Native plants · Kentucky

Native plants of Hancock County

149 plant species are recorded as native to Kentucky in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Hancock County by USDA PLANTS. 77 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Hancock County, Kentucky

Native species: 149 Typical Kentucky county: 426 (median of 120 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 77 Typical Kentucky county: 190
Share by type (all 149 native species): Percent of the 149 native species in each growth type

Tree 34% (51)
Shrub 4% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 38% (56)
Grass or grass-like 9% (14)
Vine 7% (11)
Fern 7% (11)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (38%), followed by trees (34%).

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 7a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 77

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

Garden-ready native plants of Hancock County, Kentucky
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American basswood Tilia americana	Tree	100 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
American beech Fagus grandifolia	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
American bellflower Campanulastrum americanum	Wildflower (forb)	6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 12b
American chestnut Castanea dentata	Tree	115 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
American hazelnut Corylus americana	Shrub	10 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
American hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
American plum Prunus americana	Tree	24 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
American wisteria Wisteria frutescens	Vine	50 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
American witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana	Tree	20 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
black cherry Prunus serotina	Tree	80 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
black locust Robinia pseudoacacia	Tree	60 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
black oak Quercus velutina	Tree	80 ft	Sun–part shade	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
blackgum Nyssa sylvatica	Tree	95 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium	Tree	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
butternut Juglans cinerea	Tree	80 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
Carolina buckthorn Frangula caroliniana	Tree	20 ft	Shade-tolerant	—	Zone 4b
Carolina rose Rosa carolina	Shrub	5 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3a
cat greenbrier Smilax glauca	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
chestnut oak Quercus montana	Tree	73 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii	Tree	70 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis	Tree	60 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 2b
common persimmon Diospyros virginiana	Tree	55 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5a
common serviceberry Amelanchier arborea	Tree	36 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
cupseed Calycocarpum lyonii	Vine	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides	Tree	190 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
eastern narrowleaf sedge Carex amphibola	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
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
farkleberry Vaccinium arboreum	Tree	28 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
flowering dogwood Cornus florida	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
graybark grape Vitis cinerea	Vine	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos	Tree	70 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Indian woodoats Chasmanthium latifolium	Grass or grass-like	4.6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
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
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus	Wildflower (forb)	2.8 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa	Tree	85 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
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
northern spicebush Lindera benzoin	Tree	12 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
orangegrass Hypericum gentianoides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 12a
pecan Carya illinoinensis	Tree	120 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
post oak Quercus stellata	Tree	60 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
pride of Ohio Dodecatheon meadia	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum	Fern	1.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
red mulberry Morus rubra	Tree	70 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
river birch Betula nigra	Tree	70 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
roundleaf greenbrier Smilax rotundifolia	Vine	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
sandbar willow Salix interior	Tree	30 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
sassafras Sassafras albidum	Tree	75 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
sharpwing monkeyflower Mimulus alatus	Wildflower (forb)	2.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
shingle oak Quercus imbricaria	Tree	45 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
silver maple Acer saccharinum	Tree	90 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 2b
slippery elm Ulmus rubra	Tree	85 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3a
sugar maple Acer saccharum	Tree	100 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
swamp rose Rosa palustris	Shrub	8.2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
sweetgum Liquidambar styraciflua	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
trumpet creeper Campsis radicans	Vine	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
tuliptree Liriodendron tulipifera	Tree	120 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
upland bentgrass Agrostis perennans	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
white oak Quercus alba	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
winged elm Ulmus alata	Tree	65 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
winged sumac Rhus copallinum	Tree	8 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
wreath goldenrod Solidago caesia	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
yellow buckeye Aesculus flava	Tree	65 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
yellow passionflower Passiflora lutea	Vine	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 72

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.

Allegheny stonecrop Hylotelephium telephioides
American beakgrain Diarrhena americana
American ipecac Gillenia stipulata
bloody butcher Trillium recurvatum
bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
broad beechfern Phegopteris hexagonoptera
brown widelip orchid Liparis liliifolia
Canadian wildginger Asarum canadense
carpenter's square Scrophularia marilandica
Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
Clayton's sweetroot Osmorhiza claytonii
common cinquefoil Potentilla simplex
cypress panicgrass Dichanthelium dichotomum
devil's-tongue Opuntia humifusa
eastern bottlebrush grass Elymus hystrix
eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
field pansy Viola bicolor
fire pink Silene virginica
fourleaf yam Dioscorea quaternata
fox grape Vitis labrusca
fragrant bedstraw Galium triflorum
fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
glade fern Diplazium pycnocarpon
goldenseal Hydrastis canadensis
hairy lipfern Cheilanthes lanosa
hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
largebracted plantain Plantago aristata
largefruit blacksnakeroot Sanicula trifoliata
licorice bedstraw Galium circaezans
littleflower alumroot Heuchera parviflora
lobed spleenwort Asplenium pinnatifidum
longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
lowland bladderfern Cystopteris protrusa
Maryland meadowbeauty Rhexia mariana
Michigan lily Lilium michiganense
narrowleaf mountainmint Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
narrowleaf whitetop aster Sericocarpus linifolius
nodding wakerobin Trillium flexipes
northern slender lady's tresses Spiranthes lacera
oak mistletoe Phoradendron leucarpum
potato dwarfdandelion Krigia dandelion
queendevil Hieracium gronovii
rock polypody Polypodium virginianum
roundseed panicgrass Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
roundstem false foxglove Agalinis gattingeri
rue anemone Thalictrum thalictroides
rusty blackhaw Viburnum rufidulum
Short's aster Symphyotrichum shortii
sicklepod Arabis canadensis
silver plumegrass Saccharum alopecuroides
sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
Skinner's false foxglove Agalinis skinneriana
slenderleaf false foxglove Agalinis tenuifolia
smooth forked nailwort Paronychia canadensis
smooth Solomon's seal Polygonatum biflorum
smooth yellow false foxglove Aureolaria flava
southeastern wildrye Elymus glabriflorus
spotted water hemlock Cicuta maculata
stiff yellow flax Linum medium
twoflower dwarfdandelion Krigia biflora
veiny skullcap Scutellaria nervosa
Venus' pride Houstonia purpurea
violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
Virginia springbeauty Claytonia virginica
Virginia tephrosia Tephrosia virginiana
widowsfrill Silene stellata
wild hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens
woodland stonecrop Sedum ternatum

Compared with Kentucky

The typical county is the median of the 120 Kentucky 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, Hancock County and Kentucky
Measure	Hancock County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	149	426	1,719
Garden-ready natives	77	190	568
Tree	51	—	181
Shrub	6	—	73
Wildflower (forb)	56	—	931
Grass or grass-like	14	—	376
Vine	11	—	85
Fern	11	—	73

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Hancock County.

Daviess County, KY 136 garden-ready
Ohio County, KY 174 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: Hancock County (county FIPS 21091), Kentucky. 149 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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