Alabama Gulf Coast Native Plants

• Alabama's coast is home to many different plant species. the coast image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com

  Alabama's southern coast sits on the Gulf of Mexico. This provides it with a temperate environment in which a variety of plants can flourish. These plants have seen all of North America's inhabitants as the territory passed from one hand to another.

Coastalplain Honeycombhead

• This coastal flower has the scientific name Balduina angustifolia. It is identifiable by its yellow flowerheads, its thin leaves and the dense leaves on its stem. The flower's scientific name derives from the Latin words for "thin leaves." It is found exclusively in Baldwin county, on the western side of Alabama.

Water Sundew

• The water sundew, or the spoonleaf sundew, has the scientific name of Drosera intermedia. This plant is found only in a few coastal counties in southwest Alabama. The plant is carnivorous and grows in wet ditches, bogs, standing water, on the edges of ponds and in other sources of standing water. The plant can be identified from its long-spatulate leaves and its white flowers. The plant's genus name comes from the Greek word for "dewy" because the plant has sticky leaves, and the species name came from the Latin word for "between." The accepted explanation for the Latin word is that the plant was probably thought to be a hybrid of two plants when it was first discovered.

Loblolly Bay

• The loblolly bay has the scientific name of Gordonia lasianthus. It is a shrub found in the southern coastal counties of Alabama that flowers from June to September. It tends to grow in swamps and bayheads. It can be identified from its glossy, crenulate leaves and large "dish-bowl" type white flowers. These large flowers are often pollinated by exploring beetles. The species name comes from the Greek words for "shaggy" or "hairy" and "flower," in reference to its petal's fringed edges.

Coastal Groundcherry

• The coastal groundcherry has the scientific name Physalis angustifolia. It is found in the westernmost coastal counties of Alabama, growing in sand dunes. The plant can be identified by its especially smooth and thin stems and leaves, along with its blue tinted anthers. Its species name comes from the Latin words for "narrow" and "leaves," referring to its slender leaves.