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Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Adams County

104 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Adams County by USDA PLANTS. 49 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 1 more species is listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Adams County, Iowa

Native species
104 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
49 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 104 native species)
Percent of the 104 native species in each growth type
Tree 14% (15)
Shrub 7% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 57% (59)
Grass or grass-like 19% (20)
Vine 2% (2)
Fern <1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (57%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (19%).

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 zone 5b (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 49

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

Garden-ready native plants of Adams County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American hazelnut Corylus americana Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis Tree 75 ft Sun Medium Zone 2b
black cherry Prunus serotina Tree 80 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
black oak Quercus velutina Tree 80 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
Canada germander Teucrium canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common blue wood aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 2b
coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
crested sedge Carex cristatella Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
fringeleaf wild petunia Ruellia humilis Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
gray dogwood Cornus racemosa Shrub 10 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus Tree 100 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
little barley Hordeum pusillum Grass or grass-like 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
nannyberry Viburnum lentago Tree 28 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
northern red oak Quercus rubra Tree 81 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
pinnate prairie coneflower Ratibida pinnata Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
poverty rush Juncus tenuis Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie crab apple Malus ioensis Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
river birch Betula nigra Tree 70 ft Sun High Zone 4a
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun High Zone 4a
sawtooth sunflower Helianthus grosseserratus Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
shagbark hickory Carya ovata Tree 75 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
smooth blue aster Symphyotrichum laeve Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
stalkless yellowcress Rorippa sessiliflora Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum Wildflower (forb) 3.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
sweet woodreed Cinna arundinacea Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
teal lovegrass Eragrostis hypnoides Grass or grass-like 4 in Sun High Zone 3b
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
white avens Geum canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
white oak Quercus alba Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
white sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
zigzag goldenrod Solidago flexicaulis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5b

Other native species recorded here 55

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.

  • American burnweed Erechtites hieraciifolius
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • blackseed plantain Plantago rugelii
  • bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
  • bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
  • browneyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
  • Carolina horsenettle Solanum carolinense
  • carpenter's square Scrophularia marilandica
  • Culver's root Veronicastrum virginicum
  • downy phlox Phlox pilosa
  • eastern bottlebrush grass Elymus hystrix
  • elmleaf goldenrod Solidago ulmifolia
  • fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
  • feverwort Triosteum perfoliatum
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • groovestem Indian plantain Arnoglossum plantagineum
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
  • hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • Illinois ticktrefoil Desmodium illinoense
  • Indianpipe Monotropa uniflora
  • Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
  • lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
  • largebracted plantain Plantago aristata
  • leathery knotweed Polygonum achoreum
  • manyfruit primrose-willow Ludwigia polycarpa
  • mapleleaf goosefoot Chenopodium simplex
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • neckweed Veronica peregrina
  • New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • palespike lobelia Lobelia spicata
  • Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
  • purple meadow-rue Thalictrum dasycarpum
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • smooth Solomon's seal Polygonatum biflorum
  • spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
  • sweetscented joe pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
  • Texas goldentop Euthamia gymnospermoides
  • Virginia bunchflower Veratrum virginicum
  • Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • white rattlesnakeroot Prenanthes alba
  • white vervain Verbena urticifolia
  • winged lythrum Lythrum alatum
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • wood lily Lilium philadelphicum
Also listed as native and introduced here 1

PLANTS labels these species both native and introduced in this state: some forms are native and others were brought in from elsewhere. Most gardeners should choose plants from the main list.

Compared with Iowa

The typical county is the median of the 99 Iowa 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, Adams County and Iowa
MeasureAdams CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 104 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 49 24 496
Tree 15 — 110
Shrub 7 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 59 — 779
Grass or grass-like 20 — 298
Vine 2 — 55
Fern 1 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Adams 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
Adams County (county FIPS 19003), Iowa. 104 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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