Learn

Further Reading & Resources

Organizations

• Alliance of Native Seedkeepers — Indigenous-led seedkeeping network preserving native and heirloom seed lineages.
• North Carolina Native Plant Society — Statewide community promoting the enjoyment and conservation of NC’s native plants and their habitats.
• NC Botanical Garden Plant Conservation Program — Conservation, propagation, and research on rare native plants of the Southeast.
• Indigenous Seed Keepers Network — A program of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance supporting tribal seed sovereignty.
• Longleaf Alliance — Restoring and conserving the longleaf pine ecosystem across the Southeast.
• NC Coastal Land Trust — Protecting natural areas, working forests, and farmland across the NC coastal plain.
• NC State Extension — NC State University’s research-based outreach for gardening, horticulture, soils, pests, and plant identification across all 100 NC counties.

Places to Visit

• American Indian Cultural Garden (AICG) at UNC — A living teaching garden centering Indigenous plants, foods, and traditions of NC tribes.
• Green Swamp Preserve — A unique wetland ecosystem in southeastern NC with diverse native plant communities and rare species.
• Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge — A refuge in the NC sandhills with longleaf pine habitat and native plant diversity.
• Stanley Rehder Carnivorous Plant Garden at Piney Ridge Nature Preserve, Wilmington — A public garden showcasing Venus flytraps, pitcher plants, sundews, and other carnivorous natives of the SE NC coastal plain.
• Turnbull Creek Educational State Forest — An educational state forest in Bladen County with longleaf pine, native plant communities, and interpretive trails.

Books

• Native American Medicinal Plants: An Ethnobotanical Dictionary by Daniel E. Moerman — A comprehensive reference cataloging the medicinal plant uses of Indigenous peoples across North America.
• Herbal Remedies of the Lumbee Indians by Arvis Locklear Boughman — A foundational reference on Lumbee plant knowledge and traditional remedies.
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer — A beautiful weaving of Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons plants teach us.
• The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer — A short, generous reflection on gift economies, reciprocity, and what plants can teach us about abundance.