Native plants · Iowa
Native plants of Muscatine County
76 plant species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Muscatine County by USDA PLANTS. 33 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
Muscatine County, Iowa
- Native species
- 76 Typical Iowa county: 44 (median of 99 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 33 Typical Iowa county: 24
- Share by type (all 76 native species)
-
Percent of the 76 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (41%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (34%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 33
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 5a |
| 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 |
| crested woodfern Dryopteris cristata | Fern | 1.6 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4a |
| cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata | Wildflower (forb) | 8.2 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 3b |
| devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa | Wildflower (forb) | 4 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 12a |
| eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides | Grass or grass-like | 5 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
| field horsetail Equisetum arvense | Fern | 11 in | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3a |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| nodding beggartick Bidens cernua | Wildflower (forb) | 3.2 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 12a |
| northern maidenhair Adiantum pedatum | Fern | 1.3 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3b |
| pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida | Wildflower (forb) | 1.2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4a |
| peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides | Tree | 60 ft | Sun | High | Zone 4a |
| pinnate prairie coneflower Ratibida pinnata | Wildflower (forb) | 4 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| prairie blazing star Liatris pycnostachya | Wildflower (forb) | 3.5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4a |
| prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata | Grass or grass-like | 3.2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3a |
| purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis | Grass or grass-like | 11 in | Sun | Low | Zone 3a |
| rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum | Fern | 1.4 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3b |
| roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus | Wildflower (forb) | 6.6 ft | Sun | High | Zone 4a |
| sand bluestem Andropogon hallii | Grass or grass-like | 6.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| sawtooth sunflower Helianthus grosseserratus | Wildflower (forb) | 5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum | Fern | 5 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| stalkless yellowcress Rorippa sessiliflora | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 12b |
| 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 |
| western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Shrub | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3b |
| winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis | Grass or grass-like | 3.5 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 4a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 43
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.
- bearded shorthusk Brachyelytrum erectum
- big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
- blue skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora
- bluejacket Tradescantia ohiensis
- bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
- bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
- Canada lettuce Lactuca canadensis
- Carolina puccoon Lithospermum caroliniense
- Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
- earlyleaf brome Bromus latiglumis
- eastern marsh fern Thelypteris palustris
- ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
- fall witchgrass Digitaria cognata
- forked threeawn Aristida basiramea
- green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
- hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
- Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
- mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
- meadow horsetail Equisetum pratense
- Mexican Mosquito Fern Azolla microphylla
- nodding muhly Muhlenbergia bushii
- northern selaginella Selaginella rupestris
- poverty oatgrass Danthonia spicata
- prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
- prairie milkweed Asclepias sullivantii
- purple rattlesnakeroot Prenanthes racemosa
- purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
- sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
- sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
- Short's rockcress Arabis shortii
- sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
- slender crabgrass Digitaria filiformis
- small skullcap Scutellaria parvula
- smooth cliffbrake Pellaea glabella
- smooth forked nailwort Paronychia canadensis
- smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides
- spinulose woodfern Dryopteris carthusiana
- sweet coneflower Rudbeckia subtomentosa
- tall blazing star Liatris aspera
- threeflower melicgrass Melica nitens
- walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum
- western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
- yellow pimpernel Taenidia integerrima
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 | Muscatine County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 76 | 44 | 1,374 |
| Garden-ready natives | 33 | 24 | 496 |
| Tree | 2 | — | 110 |
| Shrub | 1 | — | 72 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 31 | — | 779 |
| Grass or grass-like | 26 | — | 298 |
| Vine | 0 | — | 55 |
| Fern | 16 | — | 60 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Muscatine County.
- Cedar County, IA 6 garden-ready
- Johnson County, IA 44 garden-ready
- Louisa County, IA 10 garden-ready
- Scott County, IA 11 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
- Muscatine County (county FIPS 19139), Iowa. 76 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