Dry shade gets the attention. Shade over clay is the harder problem.

Clay holds water, then sets like brick. Put it under a tree canopy and you have a site that is waterlogged in March and concrete in August, in light too low for most things to recover in. USDA documents 264 native plants that handle both. 145 of them are ones you can buy.

Published 11 September 2026 · Understory Guide · USDA PLANTS data, catalogue version 2026-09-11

The numbers

Two independent USDA fields define this site. Shade Tolerance at Low means the plant will grow in deep shade — 482 plants in our catalogue qualify. Adapted to Fine Textured Soils at Yes means it copes with clay — 1,247 qualify. Clay tolerance turns out to be common; deep shade tolerance is rare.

Ask for both at once and you get 289 plants. Restrict to North American natives: 264. Restrict to plants a nursery routinely carries: 145.

• 289 plants take deep shade and clay
• 264 of those are native
• 145 are also routinely available

Those links run live against the database. If our data changes the numbers here will drift; the query is the authority.

Why clay under shade is worse than either alone

The two conditions compound. A plant in deep shade photosynthesises less, so it builds root mass slowly. Clay resists root penetration and swings between saturation and drought-hardness. A plant needs to be tolerant of low light and able to root into difficult ground on a reduced energy budget.

Two practical notes from our own data. First, check rooting depth — we now publish USDA's minimum figure on every profile, and a plant needing 40+ inches is a poor bet on shallow soil over a compacted layer. Second, check anaerobic tolerance separately from drought tolerance: clay in winter is a waterlogging problem, and USDA rates those as two different things. A plant that tolerates drought will not necessarily survive February.

We are not going to tell you to amend the clay. That is standard advice and we have no data on it. What we have is the list of plants that USDA records as growing in these conditions already.

40 natives for shade over clay, by layer

Drawn from the 145 available natives, grouped by the layer each occupies. Plants USDA flags as invasive or allelopathic are marked rather than removed — the flag is information you should have, not a reason for us to quietly edit your options.

Canopy trees

1. 
   Arizona cypress Hesperocyparis arizonicaZone 4+ · 50 ft · tree
2. 
   balsam fir Abies balsameaZone 2+ · 60 ft · tree
3. 
   black spruce Picea marianaZone 1+ · 65 ft · tree
4. 
   boxelder Acer negundoZone 2+ · 60 ft · tree
5. 
   California laurel Umbellularia californicaZone 5+ · 80 ft · tree · ⚠ USDA allelopathic
6. 
   canyon live oak Quercus chrysolepisZone 8+ · 90 ft · tree
7. 
   common hackberry Celtis occidentalisZone 2+ · 60 ft · tree
8. 
   common persimmon Diospyros virginianaZone 4+ · 55 ft · tree

Shrub layer

1. 
   alderleaf buckthorn Rhamnus alnifoliaZone 3+ · 3 ft · shrub
2. 
   blackhaw Viburnum prunifoliumZone 3+ · 16 ft · shrub
3. 
   Booth's willow Salix boothiiZone 8+ · 24 ft · shrub
4. 
   bushy St. Johnswort Hypericum densiflorumZone 7+ · 6.6 ft · shrub
5. 
   Canada yew Taxus canadensisZone 4+ · 5 ft · shrub
6. 
   coastal doghobble Leucothoe axillarisZone 7+ · 6.5 ft · shrub
7. 
   common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalisZone 3+ · 15 ft · shrub

Herb layer

1. 
   American water horehound Lycopus americanusZone 3+ · 1.8 ft · perennial
2. 
   American water-willow Justicia americanaZone 4+ · 2.5 ft · perennial
3. 
   Atlantic camas Camassia scilloidesZone 4+ · 2.5 ft · perennial
4. 
   Atlantic mannagrass Glyceria obtusaZone 6+ · 3.3 ft · grass
5. 
   awlfruit sedge Carex stipataZone 3+ · 3.5 ft · grass
6. 
   beaked sedge Carex rostrataZone 3+ · 3.5 ft · grass
7. 
   Bebb's sedge Carex bebbiiZone 3+ · 3 ft · grass
8. 
   Bicknell's sedge Carex bicknelliiZone 3+ · 3.4 ft · grass
9. 
   bigleaf aster Eurybia macrophyllaZone 4+ · 4.6 ft · perennial
10. 
    blue mistflower Conoclinium coelestinumZone 5+ · 3.2 ft · perennial
11. 
    blue wildrye Elymus glaucusZone 3+ · 3.3 ft · grass
12. 
    blunt broom sedge Carex tribuloidesZone 4+ · 3 ft · grass
13. 
    bristly buttercup Ranunculus hispidusZone 3+ · 2.5 ft · perennial
14. 
    broom sedge Carex scopariaZone 3+ · 2.5 ft · grass
15. 
    Canada wildrye Elymus canadensisZone 2+ · 3 ft · grass
16. 
    cattail sedge Carex typhinaZone 4+ · 2 ft · grass
17. 
    cinnamon fern Osmunda cinnamomeaZone 3+ · 4.9 ft · perennial
18. 
    common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-venerisZone 3+ · 1.7 ft · perennial
19. 
    copper iris Iris fulvaZone 4+ · 3.3 ft · perennial
20. 
    crested sedge Carex cristatellaZone 3+ · 3 ft · grass

Ground cover

1. 
   American speedwell Veronica americanaZone 3+ · 0.8 ft · perennial

Climbers

1. 
   American bittersweet Celastrus scandensZone 3+ · 15 ft · vine
2. 
   American wisteria Wisteria frutescensZone 6+ · 50 ft · vine
3. 
   climbing hempvine Mikania scandensZone 3+ · 1 ft · vine
4. 
   coral greenbrier Smilax walteriZone 6+ · 1 ft · vine

Related

• Dry shade: 179 plants can take it, 87 you can actually buy
• Rain gardens: only 20 plants survive both the flood and the drought
• All clay-tolerant plants

Written and edited by the Understory Guide team. We publish the query behind every number. Corrections: contact us.