# Why plant a rare or uncommon native tree in your yard

> Why a rare or uncommon native tree is worth a place in your yard, what it does for its species and your street, what it asks of you, and where to start.

Published 2026-11-12. Tags: What to plant, Forests & habitat. By Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-plant-a-rare-native-tree/

A rare or seldom-planted native earns its place in a yard three ways. It is a kind few neighbors grow, so a pest or disease that kills one common kind is likely to leave it standing. It can be a living copy of a species scarce in the wild: the Franklin tree, last seen in the wild in 1803, survives only in gardens. It also brings flowers, fall color or a fit for hard ground that few other yards on the street have, and it feeds wildlife as any native does.

![A white Franklin tree flower with a ring of orange stamens and a bumble bee at its center, raindrops on its petals](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/why-plant-a-rare-native-tree-1-1000.jpg?v=8d4372e8 "A Franklin tree in flower at the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia on September 10, 2023. Last seen in the wild in 1803, the species survives only in gardens.")
*Photo: Shuvaev, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFranklinia_alatamaha_in_Morris_Arboretum_01.jpg))*

## Two kinds of rare

Some trees are rare in the wild. Bottlebrush buckeye grows wild in so few places that NatureServe ranks it vulnerable, and the Franklin tree is no longer known anywhere in the wild.

Others are common in the woods yet seldom sold or planted. [Post oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/post-oak/index.html.md) is abundant across the Southeast and South Central states, yet it is seldom planted in gardens. [Shellbark hickory](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/shellbark-hickory/index.html.md) is rare in the wild and rarer in nurseries, which skip it because its deep root makes it hard to move. The plants we mark rare are of either kind, uncommon in the wild or in nurseries. Why species dwindle is the subject of [why native trees become rare](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-native-trees-become-rare/index.html.md).

## A tree few yards have spreads the risk

Pests tend to follow their hosts' botanical groups: a species, a genus or a whole family. [Dutch elm disease](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/glossary/index.html.md#dutch-elm-disease) reached the United States in the early 1930s, and every native elm is susceptible. The emerald ash borer attacks all 16 native ashes, healthy trees of any size among them. Before 1970 the street trees of many eastern cities were mostly elm, and when the disease reached Minneapolis in the 1960s and 1970s, over 90 percent of its street trees could catch it.

The usual rule of thumb since 1990 caps a city's trees at 10 percent in one species, 20 percent in one genus and 30 percent in one family. [Native street trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-street-trees/index.html.md) covers how a city applies it block by block. By 2004 only 17 percent of the Minneapolis street trees could host the ash borer, yet a city's share is cold comfort on a block planted to one kind:

> "Although a potential 17% city scale loss was a much more operationally achievable outlook, a full street block of all susceptible trees was still daunting and alarming from the perspective of an individual property." (Potyondy, *Minneapolis Street Tree Planting Guidelines to Increase Diversity*, 2025)

![Two tall dead ash trees with bare gray crowns beside a quiet street, green evergreens and leafy trees all around them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/why-plant-a-rare-native-tree-2-1000.jpg?v=34f3bb30 "White ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer in Ewing Township, New Jersey, on September 3, 2023. The borer attacks every native ash, while trees of other kinds stay green.")
*Photo: Famartin, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A2023-09-03_14_34_23_White_Ash_trees_killed_by_Emerald_Ash_Borer_along_Montague_Avenue_in_the_Mountainview_section_of_Ewing_Township%2C_Mercer_County%2C_New_Jersey.jpg))*

A rare tree of a genus your neighbors do not grow is one their trees' pests tend to pass over. No mix stops every pest: Armillaria root rot, Verticillium wilt and the Japanese beetle are among those that attack trees of many genera.

## A living copy of a species

A planted tree can outlast its species in the wild. The Franklin tree grew wild on two or three acres beside the Altamaha River in Georgia, where John and William Bartram found it in 1765, and nowhere else. William carried its seed home to Philadelphia in 1777, and most if not all Franklin trees growing today trace back to the plants he raised there. Even so, the species nearly slipped away in gardens too:

> "Prior to 1900 Franklinia was extremely rare in gardens, and could easily have been lost to the world altogether." (Bartram's Garden, *Franklinia Series: Finding Franklinia alatamaha, Part One*)

Gardens have not sent it home. Phytophthora root rot, which is everywhere in southeastern soil, kills the Franklin tree, and the tree thrives in northeastern gardens where the rot is absent. A genetic study of cultivated trees found two groups, a sign that the seed came from at least two wild trees.

[Florida torreya](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/florida-torreya/index.html.md) is in the same straits. A fungal canker has killed nearly every wild tree since the 1950s, and the survivors are stump sprouts that die back before they bear seed. A healthy tree planted far from its home river helps keep the species alive.

Gardens in the Center for Plant Conservation have held over a third of North America's globally rare plant species in conservation collections. Such a collection is worth most when it records where each plant came from and draws on many mother plants. A yard tree with no record of its seed is not one, though it keeps the species growing in one more place.

## What a rare native gives a yard

Rare in the wild does not mean frail in a yard: American smoketree is rare on its limestone bluffs, yet hardy, tough and spectacular in the garden. A rare oak still belongs to the genus that [feeds the most caterpillars](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-insects/index.html.md). Each plant below does a job few common yard trees do:

- **Late flowers:** [Franklin tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) opens fragrant white flowers from July until frost. Zones 5 to 9, 10 to 25 feet.
- **Midsummer plumes:** [Georgia plume](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/georgia-plume/index.html.md), wild only in Georgia, holds upright white plumes in July and turns bright red in fall. Zones 6 to 9, 10 to 16 feet.
- **Spring bloom on a shade tree:** [Yellowwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/yellowwood/index.html.md) hangs wisteria-like white flowers in late spring, and few nurseries grow it. Zones 4 to 8, 30 to 50 feet.
- **October color on dry ground:** [American smoketree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-smoketree/index.html.md) turns orange, scarlet and purple all at once. Zones 3 to 8, 20 to 30 feet.
- **Shade on hard ground:** [Kentucky coffeetree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/kentucky-coffeetree/index.html.md) takes drought, alkaline soil, road salt and compacted city soil. Zones 3 to 8, 60 to 80 feet.
- **A pond shore:** [Seaside alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/seaside-alder/index.html.md) stands in water, feeds its own soil and hangs gold catkins in August and September. Zones 3 to 9, 12 to 30 feet.
- **A shady corner:** [Bottlebrush buckeye](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bottlebrush-buckeye/index.html.md) lifts white flower spikes up to a foot long in early summer, when few other shrubs bloom. Zones 4 to 9, 8 to 12 feet.
- **A thin, rocky bank:** [Georgia oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/georgia-oak/index.html.md), a small red oak of granite outcrops, turns red in fall. Zones 5 to 8, 25 to 50 feet.

![American smoketree's rounded blue-green leaves with several turned salmon, orange and red at once in fall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/why-plant-a-rare-native-tree-3-1000.jpg?v=56bd3420 "American smoketree on October 31, 2026, its rounded leaves blue-green, salmon, orange and red on one plant at once.")
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

## What a rare tree asks of you

We sell rare natives young, as saplings or seed, and a small sapling [catches up with a big transplant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md) within a few years. Many grow slowly, among them the Franklin tree, Georgia plume, American smoketree and Georgia oak.

Each wants ground like its wild home. The Franklin tree needs an acid soil that stays moist but drains freely, since wet ground rots its roots, and it has a reputation for being difficult to grow. The [site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=franklin-tree) grades a species against your zone, sun and soil before you plant.

Ask where the seed came from, since [seed source](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/seed-source-and-provenance/index.html.md) decides how well a tree keeps time with your seasons, and leave wild plants where they grow. What the federal and state lists allow, and how to buy a listed plant, is the subject of [buying and planting a rare or federally listed native](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/buying-and-planting-rare-or-listed-native-plants/index.html.md).

![A young dwarf chinquapin oak with a few broad, wavy-toothed leaves inside a cage of wire rings, a board fence behind](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/articles/why-plant-a-rare-native-tree-4-1000.jpg?v=c9f89ca0 "A young dwarf chinquapin oak, one of the plants we mark rare, in a wire cage on October 27, 2026, a few of its broad, wavy-toothed leaves turning yellow.")
*Photo: Blue Whale Trees*

## Where to start

Blue Whale Trees grows every tree it sells from seed, not grafted, so each seedling is genetically distinct. Start with these:

- [Tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?want=rare): the rare natives we grow, narrowed by zone, size, sun and soil moisture.
- [Rare trees and shrubs](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/rare/index.html.md): the whole list in the shop, from shrub oaks to Florida torreya.
- [Rare oak collection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/bundles/rare-oak-collection/index.html.md): five oaks almost nobody grows, planted together as a living collection.
- [Why native trees become rare](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-native-trees-become-rare/index.html.md): ten rare eastern species, and why each is scarce.

## Common questions

### Why plant a rare tree?

It adds a kind few neighbors grow, so a pest that kills one common kind cannot take every tree on the street. It can also keep a scarce species growing outside the wild, as gardens have kept the Franklin tree since 1803.

### Should I plant an endangered tree in my yard?

Yes, if it was grown from seed in a nursery and suits your ground, since a healthy planted tree keeps the species growing in one more place. Leave wild plants where they grow, and ask the seller where the seed came from.

### What are some unusual native trees for a front yard?

Franklin tree and Georgia plume bring white flowers in summer, and yellowwood hangs wisteria-like blooms in late spring. American smoketree turns orange, scarlet and purple at once in October, and Georgia oak fits where a big oak would crowd the house.

### Are rare trees harder to grow?

Some are: the Franklin tree has a reputation for being difficult, and wet ground rots its roots. Many are not, since American smoketree is hardy and tough in a garden and Kentucky coffeetree takes drought, road salt and compacted soil.

## Sources

- [Franklinia Series: Finding Franklinia alatamaha, Part One](https://www.bartramsgarden.org/franklinia-series-finding-franklinia-alatamaha-part-one/): Bartram's Garden (Joel T. Fry): the Bartrams' find of October 1, 1765, the species apparently extinct in the wild, its rarity in gardens before 1900 and its flourishing in cultivation now, and the quotation.
- [Franklinia Series: Finding Franklinia alatamaha, Part Two](https://www.bartramsgarden.org/franklinia-series-finding-franklinia-alatamaha-part-two/): Bartram's Garden (Joel T. Fry): the two or three acres where it grew wild, and William Bartram's seed, brought to Philadelphia in January 1777, behind most if not all Franklin trees growing today.
- [Rooted in Revelation: A Researcher's Dogged Quest Aims to Reveal the Genetic Diversity of a Mysterious Tree](https://warnell.uga.edu/rooted-in-revelation-a-researchers-dogged-quest-aims-to-reveal-the-genetic-diversity-of-a-mysterious-tree/): University of Georgia, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources (2019): the last sighting in the wild in 1803, Phytophthora root rot in southeastern soil, the northeastern gardens where the tree thrives, and two genetic groups among cultivated trees.
- [Dutch elm disease](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/dutch-elm-disease/): The Morton Arboretum: the disease's arrival in the United States in the early 1930s, and every native elm susceptible.
- [Emerald ash borer](https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/tree-plant-care/plant-care-resources/emerald-ash-borer/): The Morton Arboretum: all 16 native ash species susceptible, healthy trees of any size among them, and the borer's restriction to true ashes.
- [Trees for Urban Planting: Diversity, Uniformity, and Common Sense](https://agroforestry.org/the-overstory/144-overstory-126-trees-for-urban-planting-diversity-uniformity-and-common-sense): F.S. Santamour Jr. (1990), reprinted in The Overstory 126, Agroforestry.org: pests that follow their hosts by species, genus or family, the limits of 10 percent a species, 20 a genus and 30 a family, and pests of many genera that no mix stops.
- [Minneapolis Street Tree Planting Guidelines to Increase Diversity](https://auf.isa-arbor.com/content/early/2025/11/07/jauf.2025.033): P.J. Potyondy, Arboriculture & Urban Forestry (2025): the 10-20-30 rule as the usual rule of thumb, elm as the main street tree of many eastern cities before 1970, over 90 percent of Minneapolis street trees susceptible to Dutch elm disease and 17 percent to the ash borer by 2004, and the quotation.
- [Why Conserve Rare Plants?](https://saveplants.org/best-practices/why-conserve-rare-plants/): Center for Plant Conservation, Best Plant Conservation Practices: over a third of North America's globally rare plant species held in conservation collections in botanic gardens.
- [Maximizing Genetic Diversity for Plant Conservation](https://saveplants.org/best-practices/importance-representing-genetic-diversity-plant-conservation-collections/): Center for Plant Conservation, Best Plant Conservation Practices: a conservation collection's records of provenance, its separate maternal lines and its diverse genetic representation of the species.

## Related

- Next step: [Open the tree finder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-finder/index.html.md?want=rare)
- [Why native trees become rare, and ten rare eastern species worth growing](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-native-trees-become-rare/index.html.md)
- [Nativars or straight species: what wildlife gets from each](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/nativars-or-straight-species/index.html.md)
- [Native street trees: which ones take pavement, salt and drought, and how to fit one to the strip and the wires](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-street-trees/index.html.md)
- [Seed source and provenance: why where the parent tree grew decides how yours will do](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/seed-source-and-provenance/index.html.md)