Conserving Native Plants

Conserving Native Plants. . , Native plants are threatened by destruction of their habitats as well as overcollection., From this vantage point you can see the wide range of growing conditions throughout the Native Plants Garden, which supports more than 400 species. Some of these are endangered plants. Native species face a variety of threats, most critically the destruction of native plant communities by land development. The disturbed soils of roadsides, agricultural areas, and housing developments offer non-native and invasive plants a competitive edge over native species. The decline of native plants can negatively affect native animal species. For example, loss of milkweeds threatens monarch butterfly populations, which are dependent on milkweeds for food and breeding., The New York Botanical Garden has been dedicated to the conservation of native plant species throughout its history. Today the Garden partners with the Center for Plant Conservation, which works to conserve and restore the rare native plants of the United States. The Garden grows several of these rare species, including swamp-pink, which can be found in the Wetland, and large-flowered Barbara's buttons, a member of the aster family, which grows in the moist end of the Meadow.