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Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Mills County

215 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Mills County by USDA PLANTS. 102 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

Mills County, Iowa

Native species
215 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
102 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 215 native species)
Percent of the 215 native species in each growth type
Tree 15% (32)
Shrub 7% (14)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (111)
Grass or grass-like 21% (45)
Vine 4% (9)
Fern 2% (4)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (52%), 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 zones 5b to 6a (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 102

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

Garden-ready native plants of Mills County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
Allegheny blackberry Rubus allegheniensis Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
American basswood Tilia americana Tree 100 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
American hazelnut Corylus americana Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
American red raspberry Rubus idaeus Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant — Zone 1a
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis Tree 75 ft Sun Medium Zone 2b
black cherry Prunus serotina Tree 80 ft Sun Medium 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
black walnut Juglans nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 4b
black willow Salix nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 1b
blunt broom sedge Carex tribuloides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium 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
burningbush Euonymus atropurpureus Tree 10 ft Shade-tolerant Low —
Canada germander Teucrium canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
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
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common blue wood aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
common evening primrose Oenothera biennis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
common serviceberry Amelanchier arborea Tree 36 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
crested sedge Carex cristatella Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
ditch stonecrop Penthorum sedoides Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun–part shade 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
eastern redbud Cercis canadensis Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
flatstem spikerush Eleocharis compressa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun High Zone 4a
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
golden currant Ribes aureum Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
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
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus Grass or grass-like 9.8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 5b
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
inland rush Juncus interior Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus Tree 100 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
little barley Hordeum pusillum Grass or grass-like 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low 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
needle spikerush Eleocharis acicularis Grass or grass-like 8 in Sun Medium Zone 5a
New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
northern red oak Quercus rubra Tree 81 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Ohio buckeye Aesculus glabra Tree 68 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
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
plains muhly Muhlenbergia cuspidata Grass or grass-like 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis Grass or grass-like 11 in Sun Low Zone 3a
purple poppymallow Callirhoe involucrata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
purplestem beggarticks Bidens connata Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
quaking aspen Populus tremuloides Tree 65 ft Sun High Zone 1a
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum Fern 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
ravenfoot sedge Carex crus-corvi Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
red mulberry Morus rubra Tree 70 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
rock elm Ulmus thomasii Tree 90 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
Rocky Mountain beeplant Cleome serrulata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12b
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
sago pondweed Stuckenia pectinata Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
sand lovegrass Eragrostis trichodes Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
sawtooth sunflower Helianthus grosseserratus Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
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
slippery elm Ulmus rubra Tree 85 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
smooth blue aster Symphyotrichum laeve Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
smooth sumac Rhus glabra Tree 12 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum Wildflower (forb) 3.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus Grass or grass-like 1.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
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 snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
white ash Fraxinus americana Tree 90 ft Sun High Zone 4a
white avens Geum canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
white prairie clover Dalea candida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 113

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.

  • amberique-bean Strophostyles helvola
  • American burnweed Erechtites hieraciifolius
  • American white waterlily Nymphaea odorata
  • aromatic aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • bald spikerush Eleocharis erythropoda
  • Baldwin's ironweed Vernonia baldwinii
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • bearded shorthusk Brachyelytrum erectum
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • blackseed plantain Plantago rugelii
  • bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
  • brittle bladderfern Cystopteris fragilis
  • button eryngo Eryngium yuccifolium
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • carelessweed Cyclachaena xanthiifolia
  • Carolina horsenettle Solanum carolinense
  • Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
  • common moonseed Menispermum canadense
  • common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
  • downy hawthorn Crataegus mollis
  • downy phlox Phlox pilosa
  • eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
  • elmleaf goldenrod Solidago ulmifolia
  • feverwort Triosteum perfoliatum
  • field pansy Viola bicolor
  • flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
  • flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
  • green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
  • grooved flax Linum sulcatum
  • groovestem Indian plantain Arnoglossum plantagineum
  • hairy four o'clock Mirabilis hirsuta
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • heavy sedge Carex gravida
  • Hitchcock's sedge Carex hitchcockiana
  • hoary frostweed Helianthemum bicknellii
  • hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • hogwort Croton capitatus
  • honeyvine Cynanchum laeve
  • hooded arrowhead Sagittaria calycina
  • Illinois ticktrefoil Desmodium illinoense
  • Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
  • lanceleaf fogfruit Phyla lanceolata
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • large beardtongue Penstemon grandiflorus
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • largebracted plantain Plantago aristata
  • leathery knotweed Polygonum achoreum
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • lowland bladderfern Cystopteris protrusa
  • Macoun's barley ×Elyhordeum macounii
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
  • meadow garlic Allium canadense
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • neckweed Veronica peregrina
  • northern bog violet Viola nephrophylla
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
  • oneseed bur cucumber Sicyos angulatus
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • prairie blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium campestre
  • prairie false dandelion Nothocalais cuspidata
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
  • puffsheath dropseed Sporobolus neglectus
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • richwoods sedge Carex oligocarpa
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • rough rattlesnakeroot Prenanthes aspera
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • shortbeak arrowhead Sagittaria brevirostra
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • sicklepod Arabis canadensis
  • silky dogwood Cornus obliqua
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
  • skyblue aster Symphyotrichum oolentangiense
  • sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
  • slenderleaf false foxglove Agalinis tenuifolia
  • smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
  • stiff sunflower Helianthus pauciflorus
  • swamp verbena Verbena hastata
  • tall thistle Cirsium altissimum
  • toothed spurge Euphorbia dentata
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • upright burhead Echinodorus berteroi
  • upright carrionflower Smilax ecirrhata
  • violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
  • Virginia bunchflower Veratrum virginicum
  • Virginia groundcherry Physalis virginiana
  • Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
  • Virginia plantain Plantago virginica
  • Virginia strawberry Fragaria virginiana
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • white vervain Verbena urticifolia
  • wholeleaf rosinweed Silphium integrifolium
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia
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.

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, Mills County and Iowa
MeasureMills CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 215 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 102 24 496
Tree 32 — 110
Shrub 14 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 111 — 779
Grass or grass-like 45 — 298
Vine 9 — 55
Fern 4 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Mills 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
Mills County (county FIPS 19129), Iowa. 215 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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