Preliminary vascular plant checklist of the city of Chattanooga

The City of Chattanooga, Tennessee was designated as a National Park City in April 2025 by the National Park City Foundation. Yet, there has not been a comprehensive vascular flora compiled for the city, though there have been extensive collections and observations made of the plant biodiversity in the area from the late 1800s onward. The goal of this project was to examine both the existing herbarium collections and public observation records from iNaturalist to compile a preliminary vascular plant checklist for Chattanooga, and to include conservation and ecological data for the species currently documented to provide a holistic review of the local flora. In the creation of this checklist, 428 species were found to be confirmed in the area by both herbarium voucher specimen and public observation records. 49 species (11.4%) were classified as invasive by the Tennessee Invasive Plant Council. Five species were listed under the Tennessee Rare Plant List including Silphium pinnatifidum (Threatened) and Clematis fremontii (Endangered). 163 species had modeled subnational conservation ranks of S3 (Vulnerable) or lower, with nine designated S1 (Critically Imperiled). The most common wetland indicator status was FACU (Facultative Upland) with 139 species. The average coefficient of conservatism for all species recorded was 4.83, and the average heliophyte index was 6.2. More work is needed to more fully address the vascular plant species checklist for Chattanooga, but this research creates a baseline of thoroughly documented species.