Trees for Life
NATIVE PLANT NURSERY HOURS: Wednesday – Friday – Sunday | 9:00AM – 11:00AM
Mission: Collaborate with everyone including our youth by planting 100,000 native trees to transform our land, to save our Lagoon and waters, improve community health, and reduce the impacts of climate change.
Benefits:Trees save energy, provide shade and wind breaks for our homes, cool our cities and neighborhoods, reduce the need for fertilizers, remove carbon dioxide and air pollutants from our air, retain topsoil, save water bills, provide for birds, butterflies, fish and people.
Tree Distribution in Indian River County
Click on the square at the upper top left for the map legend.. For a full screen version of the map, click on the box at upper right. The full screen version is best for zooming in and out on the tree locations.
| TREE TYPE | INDIAN RIVER COUNTY | OUT OF COUNTY | TOTAL |
| SOUTHERN LIVE OAK | 2,507 | 956 | 3,463 |
| BALD CYPRESS | 1,830 | 1,191 | 3,021 |
| POND CYPRESS | 172 | 58 | 230 |
| MAHOGANY | 918 | 348 | 1,266 |
| BUTTONBUSH | 38 | 3 | 41 |
| RED CEDAR | 30 | 11 | 41 |
| MAPLE | 54 | 1 | 55 |
| POND APPLE | 5 | 5 | |
| ELM | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| FICUS | 1 | 1 | |
| MYRTLE OAK | 1 | 1 | |
| WAX MYRTLE | 81 | 5 | 86 |
| LOBLOLLY PINE | 5 | 5 | |
| SLASH PINE | 32 | 4 | 36 |
| SAND PINE | 15 | 7 | 22 |
| SAND LIVE OAK | 165 | 5 | 170 |
| DAHOON HOLLY | 731 | 190 | 921 |
| WALTER’S VIBURNUM | 82 | 3 | 85 |
| LONG-LEAF PINE | 22 | 3 | 25 |
| GALLBERRY/INKBERRY | 18 | 1 | 19 |
| GROUNDSEL/SALTBUSH | 13 | 1 | 14 |
| SILVER BUTTONWOOD | 30 | 30 | |
| MARLBERRY | 16 | 16 | |
| RED BAY | 5 | 5 | |
| TREE TOTAL | 6,779 | 2,788 | 9,567 |
Total Native Plants Distributed As Of
April 12, 2024:
21,884
In the media
Click to read the online HomeTown News article:
Pelican Island Audubon Society plant and tree sale
Click to read the online HomeTown News article:
Free oak trees, planting advice now available
Click to read the Press Journal article:
“Trees for Life” project aims to help the environment
Click to read the VeroNews | 32963 article:
8 local bird species are seen threatened by climate change
Click to read the Vero Beach Newsweekly article:
Pelican Island Audubon Society recognizes volunteers
Read the HomeTown News article:
Native plant sale at Audubon House
National Audubon Society | So You Have Your List of Native Plants. Now What?
Gainesville Sun | Conserve water before building expensive pipelines
Chicago Tribune | Column: Homeowners, it’s time to ignore your neighbors’ manicured lawns and replace grass with native plants
The Buzz | WHEN IT COMES TO OUR LAWNS, MANY OF US ARE KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES
News-Press | Guest opinion: Legislation proposed enabling your right to know if Florida waters are safe
Florida Wildflower Foundation | Blanketflower – native or not?
Washington Post | Ditching grass could help your backyard thrive
Florida Phoenix | I think you will never see a FL county so hostile to a tree
NPR | Bringing Back Trees To ‘Forest City’s’ Redlined Areas Helps Residents And The Climate
New York Times | The Woman Who Looked at a Forest and Saw a Community
National Audubon Society | Of Burgers and Birds: A Partnership That Nearly Doubles Audubon’s Impact on Ranches across the Country
Treehugger | The World’s Largest Privately Owned Giant Sequoia Forest Is Now Protected
SciTechDaily | NASA Uses Powerful Supercomputers and AI to Map Earth’s Trees, Discovers Billions of Trees in West African Drylands
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | In a warming climate, can birds take the heat?
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | Trees set sixth-graders up for success
New York Times | Can Trees Live Forever? New Kindling for an Immortal Debate
BBC | Cities struggling to boost urban tree cover
Science Daily | How trees could save the climate
MIT Technology Review | Planting more trees could suck up a huge share of carbon emissions
National Geographic | How to erase 100 years of carbon emissions? Plant trees – lots of them
Bloomberg | This Easy Climate Fix Has More Potential Than Previously Though
Associated Press | How Birdwatchers Can Help Threatened Bird Populations
Plants for Birds
Our local birds evolved over time to use the native plants in our local habitats. When considering what plants to use when landscaping your yard, fill it with native plants to bring the joy of birds right up to your door. You will find below a list of resources you can use to find what native plants would work best for birds. Additionally, Pelican Island Audubon is selling a variety of native plants for your yard. Below is information on native plants best for Indian River County.
Native Plants
(Click on the common name for more plant information.)
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT |
| Beauty Berry | Callicarpa americana | Berries for migratory birds in Fall, good nectar source |
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia hirta | Seeds for birds |
| Blue Curl | Tricostema dichotomum | Excellent butterfly attractor |
| Blue-eyed Grass | Sisyrinchium augustifolium | Great nectar source for butterflies |
| Brown’s Savory | Clinopodium brownei | Great for pollinators |
| Creeping Sage | Salvia misella | Butterfly nectar plant |
| Coreopsis | Coreopsis leavenworthii | Excellent native bee attractor |
| Corky-stem Passionvine | Passiflora suberosa | Larval host plant for multiple butterfly species |
| Dahoon Holly | Ilex cassine | Berries for birds in winter |
| Dune Sunflower | Helianthus debilis | Pollinator attractor |
| Elderberry | Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis | Fruit for birds |
| Elephant’s Foot | Elephantopus elatus | Amazing pollinator attractor |
| Firebush | Hamelia patens | Excellent butterfly & hummingbird attractor |
| Florida Privet | Foresteria segregata | Great shrub for nesting birds & berries in summer |
| Frogfruit | Phyla nodiflora | Larval host & nectar plant |
| Frost Top | Verbesina virginica | Pollinator attractor |
| Horsemint | Monadra punctata | Amazing butterfly & pollinator attractor |
| Ironweed | Vernon gigantea | Native bee & hummingbird attractor |
| Jamaican Caper | Capparis cynophallophora | General butterfly & hummingbird attractor; berries for birds |
| Lantana | Lantana involucrata | Great butterfly attractor; berries for birds year round |
| Muhly Grass | Muhlenbergia cappillaris | Seeds for small songbirds; soil stabilization for erosion problems |
| Myrsine | Myrsine cubana | Berries for birds |
| Porterweed | Stachytarpheta jamaicensis | Larval host plant & pollinator attractor |
| Privet Cassia | Senna ligustrina | Host to Sulphur Butterflies; native bee attractor |
| Rosin Flower | Silphium astericus | Great pollinator attractor; seeds for birds |
| Seaside Goldenrod | Solidago sempervirens | Pollinator attractor |
| Sneezeweed | Helenium spp. | Attracts butterflies |
| St. Andrews Cross | Hypericum hypericoides | Attracts butterflies |
| Sunshine Mimosa | Mimosa strigillosa | Lawn replacement ground cover; butterfly host |
| Tropical Salvia | Salvia coccinen | Butterfly & hummingbird attractor |
| Wild Coffee (Satin Leaf) | Flaveria linearis | Amazing pollinator nectar source |
| Wild Coffee (Shiny Leaf) | Psychotria nervosa | Nectar for butterflies; berries for birds |
| Wild Lime | Zanthoxylum fagara | Host to Giant Swallowtail Butterfly; berries for birds |
| Yellowtop | Salvia coccinen | Butterfly & hummingbird attractor |
Online Resources
National Audubon Society Plants for Birds: This one of the best resources for learning about plants for birds. Includes a Zip Code-based search engine that will help you learn what native plants are best suited for your area.
The Guardian | Born to rewild: why now is the perfect time to make your lawn an eco-paradise
BBC | Two-fifths of plants at risk of extinction, says report
The Beet | David Attenborough Shares 7 Ways We Can Help Stop Climate Change