The Maryland Department of Natural Resources released a list on October 19, 2026, featuring thirteen plants that embody the spooky theme of October. These plants are noted for their creepy common names, dark histories, and in some cases, toxic properties. The agency encourages appreciation for these unique species found throughout the state.

Press Release: Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Published October 19, 2026. Reproduced in full from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Thirteen Spooky Maryland Plants

Drosera rotundifolia by Mark Freeth

It’s October, and while retail displays would have us believe Halloween starts in August (Augtober?), spooky season is now undeniably upon us. What better time to appreciate and celebrate some of the plants in our state that really understood the assignment with this month’s theme! Whether it’s in their creepy common names, their dark and sordid history, or their murderous intentions, these 13 have earned a spot on our list.

Native plants

Ghost Flower (aka Ghost Pipe, Monotropa uniflora)

A commonly spotted plant on woodland hikes all over Maryland, this hauntingly pale and unique flower is blessed with a lack of chlorophyll, explaining the absence of green. Also called corpse plant, it shrivels and blackens as it ages, but not until it has completed its parasitic cycle of draining the life out of surrounding fungal networks.

Indian Pipe. Photo by Julie Bradbury

Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

The name itself likely originated in meanings far from the lady on a broom, with some sources listing the root word as related to the Anglo-Saxon word for “bendable” (wych). Witch-hazel is a beloved Maryland shade-growing native tree and frequent contributor to beautiful fall foliage in many parts of the state. DNR’s tree nursery often distributes this tree, with the help of seed sourcing by volunteers.

Devil’s Walkingstick (Aralia spinosa)

One only needs to take a quick look at this tree to see how it earned its common name. Large, sharp thorns surround the trunk, sometimes at lengths over half an inch. Despite its dark name and prickly exterior, this tree is a force for good: native, deer-resistant, and easy to grow, providing flowers for native pollinators and fruit for mammals and birds. A champion in the National Big Tree Program (the largest known in the state) of this species inhabits Baltimore County.

Devils Walkingstick by Megan Barger

Doll’s-Eyes (Actaea pachypoda)

Present on almost every list of creepy plants, this weirdo (we mean that as a compliment!) produces a shiny white fruit with a black center. Birds happily eat the fruit, spreading this plant through seeds in their droppings, while rabbits avoid them. The other common name, baneberry, gives a clear warning about the toxicity of this fruit to humans. This plant is not the only toxic species to have “bane” in the common name, as exemplified by dogbane (family Apocynaceae) and wolfsbane (Aconitum genus).

White Baneberry by Thomas Quine

Pine Barrens Death-camas (Stenanthium leimanthoides)

A rare and beautiful, bone-colored plant that promises death in its common name, what could be more sinister? This habitat specialist is confined in Maryland to a highly threatened zone of spring-fed seepage slopes. It is globally imperiled due to habitat loss, existing only in a few of our neighboring states. All parts of the plant are highly poisonous, but the threat of its extinction is perhaps the scariest thing of all!

Sheepkill (Kalmia angustifolia)

Speaking of death, keep an eye on your sheep around the pink-flowering, evergreen shrub sometimes called sheepkill, lambkill, or more commonly (and less threateningly) sheep laurel. As its name suggests, this plant is highly toxic to livestock but provides habitat and forage value for wildlife including grouse and other birds. It is also the larval host plant to various species of native moths and butterflies.

Snaky Flora

While we don’t believe snakes are creepy here at the Wildlife and Heritage Service, we must reluctantly acknowledge that fear of snakes, ophidiophobia or herpetophobia, is one of the top human fears, with some estimates showing that one third of humans experience it. Our favorite (of many) Maryland native plants that honor the state’s great serpents include:

  • Rattlesnake weed (Heiracium venosum) – a dandelion-like yellow-flowering plant actually found in shale barrens and woodland areas where rattlesnakes live! Maryland is home to only one rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake found in Western Maryland.
  • Rattlesnake plantains (Goodyera genus), a dainty group of Maryland orchids, two of which are on the state’s Rare, Threatened and Endangered plants list.
  • Snakemouth (alternate common name for rose pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides), another rare orchid with a fringed labellum that looks the part.

Carnivorous Plants

Maryland is home to numerous plants with murderous intentions that are worthy of our respect. Our beloved pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), the quintessential Maryland example, lures its prey down an inviting tunnel with tantalizing smells and cheerful colors, then dissolves the hapless bug in an enzymatic death liquid. The aquatic swollen bladderwort (Utricularia inflata) is perhaps even more murderously nefarious, sneakily sucking up mosquito larvae and other prey using a rather ingenious hair-trigger activated vacuum trap mechanism. Then there are sundews, whose cheerfully misleading names say nothing of their sticky, and deadly, bug-trapping leaves.

Nightshades

The Solanaceae family has a longstanding reputation for biological weaponization and plant toxicity, while confusingly also providing us the tasty potato and tomato. This group could provide enough lore for an entire article of its own, but for now let’s remember there are more than 45 members of the nightshade family growing wild (though not all native) in Maryland. Like fungi, these plants remind us NEVER to consume anything wild unless its identity and edibility has been confirmed by a reliable expert. Also, beware of edible plant AI tools and resources rife with errors, when it comes to eating wild flora, one mistake could be your last.

Invasive plants

Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum)

Sometimes a highly toxic plant looks just like an innocent carrot. Is this intentional? Ask the plant. Whatever you do, just don’t eat it or feed it to your animals. This plant was introduced from Europe to the United States for its attractive flowers, with deadly consequences.

Asiatic Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus)

Like many aggressive vines, this non-native plant quite literally strangles and suffocates its victims. This mechanism guarantees more sunlight and resources for the plant, enabling its successful survival.

Wavyleaf Basketgrass (Oplismenus undulatifolius)

Anyone who has tried to rid an area of this plant will attest to its slightly evil (if respectable) ability to spread and create “dead zone” monocultures. Like creatures amassing in a horror film, it feels impossible at times to combat the tenacity of this low-growing species that quickly and efficiently carpets shady forest floors, out-competing numerous native species and providing very little wildlife value.

Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

This plant goes one step further by not only crowding out native forests, but also altering the soil to prevent anything else from being able to grow. Devious! To make matters worse, it creates the perfect microclimate for disease-carrying ticks to thrive, again while providing no value to native wildlife. Even the hardiest of weed warriors come away from this plant battered and bruised with bloody scratches, owing to the plant’s tenacious roots and abundant, dagger-like thorns.