Plants

A forest scene typical of the northern end of the parkway.

NPS photo

The Natchez Trace Parkway contains a huge and diverse array of plant species by virtue of it being a 444 mile long park oriented in a generally north-south direction. This enables it to contain representative habitat from four ecosystem provinces: the eastern broadleaf forest at the northern end of the park is dominated by hickory and oak species, while the lower Mississippi riverine forest at the opposite terminus features beech and oak species adapted to warmer conditions. In between the two extremes lie the outer coastal plain mixed forest and the southeastern mixed forest, both of which contain more of a pine and hardwood mix. Add to this diverse array of ecoregions the fact that the parkway traverses eight major watersheds, and it is not surprising that as of now nearly 2,200 plant species have been documented in the park. More will surely follow as additional studies are completed. But while this diversity of species is impressive, more readily apparent is the ever-changing beauty of the park's vegetation, whether it be the flowers of spring, the lush greenery of summer, or the magnificent fall colors of autumn.

 

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

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Species attribute definitions

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Duration:

48 seconds

Enjoy the sights and sounds of Cypress Swamp. Insects, small frogs and traffic in the distance can be heard throughout. There is no dialogue.