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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Iowa

Native plants of Montgomery County

107 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Montgomery County by USDA PLANTS. 48 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

Montgomery County, Iowa

Native species
107 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
Garden-ready natives
48 Typical Iowa county: 24
Share by type (all 107 native species)
Percent of the 107 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (10)
Shrub 6% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 64% (68)
Grass or grass-like 20% (21)
Vine <1% (1)
Fern <1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (64%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (20%).

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 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 48

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

Garden-ready native plants of Montgomery County, Iowa
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American hazelnut Corylus americana Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
American water plantain Alisma subcordatum Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun High Zone 4a
bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis Tree 75 ft Sun Medium Zone 2b
black cherry Prunus serotina Tree 80 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
black walnut Juglans nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 4b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
calico aster Symphyotrichum lateriflorum Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
Canada goldenrod Solidago altissima Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
common blue wood aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
green bulrush Scirpus atrovirens Grass or grass-like 5.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 2a
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
New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
nimblewill Muhlenbergia schreberi Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
northern catalpa Catalpa speciosa Tree 60 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida Wildflower (forb) 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata Wildflower (forb) 2.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 7a
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
poverty rush Juncus tenuis Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
prairie crab apple Malus ioensis Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
rough bugleweed Lycopus asper Wildflower (forb) 2.1 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii Tree 20 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
sawtooth sunflower Helianthus grosseserratus Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium 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
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum Wildflower (forb) 3.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Virginia iris Iris virginica Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 8b
Virginia threeseed mercury Acalypha virginica Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 10b
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
wheat sedge Carex atherodes Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
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 sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
woodland bluegrass Poa sylvestris Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 59

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 burnweed Erechtites hieraciifolius
  • Baldwin's ironweed Vernonia baldwinii
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • blackseed plantain Plantago rugelii
  • browneyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • button eryngo Eryngium yuccifolium
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
  • Carolina horsenettle Solanum carolinense
  • common boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum
  • common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • desert goosefoot Chenopodium pratericola
  • downy phlox Phlox pilosa
  • dwarf chinquapin oak Quercus prinoides
  • Great Plains flatsedge Cyperus lupulinus
  • groovestem Indian plantain Arnoglossum plantagineum
  • hairy four o'clock Mirabilis hirsuta
  • hairy hedgenettle Stachys pilosa
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • Illinois ticktrefoil Desmodium illinoense
  • inflated narrow-leaf sedge Carex grisea
  • Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
  • lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • largebracted plantain Plantago aristata
  • leathery knotweed Polygonum achoreum
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • marsh skullcap Scutellaria galericulata
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • meadow garlic Allium canadense
  • neckweed Veronica peregrina
  • New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
  • nodding chickweed Cerastium nutans
  • northern green rush Juncus alpinoarticulatus
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • Philadelphia panicgrass Panicum philadelphicum
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
  • puffsheath dropseed Sporobolus neglectus
  • purple meadow-rue Thalictrum dasycarpum
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
  • sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
  • slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
  • smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
  • spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
  • swamp verbena Verbena hastata
  • tall blazing star Liatris aspera
  • thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
  • winged lythrum Lythrum alatum
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, Montgomery County and Iowa
MeasureMontgomery CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 107 44 1,374
Garden-ready natives 48 24 496
Tree 10 — 110
Shrub 6 — 72
Wildflower (forb) 68 — 779
Grass or grass-like 21 — 298
Vine 1 — 55
Fern 1 — 60

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Montgomery 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
Montgomery County (county FIPS 19137), Iowa. 107 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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