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Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Clay County

122 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Clay County by USDA PLANTS. 68 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

Clay County, Iowa

Native species
122 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
68 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 122 native species)
Percent of the 122 native species in each growth type
Tree 3% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 38% (46)
Grass or grass-like 55% (67)
Vine <1% (1)
Fern 3% (4)

Grasses and grass-like plants make up the largest share of the native list (55%), followed by wildflowers (38%).

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

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

Garden-ready natives 68

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

Garden-ready native plants of Clay County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American eelgrass Vallisneria americana Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun High Zone 4a
American lotus Nelumbo lutea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun High Zone 3b
annual wildrice Zizania aquatica Grass or grass-like 9.8 ft Sun High Zone 10b
arumleaf arrowhead Sagittaria cuneata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Low Zone 2b
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
blunt broom sedge Carex tribuloides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
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 milkvetch Astragalus canadensis Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
common cowparsnip Heracleum maximum Wildflower (forb) 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
common rivergrass Scolochloa festucacea Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
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 bluegrass Poa palustris Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
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
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun High Zone 3a
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
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
northern red oak Quercus rubra Tree 81 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
pale touch-me-not Impatiens pallida Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Shade-tolerant 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 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 sandreed Calamovilfa longifolia Grass or grass-like 4.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum Fern 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
rice cutgrass Leersia oryzoides Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
scratchgrass Muhlenbergia asperifolia Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
shagbark hickory Carya ovata Tree 75 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
shortawn foxtail Alopecurus aequalis Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
slender flatsedge Cyperus bipartitus Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
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
slippery elm Ulmus rubra Tree 85 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
small floating mannagrass Glyceria borealis Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
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
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
white doll's daisy Boltonia asteroides Wildflower (forb) 8 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
whitegrass Leersia virginica Grass or grass-like 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 54

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
  • American sloughgrass Beckmannia syzigachne
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • bearded shorthusk Brachyelytrum erectum
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • blackseed ricegrass Patis racemosa
  • bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
  • bulblet-bearing water hemlock Cicuta bulbifera
  • Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
  • Canadian honewort Cryptotaenia canadensis
  • Carolina draba Draba reptans
  • clustered blacksnakeroot Sanicula odorata
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • dutchman's breeches Dicentra cucullaria
  • early wildrye Elymus macgregorii
  • earlyleaf brome Bromus latiglumis
  • eastern bottlebrush grass Elymus hystrix
  • fall rosette grass Dichanthelium wilcoxianum
  • fire on the mountain Euphorbia cyathophora
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • fragrant bedstraw Galium triflorum
  • fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
  • golden zizia Zizia aurea
  • great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
  • hairyjoint meadowparsnip Thaspium barbinode
  • hemlock waterparsnip Sium suave
  • hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
  • Leiberg's panicum Dichanthelium leibergii
  • longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
  • Macoun's barley ×Elyhordeum macounii
  • Maryland sanicle Sanicula marilandica
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • meadow garlic Allium canadense
  • Northern Idaho biscuitroot Lomatium orientale
  • northern sweetgrass Hierochloe hirta
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • Philadelphia panicgrass Panicum philadelphicum
  • poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie milkweed Asclepias sullivantii
  • puffsheath dropseed Sporobolus neglectus
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • shortspike watermilfoil Myriophyllum sibiricum
  • slender wedgescale Sphenopholis intermedia
  • small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
  • southeastern wildrye Elymus glabriflorus
  • spotted water hemlock Cicuta maculata
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • 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, Clay County and Iowa
MeasureClay CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 122 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 68 24 496
Tree 4 — 110
Shrub 0 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 46 — 779
Grass or grass-like 67 — 298
Vine 1 — 55
Fern 4 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Clay 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
Clay County (county FIPS 19041), Iowa. 122 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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