Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Sunday - January 06, 2013

From: Las Vegas, NV
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Shrubs, Trees
Title: Decorative small evergreen tree for Las Vegas NV
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I need a small decorative tree to be planted among a pine tree background; would prefer evergreen.

ANSWER:

Clark County, at the extreme southern tip of Nevada, apparently has a USDA Hardiness Zone rating of around 9b, It but in the moutains in the area it can get colder. It is a subtropical desert climate, typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies. Since you are looking for something to go with pine trees, it sounds like you might be at one of the higher elevations of the area. However, we will search in our Native Plant Database for small trees or shrubs native to Nevada and then check with the USDA Plant Profile for each tree we find to see if it is native to Clark County.

First, the good news - we found an even dozen trees native to Clark County, some referred to as shrubs, most with lovely flowers and/or foliage. Now, the bad news - only two, Yucca schidigera (Mojave yucca) and Washingtonia filifera (California fan palm) are evergreen, and are really more in scale as shrubs. There are small evegreen junipers and pines native to the area, but they would basically be more of what you already have.

Small Trees Native to Clark County, NV:

Acer grandidentatum (Big-toothed maple)

Aloysia wrightii (Wright's beebrush)

Amelanchier utahensis (Utah service-berry)

Chilopsis linearis (Desert willow)

Cercis orbiculata (California redbud) -more information and pictures

Cornus sericea ssp. sericea (Redosier dogwood) - more information and pictures

Parkinsonia aculeata (Retama)

Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry)

Robinia neomexicana (New mexico locust)

Sambucus racemosa (Red elderberry)

Yucca schidigera (Mojave yucca)

Washingtonia filifera (California fan palm)

Follow each plant link to our webpage on that plant to learns its growing conditions, including amount of sunlight, soil type and moisture. At the bottom of that page you can follow a link to Google to get even more information.