Native plant gardeners face a question the nursery trade rarely answers plainly: is a “nativar” a native plant? The Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s Board unanimously adopted this statement in spring 2026. We offer it as guidance for our members, our chapters, and the garden centers we work with.
The Native Plant Society of New Jersey (NPSNJ) encourages communities and individuals to use native plants (wild-type, straight species, local ecotype—a population adapted to the conditions of a particular place) to maintain our ecological heritage and provide the ecological services that our wildlife of all sorts rely upon for survival. Native plants have evolved and occur naturally in particular regions, ecosystems, and habitats.
A native plant cultivar (i.e., a cultivated variety, sometimes also called a “nativar”) is a native plant selected or bred for certain features—flower color, leaf color, plant size, disease resistance. Most are then reproduced asexually, making them genetically identical clones. Altered traits—doubled flowers, changed leaf chemistry, novel colors (of leaves or flowers)—can make cultivars less useful or entirely unusable by the native insects, birds, and other fauna that depend on them. Some cultivars are sterile—offering neither pollen nor nectar—and cannot reseed, so short-lived perennials will die out and need to be replaced, and pollen-, nectar-, or seed-eating wildlife are left unsupported.
Fertile cultivars also pose their own risks: they can cross-pollinate with local wild populations, contaminating the gene pool of locally adapted ecotypes. Some cultivars are hybrids with a non-native parent species—these are not native plants at all, regardless of how they are marketed, and may prove invasive.
For maximum ecological benefit, prefer local ecotype plants grown from seed; if unavailable, choose straight species native to your state, then straight species from a nearby ecoregion (find your ecoregion at bplant.org). Use cultivars only as a last resort. Do not plant cultivars in restoration projects.
Originally published in the Summer 2026 NPSNJ Newsletter.