My goal in our yard is to have plants that I can eat, that are medicinal or that are helpful to the other plans in the yard. In that effort, I went through a book of medicinal plants and took down the names of everything that didn’t like “toxic” or “fatal” or something of the sort. I also didn’t take down the names of anything listed as “invasive” but the book couldn’t be perfect since it’s for the U.S. not just east TN. So I found a great website http://www.tneppc.org that lists invasive plants as well as suggests native plants for the area. I used the list to remove all invasive plants from my list and to give preference to the native plants.
I found nearly 30 native plants that are supposed to be useful beyond just looking pretty.
| Adiantum pedatum | Maidenhair fern |
| Alnus serrulata | Smooth alder |
| Anemone virginiana | Thimbleweed |
| Aralia spinosa | Devil’s walking stick, angelica tree |
| Aruncus dioicus | Goat’s beard |
| Baptisia australis | Blue false indigo |
| Callicarpa americana | American Beauty bush, French mulberry |
| Caltha palustris | Marsh-marigold, cowslip (may intoxicate) |
| Calycanthus floridus | Carolina allspice |
| Ceanothus americanus | New Jersey tea, red root |
| Cephalanthus occidentalis | Buttonbush |
| Corylus americana | American Hazelnut |
| Echinacea purpurea | Purple Coneflower |
| Geranium maculatum | Wild or spotted geranium |
| Hamamelis virginiana | Witch Hazel |
| Heuchera americana | Alumroot |
| Impatiens capensis | Jewelweed, spotted touch-me-not |
| mitchella repens | Partridgeberry/squaw vine |
| Ostrya virginiana | Hop-Hornbeam |
| Panax quinquefolius | American Ginseng |
| Passiflora incarnata | Passion-flower, Maypop |
| Polemonium reptans | Greek Valerian, Jacob’s ladder |
| Polygonatum biflorum | Solomon’s Seal |
| Rhus aromatica | Fragrant or stinking sumac |
| Rhus copallina | Winged or dwarf sumac |
| Tradescantia virginiana | Spiderwort |
| Vaccinium macrocarpon | Cranberry |
Here are all of the plants that weren’t listed as invasive but also weren’t listed as native and are supposed to be useful beyond looking pretty.
| Adiantum capillus-veneris | Venus maidenhair fern |
| Agastache foeniculum | Blue giant hyssop, anise-hyssop |
| Agastache nepetoides | Yellow giant hyssop |
| Agrimonia parviflora | Small-flower agrimony |
| Althaea officinalis | Marshmallow |
| Amaranthus hybridus | Smooth pigweed |
| Anaphalis margaritacea | Pearly Everlasting |
| Anethum graveolens | Dill |
| Apios americana | Groundnut |
| Aplectrum hyemale | Adam and eve root, putty root |
| Aralia nudicaulis | Wild Sarsaparillia |
| Aralia racemosa | Spikenard |
| Arctium lappa | Great burdock |
| Arctium minus | Common burdock |
| Artemisia absinthium | Wormwood |
| Artemisia dracunculus | Wild or Russian Tarragon |
| Aster novae-angliae | New England aster |
| Avena fatua | Wild oats |
| Baptisia tinctoria | Wild indigo |
| Berberis vulgaris | Common barberry |
| Borago officinalis (don’t eat, just grow w/ tomatoes) |
Borage |
| Brassica rapa | Wild Mustard |
| Callirhoe involucrata | Purple poppy-mallow |
| Campanulastrum americanum | Tall bellflower |
| carum carvi | Caraway |
| Chamaelirium luteum | Devil’s bit |
| Chelone glabra | Turtlehead balmony |
| Clintonia borealis | Clintonia, bluebeard lily |
| Cnicus benedictus | Blessed thistle |
| Comptonia peregrina | Sweetfern |
| convovulus arvensis | Field bindweed? (mailbox) |
| Conyza canadensis | Horseweed, Canada fleabane |
| Corallorrhiza maculata | Spotted Coralroot |
| Cynoglossum virginianum | Wild Comfry |
| Cypripedium acaule | Pink Lady’s-slipper |
| Cypripedium pubescens | Yellow Lady’s Slipper, American Valerian |
| Dalea purpurea | Purple prairie-clover |
| Duchesnea indica | Indian Strawberry |
| Echinacea angustifolia | Narrow-leaved purple, coneflower |
| Echinacea pallida | Pale Purple Coneflower |
| Eclipta prostrata | Eclipta |
| Elytrigia repens | Quack grass |
| Epilobium angustifolium | Fireweed |
| Equisetum arvense | Field horsetail |
| Equisetum hyemale | Scouring rush, greater horsetail |
| Erechtities hieracifolia | Pilewort, Fireweed |
| Erigeron philadelphicus | Daisy Fleabane |
| Erodium cicutarium | Stork’s bill, alfileria |
| Erythonium americanum | Trout lily |
| Eupatorium maculatum | Spotted Joe-pye-weed |
| Eupatorium purpureum | Sweet Joe-pye-weed |
| Fagopyrum esculentum | Buckwheat |
| Filipendul rubra | Queen of the prairie |
| Foeniculum vulgare | Fennel |
| Gentianella quinquefolia | Stiff gentian, ague-weed |
| Geranium robertianum | Herb robert |
| Helianthemum canadense | Frostweed |
| Helianthus tuberosus | Jerusalem artichoke |
| Hieracium venosum | Rattlesnake-weed |
| Houstonia caerulea | Bluets |
| Hyssopus officinalis | Hyssop |
| Impatiens pallida | Yellow jewelweed |
| Lactuca canadensis | Wild lettuce |
| Ledum groenlandicum | Labrador tea |
| Leonurus cardiaca | Motherwort |
| Liatris aspera | Rough blazing-star |
| Lilium canadense | Canada lily |
| Lilium philadephicum | Wood lily |
| Linaria vulgaris | Butter-and-eggs |
| Lindera benzoin | Spicebrush |
| Linnaea borealis | Twinflower |
| Linum usitatissimum | Flax |
| Lithospermum canescens | Hoary Puccoon |
| Lobelia inflata | Lobelia, Indian-tobacco |
| Lysimachia quadrifolia | Whorled loosestrife |
| Maianthemum canadense | False Lily of the Valley/Canada Mayflower |
| Maianthemum racemosum spp. racemosum | False Solomon’s Seal |
| Maluva neglecta | Common mallow, cheese |
| Malva sylvestris | High Mallow |
| Marrubium vulgare | Horehound |
| Matricaria discoidea | Pineapple Weed |
| Matricaria recutita | Chamomile |
| Medeola virginiana | Indian cucumber |
| Melissa officinalis | Lemon Balm, Melissa |
| Metha canadensis | Canadian mint |
| Monarda didyma | Bee-balm, Oswego tea |
| Monarda fistulosa | Wild Bergamot, Purple bee-balm |
| Monarda punctata | Horsemint |
| Monotropa uniflora | Indian pipe |
| Myrica gale | Sweet gale |
| Nepeta cataria | Catnip |
| Oenothera biennis | Common evening-primrose |
| Opuntia humifusa | Prickly-pear cactus |
| Pedicularis canadensis | Lousewort, wood betony |
| Penthorum sedoides | Ditch stonecrop |
| Pleopeltis polypodioides | Resurrection fern |
| Polygala senega | Seneca Snakeroot |
| Polygonum hydropiper | Common smartweed, mild water pepper |
| Portulaca oleracea | Purslane |
| Potentilla arguta | Tall cinquefoil |
| Prenanthes alba | White lettuce, Rattlesnake Root |
| Prunella vulgaris | Heal-all, self-heal |
| Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium ssp. obtusifolium | Sweet Everlasting, Rabbit Tobacco |
| Rhus glabra | Smooth sumac |
| Rhus hirta | Staghorn sumac |
| Ribes americanum | Black currant |
| Ricinus communis (don’t eat the seeds) | Castor-oil-plant, castor bean |
| Rudbeckia hirta | Black-eyed susan |
| rudbeckia laciniata | Green-headed coneflower |
| Rumex acetosella | Sheep sorrel |
| Rumex crispus | Yellow or curly dock |
| Salvia lyrata | Lyre-leaved sage, cancerweed |
| Sanguisorba officinalis | Salad burnet |
| Scutellaria lateriflora | Mad-dog skullcap |
| Silphium perfoliatum | Cup-plant |
| Silybum marianum | Milk thistle |
| Sisyrinchium angustifolium | Blue-eyed grass |
| Sonchus arvensis | Field sow-thistle |
| Spiraea tomentosa | Steeplebush, hardhack |
| Stylophorum diphyllum | Celandine poppy |
| Taraxacum officinale | Dandelion |
| Thymus vulgaris | Thyme |
| Trifolium pratense | Red clover |
| Trifolium repens | White clover |
| Trillium erectum | Red trillium, wakerobin, bethroot |
| Uvularia grandiflora | Large bellwort |
| Uvularia perfoliata | Perfoliate bellwort |
| Uvularia sessilifolia | Wild oats |
| Valerian officinalis or Valerian sitchensis | Valerian |
| Verbena hastata | Blue vervain |
| Vernonia glauca | Ironweed |
| Viburnum nudum | Possumhaw, southern wild raisin |
| Vitex agnus-castus | Chaste tree |
| Xanthorhiza simplicissima | Yellowroot |
| Zanthoxylum americanum | Northern prickly-ash |
| Zanthoxylum clava-herculis | Southern prickly-ash |
Here’s a link to the invasive species by plant type. One thing I think is crazy is the fact that Bradford Pears are invasive. They are everywhere! Anyway, I hope this list is helpful!
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