value and some natives do not. I have purposely planted a few nonnatives in my landscape here because there simply are no native species that do the job as well. 

Common blanketflower remains unchanged in its ecological value. In my opinion, leave it in your landscape if you like it. Having it there does no ecological harm and removing it just because it is no longer a native makes no sense. Replace it with a different native if you so choose, but do so because you will be improving the habitat value of your landscape by replacing it with a host plant, for example. This is no time to be a purist in my opinion.  The rest of the living world is counting on us to create habitat - not native plant landscapes. They are not completely congruent.