Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Allamakee County

81 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Allamakee County by USDA PLANTS. 37 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Allamakee County, Iowa

Native species: 81 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 37 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 81 native species): Percent of the 81 native species in each growth type

Tree 5% (4)
Shrub 1% (1)
Wildflower (forb) 35% (28)
Grass or grass-like 35% (28)
Vine 4% (3)
Fern 21% (17)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (35%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (35%).

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 5a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 37

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

Garden-ready native plants of Allamakee County, Iowa
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
arctic brome Bromus kalmii	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4a
black oak Quercus velutina	Tree	80 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
black raspberry Rubus occidentalis	Shrub	6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
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
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata	Wildflower (forb)	8.2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 3b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana	Vine	15 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4b
false daisy Eclipta prostrata	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 10b
field horsetail Equisetum arvense	Fern	11 in	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
groundnut Apios americana	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5a
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
hop sedge Carex lupulina	Grass or grass-like	4.3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus	Wildflower (forb)	9.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3a
Mexican muhly Muhlenbergia mexicana	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
nimblewill Muhlenbergia schreberi	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
nodding fescue Festuca subverticillata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
northern maidenhair Adiantum pedatum	Fern	1.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata	Wildflower (forb)	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum	Fern	1.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus	Wildflower (forb)	6.6 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
stalkless yellowcress Rorippa sessiliflora	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
teal lovegrass Eragrostis hypnoides	Grass or grass-like	4 in	Sun	High	Zone 3b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
water horsetail Equisetum fluviatile	Fern	3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
white oak Quercus alba	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a

Other native species recorded here 44

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.

big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
bluejacket Tradescantia ohiensis
bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
earlyleaf brome Bromus latiglumis
eastern marsh fern Thelypteris palustris
fall witchgrass Digitaria cognata
false melic Schizachne purpurascens
fire on the mountain Euphorbia cyathophora
forked threeawn Aristida basiramea
golden zizia Zizia aurea
greater water dock Rumex orbiculatus
hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
Indian-tobacco Lobelia inflata
jumpseed Polygonum virginianum
lesser yellow lady's slipper Cypripedium parviflorum
longbract frog orchid Dactylorhiza viridis
marginal woodfern Dryopteris marginalis
meadow horsetail Equisetum pratense
Mexican Mosquito Fern Azolla microphylla
northern selaginella Selaginella rupestris
pleatleaf knotweed Polygonum tenue
prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
scaldweed Cuscuta gronovii
sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
slimleaf panicgrass Dichanthelium linearifolium
smooth cliffbrake Pellaea glabella
spinulose woodfern Dryopteris carthusiana
sweetscented joe pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
threeflower melicgrass Melica nitens
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
Virginia tephrosia Tephrosia virginiana
walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum
western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
witchgrass Panicum capillare

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, Allamakee County and Iowa
Measure	Allamakee County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	81	44	1,374
Garden-ready natives	37	24	496
Tree	4	—	110
Shrub	1	—	72
Wildflower (forb)	28	—	779
Grass or grass-like	28	—	298
Vine	3	—	55
Fern	17	—	60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Allamakee County.

Clayton County, IA 24 garden-ready
Fayette County, IA 13 garden-ready
Winneshiek County, IA 64 garden-ready

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: Allamakee County (county FIPS 19005), Iowa. 81 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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