The Tennessee Native Plant Society was founded in 1978 and is open to anyone interested in native plants. Tennessee boasts one of the most botanically diverse states in the nation. Please see their website for up to date information on this active group.
The Tennessee Native Plant Society Newsletter is published four times a year. Become a member and receive the newsletter either online or in printed version. Dixie Reindeer Lichen, Cladina subtenuis. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Amada44.
This photo shows the persimmon, Diospyros virginiana L. in flower. It is one of only a few native fruits of the United States. They can be eaten fresh,dried or cooked but the persimmon must ripen on the tree otherwise they taste sour and bitter and for this reason they have never been cultivated. The word persimmon is of Algonquian origin, while the genus name Diospyros, from the Greek, means fruit of the god Zeus.
A persimmon tree loaded with fruit.
Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers by 
Woody Plants of Kentucky and Tennessee by 
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee by 
Wildflowers of Tennessee and the East Central States by 
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Miguel v.
The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range along the Tennessee-North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. This park was established in 1934 and is the most-visited national park in the country. There are over 1400 native species of wildflowers that grow in the mountains and valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains.