Ohio is home to about 1,800 native plants , and some of them get more love than others.
The state wildflower, large-flowered trillium, is a spectacular sign of spring, and it’s oohed and aahed over. Any of the 47 native orchids are likely to be met with favor, and some, such as the showy lady’s slipper, drop people in their tracks. As do spectacular lilies in the genus Lilium , like Canada and Turk’s-cap lilies.
But a sizable chunk of our native flora remains largely unloved or largely unknown. Try starting a poison-ivy fan club. You’ll likely be the only member. Even though the berries of this sumac relative are vital for overwintering birds, such as yellow-rumped warblers and hermit thrushes, and everything from pileated woodpeckers to dark-eyed juncos nosh on them.
The largest genus of plants in Ohio, by far, are sedges in the genus Carex . There are about 175 species, but few people know of them and far fewer landscape with sedges.