Metro Atlanta

====Flora====
The native [[forest]] [[canopy (forest)|canopy]] is mainly [[oak]], redbud, [[hickory]], [[Populus|poplar]], [[tuliptree]], [[pine]], and [[Liquidambar styraciflua|sweetgum]], with [[American chestnut|chestnut]] having been common decades before in what is now considered [[oak-hickory forest]]. [[Saw palmetto]], [[Sabal palmetto]] and [[Trachycarpus fortunei]] have become common ornamentals as well. Traveling from the south, the metro area is generally the first area in which [[autumn leaf color]] can be seen, due to the different trees growing at the higher elevation and [[latitude]]. [[Understory|Underneath]], the [[flowering dogwood]] is very common, the [[black cherry]] are quite prolific, with [[mulberry]] popping up sometimes as well. [[Sourwood]] is also in its native range, and is easily identified by the fact that it turns fiery red in early October, much brighter and weeks earlier than most other trees (which usually peak in early November).

Shrubby plants include [[blackberry]], [[horsechestnut]], [[sumac]], and sometimes [[Crataegus|hawthorn]]. [[Parthenocissus quinquefolia|Virginia creeper]], [[poison-ivy (plant)|poison ivy]], and [[Smilax|briar]] are common [[vine]]s. The [[Helianthus porteri|Confederate yellow daisy]] is a [[wildflower]] native only to the area around Stone Mountain.

Common garden plants include dogwood, [[azalea]], [[hydrangea]], [[flowering cherry]], [[maple]]s, [[pin oak]], [[red-tip photinia]], [[holly]], [[juniper]], [[Eastern white pine|white pine]], [[magnolia]], [[Bradford pear]], [[forsythia]], [[liriope (plant)|liriope]] ([[mondograss]]), and [[English ivy]]. [[Lawn]]s can be either cool-season [[grass]]es like [[fescue]] and [[rye]], or warm-season like [[zoysia]] and [[bermudagrass]] which turn brown in late fall. A few [[homeowners association]]s actually prohibit green grass in the winter.

Native to the nearby mountains, maples are now one of the most common landscape trees for new homes and parking lots, giving their color in the fall instead of spring. When planted close to buildings (which provide shelter and radiate heat), they can retain some of their color into December, especially if November has been warm.

Common [[lawn]] weeds are [[Potentilla indica|mock strawberry]], [[violet (plant)|violet]], [[Allium|wild onion]], and of course the ubiquitous [[dandelion]], [[crabgrass]], and [[Plantago|plantain]].

By far the most notorious [[introduced species]] is [[kudzu]], a highly [[invasive species]] from [[Japan]] which climbs and smothers trees and shrubs. New effective herbicides as well as increased development of formerly rural areas has greatly reduced kudzu in the metro area (although still quite common elsewhere in Georgia). Wisteria planted decades ago by farmers in then-rural areas has become wild and is common in undeveloped forests. Some vines exceed 50 years of age and cover dozens of acres of forest, creating a dense, purple explosion each spring.

[[Japanese honeysuckle]] is extremely common, its fragrance an early summer delight. A common ornamental shrub, the [[Chinese privet]], has escaped to become the state's most invasive non-native plant species.