Native plants · Iowa
Native plants of Carroll County
79 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Carroll County by USDA PLANTS. 41 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
Carroll County, Iowa
- Native species
- 79 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 41 Typical Iowa county: 24
- Share by type (all 79 native species)
-
Percent of the 79 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (54%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (39%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 41
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American bellflower Campanulastrum americanum | Wildflower (forb) | 6 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 12b |
| American water horehound Lycopus americanus | Wildflower (forb) | 1.8 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 3b |
| big bluestem Andropogon gerardii | Grass or grass-like | 6 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 2b |
| broadfruit bur-reed Sparganium eurycarpum | Wildflower (forb) | 4.9 ft | Sun–part shade | High | 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 |
| Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis | Wildflower (forb) | 5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 12b |
| Canadian milkvetch Astragalus canadensis | Wildflower (forb) | 6 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| crested sedge Carex cristatella | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4a |
| fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum | Grass or grass-like | 3.3 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| green bulrush Scirpus atrovirens | Grass or grass-like | 5.9 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 2a |
| hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta | Grass or grass-like | 6 in | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans | Grass or grass-like | 6 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus | Wildflower (forb) | — | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| northern bedstraw Galium boreale | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
| Pennsylvania buttercup Ranunculus pensylvanicus | Wildflower (forb) | 3.9 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4b |
| 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 |
| plains muhly Muhlenbergia cuspidata | Grass or grass-like | 1.4 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea | Grass or grass-like | 4 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha | Grass or grass-like | 1.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 3b |
| prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata | Grass or grass-like | 3.2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3a |
| reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea | Grass or grass-like | 5 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| rough bugleweed Lycopus asper | Wildflower (forb) | 2.1 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 3b |
| roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus | Wildflower (forb) | 6.6 ft | Sun | High | Zone 4a |
| roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata | Wildflower (forb) | 2.6 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4b |
| sago pondweed Stuckenia pectinata | Wildflower (forb) | — | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum | Fern | 5 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata | Wildflower (forb) | 4.9 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus | Grass or grass-like | 2.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4b |
| western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Shrub | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3b |
| wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3b |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 38
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.
Hidden while “Garden-ready only” is on.
- Allegheny monkeyflower Mimulus ringens
- American mannagrass Glyceria grandis
- beggarslice Hackelia virginiana
- biannual lettuce Lactuca ludoviciana
- big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
- blue skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora
- Canada lettuce Lactuca canadensis
- Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
- carpenter's square Scrophularia marilandica
- common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
- common threeseed mercury Acalypha rhomboidea
- common yellow oxalis Oxalis stricta
- eastern bottlebrush grass Elymus hystrix
- fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
- foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
- fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
- fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
- great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
- green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
- hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
- Illinois pondweed Potamogeton illinoensis
- lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
- leathery knotweed Polygonum achoreum
- Leiberg's panicum Dichanthelium leibergii
- longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
- mapleleaf goosefoot Chenopodium simplex
- Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
- Nuttall's prairie parsley Polytaenia nuttallii
- poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
- puffsheath dropseed Sporobolus neglectus
- smartweed dodder Cuscuta polygonorum
- smooth rose Rosa blanda
- stiff tickseed Coreopsis palmata
- toothed spurge Euphorbia dentata
- tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
- white snakeroot Ageratina altissima
- whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
- witchgrass Panicum capillare
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.
- Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis
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.
| Measure | Carroll County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 79 | 44 | 1,374 |
| Garden-ready natives | 41 | 24 | 496 |
| Tree | 1 | — | 110 |
| Shrub | 2 | — | 72 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 43 | — | 779 |
| Grass or grass-like | 31 | — | 298 |
| Vine | 1 | — | 55 |
| Fern | 1 | — | 60 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Carroll County.
- Audubon County, IA 66 garden-ready
- Calhoun County, IA 23 garden-ready
- Crawford County, IA 70 garden-ready
- Greene County, IA 55 garden-ready
- Guthrie County, IA 162 garden-ready
- Sac County, IA 21 garden-ready
- Shelby County, IA 89 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
- Carroll County (county FIPS 19027), Iowa. 79 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