Governor Stein Proclaims Native Plant Week

Native Plant Month

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, native plants are indigenous species that have evolved alongside native wildlife and occur naturally in a particular geographic region, ecosystem, and habitat; and

Whereas, native plants are essential for healthy, diverse, and sustainable ecosystems and are critical for cleaning air, filtering water, and stabilizing soils; and

Whereas, native plants are well-adapted to North Carolina’s soils, temperatures, precipitation, and environmental conditions, making them the best option for conserving and protecting our environment and adapting to its changes; and
 

Whereas, native plants provide food including nectar, pollen, seeds, and foliage for native birds, caterpillars, butterflies, bees, and other wildlife in ways that non-native plants cannot; and
 

Whereas, North Carolina is home to more than 3,900 native plant species that include large shade trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, grasses, and wildflowers; and
 

Whereas, some of North Carolina’s rarest plants are federally listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which include sedges, Venus fly traps, smooth coneflowers, purple pitcher plants, spiraeas, etc. and
 

Whereas, it is important to encourage public awareness about the benefits of North Carolina’s native plants to pollinators and other wildlife, to the economy, and to the health and sustainability of North Carolina’s fragile ecosystems;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 2026 as “Native Plant Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-fifth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.