Native and Indigenous plants with 15 examples

        Native and Indigenous plants with 15 examples

•  What are native plants
•  Native plants and survival
•  Indigenous plants
•  Indian native plants
• Australian native plants
  
•  Native plants found in New Zealand
• Complete table of information
  

What are native plants :

                     Native plants are plants which were originally found in hat region. There are plants native to districts, states as well as to different countries. These plants can also be called to be indigenous to that particular region and have survived the various climate and other issues in that are and are still alive there in quite a good number. Native plants are also something that really affects the local conditions as well as the ecology and the terrestrial characteristics of that region in particular.

Native Plants and survival :

                    So as mentioned in the earlier paragraph itself , native plants create and alter the land forms and also evolve the ecology of that region. Now lets take in a deeper look at it.

Survival :  Survival of anyone be it man or animal is greatly related to the native plants found there. Animals found in region to region differ across scales and native plants is one reason for this. Even in the very early stages of human evolution, man fed upon the native plants and fruits available there and later also started cultivating them. These native species of plants also sometimes give rise to several occupations. In regions where cotton is found in abundance and is the native species found there, you'll can also notice huge cotton industries there. Similarly there are several other industries established in places where the Native plant is found to be profitable for human income.

Land forms and the surroundings : Native plants affect the landforms and its surroundings by a huge margin. At the first place, plants that can handle the conditions of that region are the only ones which have good growth and can be called as native to that region. Another aspect deciding he plants which can grow in  a specific region is the land fertility and more than that the nutrients available in that portion of land. If the plant does not get the right nutrients from the soil itself then it well not grow in first place.

                     Even after they start to grow , land fertility is very important. The very reason behind this is that there will be many other plants out there other than the regions native plant species. However the nutrient requirement of different plants is different and so the soil fertility is important so that not only the native species but also the other species of plants survive.

                     

Ecology : Ecology is a part of science or more specifically is a whole different field of science. This field of science is all related to plants, native plants, how they affect the environment and all other tons of things revolving around the topic nature. And native plants is something important in Ecology.

                    The reason behind this is that sometimes plants just adapt to the conditions of the region and start growing rapidly. No soon they are abundant and are also native to that particular region where their survival was assumed to be impossible. As also due to these plants the characteristics of the surrounding landform evolves and this is what makes this topic important for Ecology.

Indigenous Plants :

                    Indigenous plants are plants / a specific plant specie which was originally found in a specific region. There is a difference between indigenous plants and native plants. Plants native to a specific region may not be necessarily indigenous. This means that a plant specie which found in huge numbers in a area may  not be initially found over there.

Indian native plants :

                    Well as mentioned above , the Native plants differ from region to region as well between countries. Because of some conditions like landforms and temperatures it is just not possible for some plants to grow in specific places unless the adapt. Due to this there are various plants which are specifically native to some countries while not to others and vice versa. Below is the list of a few plants native to India

• Neem
• Peepal
• Lotus
• Mango

Neem : Neem is a tree which can grow really fast in sustainable conditions. It can live in almost any conditions except deserts. It is not adapted to live in dessert conditions. It can grow upto a height of 15m - 20m and in rare times also reaches upto  >35m. Its botanical name is Azadirachta Indica and is a part of the sub family Mahogany and family Meliaceae. The specialty of plants of this family is that they are generally hardwood species and are native to America. However Neem is an exception and is native as well as indigenous to India. Neem is a plant wih many medicanal quilities. It is used as an antifungal, antidiabetic as well as a sedative

Peepal : The Peepal tree or also quite commonly known as Sacred Fig is a member of the fig / mulberry family and is semi-evergreen tree. It is called as Ficus Religiosa in botany. This family is called as Moraceae in scientific terms. This is another tree native as well as indigenous to India and the Indian subcontinent. This tree also has a significant importance in 3 of the main Indian religions. This tree can easily grow upto 30m.

Lotus : Lotus is an aquatic plant mainly recognized for its flower. This flower is also the national flower of India and is also many a times refereed as water lily. Its botanical name is Nelumbo Nucifera. It belongs to the family of Nelumbonaceae which often also called as the family of Lotus. This is one of the flowers which is native and indigenous to India and is found in almost the whole of the country.

Mango : Mango is a native Indian plant species which is known through out the world for the tasty fruit it bears.  The botanical name of this plant is  Mangifera Indica and it Belongs to the family known as Anacardiaceae. Anacardiaceae is often also refereed as the cashew family. Plants falling in this family only have 1 large seed into the centre of their friut and are called as drupes is scientific terms. It was first found in India and is hence indigenous to this country. There are many varsities of this fruit which are also cultivated all over the Indian terrain.

Australian  Native Plants :

                    Similarly to Indian native plants, ther are a few plants which areespicially native to the Ausralian terrain. Below is the list of 5 Australian native plants and some information about them.

• Bird's Nest Fern
• Banksia
• Bottlebrush
• Cycad
  
• Gum tree

Bird's Nest Fern : The bird's nest fern is an Australian native plant which is also sometimes found in Huawaii , eastern Africa and southeast Asia too. Its botanical name stands as Asplenium Nidus and it belong to the family of Aspleniaceae. All plants belonging to this family are ferns. Ferns are plants that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers.

Banksia : Banksia is an Australian Wildflower [ generally grows in the wild ] which is also native to this country. This Native Australian plant is a member of Proteaceae. Plants belonging to Proteaceae family are all flowering plants which predominantly belong to southern hemisphere. There is a huge variation in its size. Sometimes they only grow upto a height of a common shrub , but at some other times in favorable conditions, Banksia can grow till a height of 30m.

Bottlebrush : Bottlebrushes are a type of shrubs and as all of them , Bottlebrushes also grow 6m to 10m at maximum. These shrub like plants belong to Myrtaceae family. All the plants in this family are dicotyledons. In Botany, dicotyledons mean plants whose seeds can be divided into exact 2 half. Every plant is divided either dicotyledons or monocotyledons. This is done for easier classification of plants. Bottlebrushes are Native and also indigenous to Australia but however these shrubs are cultivated on large scales outside Australia too.

Cycad : Cycad plants are plants are quite native to Australia and also to warm weather conditions. This plant has evergreen leaves. This means that this plant has leaves all the year long and you can never find this plant without any leaves.The leaves off this plant are feather like , having feather like divisions on both of its sides and are called as pinnate in scientific terms. This plant also has a quite long history, with scientists determining it being alive even in the age of dinosaurs and its oldest found fossil dating back to 1000 years.

Gum Tree : Gum trees are also a part of the family called  Myrtaceae.Their botanical name is  Eucalyptus. Gum trees are found in various habitats around the world but the family thy belong to is Native to Australia. As per research , Australian forests have many kinds of Gum Trees. And because wildfire is a disaster which occurs several times in Australian forests, scientists determine that these Gum trees have adapted to these conditions and are able to sprout new seeds even after such deadly fires. Gum trees can be found in varying sizes. Some of the very small Gum trees may reach upto only 10m while some of the tallest are a bit more than 60m. These tree are capable of surviving for around 250 years.

Native plants found in New Zealand :

                    Though New Zealand is a bit smaller in geographical area when compared with India and Australia, it has a very beautiful biodiversity and they have successful maintained it too. Similar to India and Australia , New Zealand too has a wide range of Native plants. Below is a list of 5 such Native plants found in New Zealand.

• Cabbage Tree
• Coastal Cress
• New Zealand Ferns
• Golden Sand Sedge
• Kauri

Cabbage Tree : Cabbage Trees are native to soils of New Zealand. These plants are called as Cordyline australis in scientific terms and sometimes also refereed as Cabbage Palm instead of Cabbage Trees in local language.These trees are also endemic to New Zealand. Endemic is a term in ecology which means that these plants are unique in that region. gum trees are monocotyledonous plants. That is , the seeds of gum trees cannot be divided and its seed has only 1 cotyledon.

                    Cotyledons are a part of the embryo of a plant. Embryo of a plants consists of a stem, a root, a shoot and one or more cotyledons. Cotyledons are further defined as a leaf in the embryo which is the first one to come out of the seed in the process of germination. And on this basses the plants are divided into Dicotyledonous Plants / Monocotyledonous Plants .

Coastal Cress : Coastal Cress is another Native New Zealand plant species and is unfortunately also an endangered species. Its called as Lepidium Banksii in botanical language and it belong to the family of Brassicaceae. Plants belonging to this family are all flowering pants. Many members of the this family have an average height of about 40cms to 50cms.

New Zealand Ferns : New Zealand as a really high count of Fern species in its country with many of them native o the countries soils. These ferns grow well in the moist environments of New Zealand because of their exceptionally high need for water. There are few Fern species like the Silver Fern which is highly dominant in this country. This silver fern is also known as Alsophila Dealbata.

Golden Sand Sedge : Golden Sand Sedge is a native and indigenous species to this country and is found in varying patches across its plains. Ficinia Spiralis is its Botanical name. This plant is stout in nature and grow upto a height about 30cms to 90cms. Study and Science has also shown us that these Golden Sand Sedge plants help a lot in balancing the sand dune ecosystems in New Zealand.

Kauri : Agathis Australis is the botanical name for this plant. This native New Zealand tree is a coniferous tree. Coniferous trees are trees with a peculiar cone like shape. This is an adaption which enables these plants to survive extreme cold conditions. Due to its conical shape all the snow falling on it slides down and these trees are able to survive the cold conditions. This tree is also one of the largest trees in New Zealand forests. These trees also live long lives of more than 1000 years [ as proved by study ]. Kauri can grow as long as 30m to 40m and belong to the botanical family of Araucariaceae.

Complete table of information :

s.r	Native Country	Plant name	Botanical name	Family	Average Height
1	India	Neem	Azadirachta Indica	Meliaceae	15metes – 20 meters
2	India	Peepal	Ficus Religiosa	Moraceae	30 meters or more
3	India	Lotus	Nelumbo Nucifera	Nelumbonaceae	18 inches – 60 inches
4	India	Jasmine	Jasminum	Oleaceae	10 feet – 15 feet
	India	Mango	Mangifera Indica	Anacardiaceae	About 100 feet
6	Australia	Bird’s Nest Fern	Asplenium Nidus	Aspleniaceae	Average 2 feet – 3 feet
7	Australia	Banksia	Banksia	Proteaceae	Upto 30 meters
8	Australia	Bottlebrush	Callistemon	Myrtaceae	Maximum  6 meters – 10 meters
k9	Australia	Cycad	Cycadophyta	Cycad Family	3 feet – 5 feet
10	Australia	Gum Tree	Eucalyptus	Myrtaceae	10 meters – 60 meters
11	New Zealand	Cabbage Tree	Cordyline australis	Aparagus	Upto 20 meters
12	New Zealand	Coastal Cress	Lepidium Banksii	Brassicaceae.	40 cms – 50 cms
13	New Zealand	New Zealand Fern	Alsophila Dealbata	Scaly Tree Ferns	Average 10 meters
14	New Zealand	Golden Sand Sedge	Ficinia Spiralis	Cyperaceae	30 cms – 90 cms
15	New Zealand	Kauri	Agathis Australis	Araucariaceae.	30 meters – 40 meters

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