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Native plants · Kentucky

Native plants of Knott County

186 plant species are recorded as native to Kentucky in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Knott County by USDA PLANTS. 107 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Knott County, Kentucky

Native species
186 Typical Kentucky county: 426 (median of 120 counties)
Garden-ready natives
107 Typical Kentucky county: 190
Share by type (all 186 native species)
Percent of the 186 native species in each growth type
Tree 34% (63)
Shrub 6% (12)
Wildflower (forb) 30% (55)
Grass or grass-like 14% (26)
Vine 8% (15)
Fern 8% (15)

Trees make up the largest share of the native list (34%), followed by wildflowers (30%).

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

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

Garden-ready natives 107

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

Garden-ready native plants of Knott County, Kentucky
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alternateleaf dogwood Cornus alternifolia Tree 25 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
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 bittersweet Celastrus scandens Vine 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
American chestnut Castanea dentata Tree 115 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
American hazelnut Corylus americana Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
American holly Ilex opaca Tree 40 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 5a
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 water-willow Justicia americana Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
American witchhazel Hamamelis virginiana Tree 20 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis Tree 75 ft Sun Medium Zone 2b
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
black willow Salix nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 1b
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
broomsedge bluestem Andropogon virginicus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 5b
bursting-heart Euonymus americanus Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
butternut Juglans cinerea Tree 80 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
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 blue violet Viola sororia Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
common blue wood aster Symphyotrichum cordifolium Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
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
coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
crookedstem aster Symphyotrichum prenanthoides Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana Vine 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
eastern hemlock Tsuga canadensis Tree 105 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
eastern redbud Cercis canadensis Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
eastern rough sedge Carex scabrata Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
field horsetail Equisetum arvense Fern 11 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
flowering dogwood Cornus florida Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
Frank's sedge Carex frankii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5a
frost grape Vitis vulpina Vine 83 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5a
giant cane Arundinaria gigantea Shrub 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
graceful sedge Carex gracillima Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
great laurel Rhododendron maximum Tree 25 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 6a
greater bladder sedge Carex intumescens Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
hazel alder Alnus serrulata Tree 30 ft Sun High Zone 5a
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
interrupted fern Osmunda claytoniana Fern 4 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
jewelweed Impatiens capensis Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 10b
mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris Wildflower (forb) 2 in Sun High Zone 4a
mockernut hickory Carya tomentosa Tree 85 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia Tree 6 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 5a
mountain magnolia Magnolia fraseri Tree 75 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 6a
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
pale touch-me-not Impatiens pallida Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 10b
pawpaw Asimina triloba Tree 25 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
pitch pine Pinus rigida Tree 80 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
post oak Quercus stellata Tree 60 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
purpleleaf willowherb Epilobium coloratum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum Fern 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
red maple Acer rubrum Tree 68 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
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
sassafras Sassafras albidum Tree 75 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
shallow sedge Carex lurida Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
shellbark hickory Carya laciniosa Tree 100 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5a
shortleaf pine Pinus echinata Tree 100 ft Sun Medium Zone 5b
silky willow Salix sericea Tree 12 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
slippery elm Ulmus rubra Tree 85 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
smooth sumac Rhus glabra Tree 12 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
sourwood Oxydendrum arboreum Tree 35 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 6a
squarrose sedge Carex squarrosa Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
strawcolored flatsedge Cyperus strigosus Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
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
sweet birch Betula lenta Tree 60 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
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
umbrella-tree Magnolia tripetala Tree 30 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 7a
upland bentgrass Agrostis perennans Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
variable panicgrass Dichanthelium commutatum Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia Vine 1 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
Virginia pine Pinus virginiana Tree 70 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
white ash Fraxinus americana Tree 90 ft Sun High Zone 4a
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 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 flatsedge Cyperus flavescens Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
zigzag goldenrod Solidago flexicaulis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5b

Other native species recorded here 79

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.

  • Adam and Eve Aplectrum hyemale
  • American alumroot Heuchera americana
  • American beakgrain Diarrhena americana
  • American hogpeanut Amphicarpaea bracteata
  • American senna Senna hebecarpa
  • American spikenard Aralia racemosa
  • Atlantic pigeonwings Clitoria mariana
  • autumn coralroot Corallorhiza odontorhiza
  • bearded shorthusk Brachyelytrum erectum
  • black baneberry Actaea racemosa
  • Blue Ridge sedge Carex lucorum
  • bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
  • Bosc's panicgrass Dichanthelium boscii
  • Bradley's spleenwort Asplenium bradleyi
  • bride's feathers Aruncus dioicus
  • bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
  • broad beechfern Phegopteris hexagonoptera
  • Canadian wildginger Asarum canadense
  • Canadian woodnettle Laportea canadensis
  • chinquapin Castanea pumila
  • Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
  • climbing false buckwheat Polygonum scandens
  • crippled cranefly Tipularia discolor
  • crossvine Bignonia capreolata
  • Cumberland sedge Carex cumberlandensis
  • cutleaf grapefern Botrychium dissectum
  • dwarf crested iris Iris cristata
  • eastern gray beardtongue Penstemon canescens
  • eastern leatherwood Dirca palustris
  • eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
  • eastern sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus
  • eastern waterleaf Hydrophyllum virginianum
  • ebony spleenwort Asplenium platyneuron
  • fan clubmoss Lycopodium digitatum
  • feathery false lily of the valley Maianthemum racemosum
  • fernleaf phacelia Phacelia bipinnatifida
  • flame azalea Rhododendron calendulaceum
  • fourleaf yam Dioscorea quaternata
  • fuzzy wuzzy sedge Carex hirsutella
  • glade fern Diplazium pycnocarpon
  • hairy alumroot Heuchera villosa
  • hairy woodrush Luzula acuminata
  • hairyjoint meadowparsnip Thaspium barbinode
  • large whorled pogonia Isotria verticillata
  • lateflowering thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum
  • longleaf summer bluet Houstonia longifolia
  • longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
  • Lowrie's blue wood aster Symphyotrichum lowrieanum
  • marginal woodfern Dryopteris marginalis
  • mayapple Podophyllum peltatum
  • oak mistletoe Phoradendron leucarpum
  • poverty oatgrass Danthonia spicata
  • purple passionflower Passiflora incarnata
  • red columbine Aquilegia canadensis
  • red trillium Trillium erectum
  • rosepink Sabatia angularis
  • seedbox Ludwigia alternifolia
  • sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
  • shaved sedge Carex tonsa
  • sicklepod Arabis canadensis
  • silver false spleenwort Deparia acrostichoides
  • slimflower muhly Muhlenbergia tenuiflora
  • slimleaf panicgrass Dichanthelium linearifolium
  • Small's ragwort Packera anonyma
  • St. Andrew's cross Hypericum hypericoides
  • striped prince's pine Chimaphila maculata
  • swamp thistle Cirsium muticum
  • sweetscented joe pye weed Eutrochium purpureum
  • tall rattlesnakeroot Prenanthes altissima
  • tall thimbleweed Anemone virginiana
  • walking fern Asplenium rhizophyllum
  • white bergamot Monarda clinopodia
  • white snakeroot Ageratina altissima
  • white trillium Trillium grandiflorum
  • wild hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens
  • woodland stonecrop Sedum ternatum
  • yellow crownbeard Verbesina occidentalis
  • yellow fairybells Prosartes lanuginosa
  • yellow widelip orchid Liparis loeselii

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, Knott County and Kentucky
MeasureKnott CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 186 426 1,719
Garden-ready natives 107 190 568
Tree 63 — 181
Shrub 12 — 73
Wildflower (forb) 55 — 931
Grass or grass-like 26 — 376
Vine 15 — 85
Fern 15 — 73

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Knott 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
Knott County (county FIPS 21119), Kentucky. 186 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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