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Native plants · Colorado

Native plants of Kiowa County

113 plant species are recorded as native to Colorado in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Kiowa County by USDA PLANTS. 54 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Kiowa County, Colorado

Native species
113 Typical Colorado county: 237 (median of 63 counties)
Garden-ready natives
54 Typical Colorado county: 148
Share by type (all 113 native species)
Percent of the 113 native species in each growth type
Tree <1% (1)
Shrub 7% (8)
Wildflower (forb) 64% (72)
Grass or grass-like 26% (29)
Vine 3% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (64%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (26%).

Recorded native ranges can include long-established populations that spread from gardens; check your state’s native plant society list for local guidance. How native status is decided.

ZIP codes mainly in this county fall in USDA hardiness zones 5b to 6a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Cold hardiness is estimated from each plant’s PLANTS minimum temperature. How we estimate it.

Garden-ready natives 54

Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.

Garden-ready native plants of Kiowa County, Colorado
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alkali buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
American licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
broadbeard beardtongue Penstemon angustifolius Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae Shrub 1.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 12b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
crested pricklypoppy Argemone polyanthemos Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
cursed buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 12b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
green prairie coneflower Ratibida tagetes Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
James' galleta Pleuraphis jamesii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima Vine 1 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
plains pricklypear Opuntia polyacantha Shrub 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
prairie sandreed Calamovilfa longifolia Grass or grass-like 4.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea Grass or grass-like 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Rocky Mountain beeplant Cleome serrulata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12b
rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum Wildflower (forb) 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
saltgrass Distichlis spicata Grass or grass-like 1.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sand bluestem Andropogon hallii Grass or grass-like 6.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
scratchgrass Muhlenbergia asperifolia Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
squirreltail Elymus elymoides Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
textile onion Allium textile Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
threetooth ragwort Packera tridenticulata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
white prairie clover Dalea candida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
white sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata Shrub 2 ft Sun Low Zone 2a
woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 59

PLANTS has no growing records for these, so light, moisture, height and zone filters cannot include them. Many are wild species seldom sold by nurseries.

  • annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • azure blue sage Salvia azurea
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
  • chairmaker's bulrush Schoenoplectus americanus
  • Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • desert princesplume Stanleya pinnata
  • false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
  • feather fingergrass Chloris virgata
  • flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
  • green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
  • heartleaf four o'clock Mirabilis nyctaginea
  • hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
  • Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • lemon scurfpea Psoralidium lanceolatum
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • Paradox cinquefoil Potentilla paradoxa
  • plains springparsley Cymopterus acaulis
  • povertyweed Iva axillaris
  • prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
  • prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
  • prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
  • ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
  • redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • rusty lupine Lupinus pusillus
  • sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
  • sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
  • silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
  • sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
  • slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
  • stemless four-nerve daisy Tetraneuris acaulis
  • stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
  • Texas croton Croton texensis
  • thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
  • tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
  • tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
  • twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
  • veiny dock Rumex venosus
  • Virginia groundcherry Physalis virginiana
  • wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
  • wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
  • western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
  • white prairie aster Symphyotrichum falcatum
  • whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis
  • winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare

Compared with Colorado

The typical county is the median of the 63 Colorado counties with PLANTS county records; the statewide figure counts every species native anywhere in the state. More species is not better or worse: counties differ in size, habitat and how thoroughly they have been surveyed.

Native species counts, Kiowa County and Colorado
MeasureKiowa CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 113 237 1,119
Garden-ready natives 54 148 585
Tree 1 — 66
Shrub 8 — 92
Wildflower (forb) 72 — 626
Grass or grass-like 29 — 278
Vine 3 — 20
Fern 0 — 37

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Kiowa County.

Look up another ZIP

Matches your ZIP to the county it mostly lies in, then lists the plants recorded as native to your state (Kew’s World Checklist and USDA PLANTS) and recorded in that county by USDA PLANTS.

Source & data date

Source
USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
Citation
USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
Data date
Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
Zones
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023) ZIP table: PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu, accessed November 3, 2026. Plant zones on this site are our estimate, not the official map.
Scope
Kiowa County (county FIPS 08061), Colorado. 113 native species from PLANTS county distribution records; garden-ready = species with a PLANTS characteristics record.
Method
A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources

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