Plants

Kings Mountain National Military Park hosts a great diversity of plants.

NPS

The Plants of Kings Mountain

Kings Mountain National Military Park is located in the heart of the Carolina Piedmont region. The park’s 3,945 acres are largely dominated by mesic mixed hardwood forest and basic mesic forest. These types of forest receive or contain moderate amounts of moisture and have well-developed understory and shrub layers. They occur in moist portions of upland habitat, steep north-facing slopes, lower slopes, along ravines, high sections of outer floodplains and stream bottoms. As a result, plant life is abundant in the park. So far, 1,084 species of vascular plants have been identified in the park. Of the 1,084 documented plant species in the park at least 173 or 16% of them are invasive or not native. Many of these species were intentionally planted by humans before the park was created or found their way into the park from errant seed mixes. However, some of the species are considered aggressive or potentially aggressive invasive species that are outcompeting and replacing native species. Kings Mountain National Military Park is located in the heart of the Carolina Piedmont region. The park’s 3,945 acres are largely dominated by mesic mixed hardwood forest and basic mesic forest. These types of forest receive or contain moderate amounts of moisture and have well-developed understory and shrub layers. They occur in moist portions of upland habitat, steep north-facing slopes, lower slopes, along ravines, high sections of outer floodplains and stream bottoms. As a result, plant life is abundant in the park. So far, 1,084 species of vascular plants have been identified in the park.

Of the 1,084 documented plant species in the park at least 173 or 16% of them are invasive or not native. Many of these species were intentionally planted by humans before the park was created or found their way into the park from errant seed mixes. However, some of the species are considered aggressive or potentially aggressive invasive species that are outcompeting and replacing native species. Kings Mountain National Military Park is located in the heart of the Carolina Piedmont region. The park’s 3,945 acres are largely dominated by mesic mixed hardwood forest and basic mesic forest. These types of forest receive or contain moderate amounts of moisture and have well-developed understory and shrub layers. They occur in moist portions of upland habitat, steep north-facing slopes, lower slopes, along ravines, high sections of outer floodplains and stream bottoms. As a result, plant life is abundant in the park. So far, 1,084 species of vascular plants have been identified in the park. Of the 1,084 documented plant species in the park at least 173 or 16% of them are invasive or not native. Many of these species were intentionally planted by humans before the park was created or found their way into the park from errant seed mixes. However, some of the species are considered aggressive or potentially aggressive invasive species that are outcompeting and replacing native species.

You can find a full list of all known vascular plant species in the park's species report.