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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Boone County

95 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Boone County by USDA PLANTS. 43 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 2 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Boone County, Iowa

Native species
95 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
43 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 95 native species)
Percent of the 95 native species in each growth type
Tree 3% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 33% (31)
Grass or grass-like 58% (55)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 5% (5)

Grasses and grass-like plants make up the largest share of the native list (58%), followed by wildflowers (33%).

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 5a to 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 43

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

Garden-ready native plants of Boone County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Low Zone 2b
bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis Tree 75 ft Sun Medium Zone 2b
broadleaf rosette grass Dichanthelium latifolium Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
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 lousewort Pedicularis canadensis Wildflower (forb) 1.3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
common blue violet Viola sororia Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun High Zone 3a
field horsetail Equisetum arvense Fern 11 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
marsh muhly Muhlenbergia racemosa Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
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 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
pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida Wildflower (forb) 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis Grass or grass-like 2.3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
rice cutgrass Leersia oryzoides Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
rough bentgrass Agrostis scabra Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun High Zone 4a
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii Tree 20 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
saltgrass Distichlis spicata Grass or grass-like 1.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
scratchgrass Muhlenbergia asperifolia Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
slender wheatgrass Elymus trachycaulus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
slimstem reedgrass Calamagrostis stricta Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
sweet woodreed Cinna arundinacea Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
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
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
upland bentgrass Agrostis perennans Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
white sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
whitegrass Leersia virginica Grass or grass-like 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 52

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 mannagrass Glyceria grandis
  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • bearded shorthusk Brachyelytrum erectum
  • blackseed ricegrass Patis racemosa
  • bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
  • bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
  • bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
  • bottlebrush sedge Carex hystericina
  • Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
  • Canadian honewort Cryptotaenia canadensis
  • clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
  • Clayton's sweetroot Osmorhiza claytonii
  • clustered blacksnakeroot Sanicula odorata
  • common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
  • early meadow-rue Thalictrum dioicum
  • early wildrye Elymus macgregorii
  • earlyleaf brome Bromus latiglumis
  • eastern waterleaf Hydrophyllum virginianum
  • feverwort Triosteum perfoliatum
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • golden zizia Zizia aurea
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • hemlock waterparsnip Sium suave
  • hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
  • lace grass Eragrostis capillaris
  • Leiberg's panicum Dichanthelium leibergii
  • Macoun's barley ×Elyhordeum macounii
  • Maryland sanicle Sanicula marilandica
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • meadow garlic Allium canadense
  • poverty oatgrass Danthonia spicata
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
  • puffsheath dropseed Sporobolus neglectus
  • purple milkweed Asclepias purpurascens
  • purplerocket Iodanthus pinnatifidus
  • rock muhly Muhlenbergia sobolifera
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
  • slender wedgescale Sphenopholis intermedia
  • spotted geranium Geranium maculatum
  • spotted water hemlock Cicuta maculata
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum
  • whitehair rosette grass Dichanthelium villosissimum
  • wild cucumber Echinocystis lobata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • woman's tobacco Antennaria plantaginifolia
  • yellow pimpernel Taenidia integerrima
Also listed as native and introduced here 2

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, Boone County and Iowa
MeasureBoone CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 95 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 43 24 496
Tree 3 — 110
Shrub 0 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 31 — 779
Grass or grass-like 55 — 298
Vine 1 — 55
Fern 5 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Boone 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
Boone County (county FIPS 19015), Iowa. 95 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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