Vascular plants of high-elevation cliffs and rock outcrops were sampled on 42 peaks in the Southern Appalachians. Species found were predominantly native, summer-flowering, herbaceous perennials. Species endemic to the Southern and Central Appalachians comprise over 25% of the total flora; species restricted to eastern North America include nearly 50% of the flora. The diversity of biogeographic affinities shows that the northern alpine element (those species found above treeline in the Northern Appalachians) is only a small subset of the total flora. At least 17% of species were likely components of the Pleistocene alpine flora. An annotated checklist of the 288 species is provided.