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Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Ida County

131 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Ida County by USDA PLANTS. 56 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

Ida County, Iowa

Native species
131 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
56 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 131 native species)
Percent of the 131 native species in each growth type
Tree 8% (11)
Shrub 5% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 60% (79)
Grass or grass-like 21% (28)
Vine 4% (5)
Fern 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (60%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (21%).

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 56

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

Garden-ready native plants of Ida County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American basswood Tilia americana Tree 100 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
Bicknell's sedge Carex bicknellii Grass or grass-like 3.4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
black walnut Juglans nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 4b
black willow Salix nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 1b
bluejoint Calamagrostis canadensis Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
bulbous bittercress Cardamine bulbosa Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant 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
Canadian milkvetch Astragalus canadensis Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common blue violet Viola sororia Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
common evening primrose Oenothera biennis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
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
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
green bulrush Scirpus atrovirens Grass or grass-like 5.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 2a
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
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus Wildflower (forb) 2.8 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
marsh muhly Muhlenbergia racemosa Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata Wildflower (forb) 2.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 7a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium 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
saltgrass Distichlis spicata Grass or grass-like 1.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
silver maple Acer saccharinum Tree 90 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 2b
smooth blue aster Symphyotrichum laeve Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
strawcolored flatsedge Cyperus strigosus Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
water sedge Carex aquatilis Grass or grass-like 2.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
white avens Geum canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
white prairie clover Dalea candida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 75

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
  • bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
  • biannual lettuce Lactuca ludoviciana
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • Canada lettuce Lactuca canadensis
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
  • Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
  • Clayton's sweetroot Osmorhiza claytonii
  • common cinquefoil Potentilla simplex
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • common moonseed Menispermum canadense
  • compassplant Silphium laciniatum
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • downy phlox Phlox pilosa
  • dwarf larkspur Delphinium tricorne
  • eastern daisy fleabane Erigeron annuus
  • eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
  • eastern waterleaf Hydrophyllum virginianum
  • flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • golden zizia Zizia aurea
  • green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
  • groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
  • hairy four o'clock Mirabilis hirsuta
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • heartleaf four o'clock Mirabilis nyctaginea
  • heavy sedge Carex gravida
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • lanceleaf fogfruit Phyla lanceolata
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • longbract spiderwort Tradescantia bracteata
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
  • Michigan lily Lilium michiganense
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • northern bog violet Viola nephrophylla
  • northern sweetgrass Hierochloe hirta
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • purple meadow-rue Thalictrum dasycarpum
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • Rocky Mountain fescue Festuca saximontana
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • rough rattlesnakeroot Prenanthes aspera
  • shortbeak arrowhead Sagittaria brevirostra
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
  • slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
  • small skullcap Scutellaria parvula
  • smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
  • smooth rose Rosa blanda
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • soft-hair marbleseed Onosmodium bejariense
  • spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
  • stiff tickseed Coreopsis palmata
  • toothed spurge Euphorbia dentata
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • veiny pea Lathyrus venosus
  • Virginia strawberry Fragaria virginiana
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
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, Ida County and Iowa
MeasureIda CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 131 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 56 24 496
Tree 11 — 110
Shrub 6 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 79 — 779
Grass or grass-like 28 — 298
Vine 5 — 55
Fern 2 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Ida 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
Ida County (county FIPS 19093), Iowa. 131 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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