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Native plants · Colorado

Native plants of Ouray County

88 plant species are recorded as native to Colorado in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Ouray County by USDA PLANTS. 55 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Ouray County, Colorado

Native species
88 Typical Colorado county: 237 (median of 63 counties)
Garden-ready natives
55 Typical Colorado county: 148
Share by type (all 88 native species)
Percent of the 88 native species in each growth type
Tree 14% (12)
Shrub 8% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 65% (57)
Grass or grass-like 5% (4)
Vine 3% (3)
Fern 6% (5)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (65%), followed by trees (14%).

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 55

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

Garden-ready native plants of Ouray County, Colorado
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alpine mountainsorrel Oxyria digyna Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
American alpine speedwell Veronica wormskjoldii Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
American bistort Polygonum bistortoides Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
Arizona fescue Festuca arizonica Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
broadleaf arnica Arnica latifolia Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 12b
chamisso sedge Carex pachystachya Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
Colorado blue columbine Aquilegia coerulea Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
Columbian monkshood Aconitum columbianum Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
cutleaf daisy Erigeron compositus Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Douglas' dustymaiden Chaenactis douglasii Wildflower (forb) 1.6 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
dwarf bilberry Vaccinium cespitosum Shrub 1 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
elephanthead lousewort Pedicularis groenlandica Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
Engelmann spruce Picea engelmannii Tree 120 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2a
fringed grass of Parnassus Parnassia fimbriata Wildflower (forb) 1.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
Gambel oak Quercus gambelii Tree 40 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
Geyer's sedge Carex geyeri Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
gray aster Eurybia glauca Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
hairy arnica Arnica mollis Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
heartleaf arnica Arnica cordifolia Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
heartleaf bittercress Cardamine cordifolia Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
largeflower hawksbeard Crepis occidentalis Wildflower (forb) 11 in Sun Low Zone 5a
limber pine Pinus flexilis Tree 66 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
low pussytoes Antennaria dimorpha Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
maiden blue eyed Mary Collinsia parviflora Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
Modoc hawksbeard Crepis modocensis Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
northern bedstraw Galium boreale Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
Pacific anemone Anemone multifida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 5a
plains pricklypear Opuntia polyacantha Shrub 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
prickly currant Ribes lacustre Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant — Zone 1a
red elderberry Sambucus racemosa Tree 18 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
redosier dogwood Cornus sericea Tree 12 ft Sun High Zone 3b
Richardson's geranium Geranium richardsonii Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
Rocky Mountain juniper Juniperus scopulorum Tree 50 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
Rocky Mountain maple Acer glabrum Tree 30 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
Rocky Mountain penstemon Penstemon strictus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Ross' avens Geum rossii Wildflower (forb) 5 in Sun–part shade Low Zone 10a
sanddune wallflower Erysimum capitatum Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
Saskatoon serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia Tree 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 1a
scarlet gilia Ipomopsis aggregata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 5b
seep monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
shortfruit willow Salix brachycarpa Shrub 3.6 ft — — Zone 5a
silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
squirreltail Elymus elymoides Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
subalpine fir Abies lasiocarpa Tree 90 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2a
tall fringed bluebells Mertensia ciliata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
thimbleberry Rubus parviflorus Shrub 4 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
Utah serviceberry Amelanchier utahensis Tree 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
western pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
western white clematis Clematis ligusticifolia Vine 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Whipple's penstemon Penstemon whippleanus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
white fir Abies concolor Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
whitestem gooseberry Ribes inerme Shrub 8 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b

Other native species recorded here 33

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.

  • Aleutian maidenhair Adiantum aleuticum
  • American rockbrake Cryptogramma acrostichoides
  • autumn dwarf gentian Gentianella amarella
  • beautiful cinquefoil Potentilla pulcherrima
  • bitter fleabane Erigeron acris
  • brittle bladderfern Cystopteris fragilis
  • Douglas' knotweed Polygonum douglasii
  • feathery false lily of the valley Maianthemum racemosum
  • fragrant bedstraw Galium triflorum
  • Fremont's goosefoot Chenopodium fremontii
  • giant red Indian paintbrush Castilleja miniata
  • heartleaf twayblade Listera cordata
  • hookedspur violet Viola adunca
  • horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • mountain deathcamas Zigadenus elegans
  • mountain tansymustard Descurainia incana
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • northern hollyfern Polystichum lonchitis
  • Oregon cliff fern Woodsia oregana
  • pygmyflower rockjasmine Androsace septentrionalis
  • sidebells wintergreen Orthilia secunda
  • single delight Moneses uniflora
  • spreading dogbane Apocynum androsaemifolium
  • spreading sandwort Arenaria lanuginosa
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • tall annual willowherb Epilobium brachycarpum
  • tasselflower brickellbush Brickellia grandiflora
  • threenerve goldenrod Solidago velutina
  • tobacco root Valeriana edulis
  • trailing fleabane Erigeron flagellaris
  • western rattlesnake plantain Goodyera oblongifolia
  • wild cucumber Echinocystis lobata

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, Ouray County and Colorado
MeasureOuray CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 88 237 1,119
Garden-ready natives 55 148 585
Tree 12 — 66
Shrub 7 — 92
Wildflower (forb) 57 — 626
Grass or grass-like 4 — 278
Vine 3 — 20
Fern 5 — 37

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Ouray 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
Ouray County (county FIPS 08091), Colorado. 88 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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