Native plants · Mississippi

Native plants of Sunflower County

79 plant species are recorded as native to Mississippi in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Sunflower County by USDA PLANTS. 38 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

Sunflower County, Mississippi

Native species: 79 Typical Mississippi county: 241 (median of 82 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 38 Typical Mississippi county: 116
Share by type (all 79 native species): Percent of the 79 native species in each growth type

Tree 11% (9)
Shrub 1% (1)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (41)
Grass or grass-like 16% (13)
Vine 19% (15)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (52%), followed by vines (19%).

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 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 38

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

Garden-ready native plants of Sunflower County, Mississippi
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
broadleaf signalgrass Urochloa platyphylla	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
calico aster Symphyotrichum lateriflorum	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
Canada germander Teucrium canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
Carolina foxtail Alopecurus carolinianus	Grass or grass-like	1.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
catbird grape Vitis palmata	Vine	30 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6a
climbing hempvine Mikania scandens	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
common evening primrose Oenothera biennis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides	Tree	190 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
eastern swampprivet Forestiera acuminata	Tree	33 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
giant cane Arundinaria gigantea	Shrub	25 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
hairy white oldfield aster Symphyotrichum pilosum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
halberdleaf rosemallow Hibiscus laevis	Wildflower (forb)	8 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 6a
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5b
limestone wild petunia Ruellia strepens	Wildflower (forb)	3.6 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 6a
little barley Hordeum pusillum	Grass or grass-like	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus	Wildflower (forb)	2.8 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
pecan Carya illinoinensis	Tree	120 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
peppervine Nekemias arborea	Vine	1 in	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 6a
Philadelphia fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus	Wildflower (forb)	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4b
pignut hickory Carya glabra	Tree	80 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
possumhaw Viburnum nudum	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
pumpkin ash Fraxinus profunda	Tree	120 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
silver maple Acer saccharinum	Tree	90 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 2b
stiff marsh bedstraw Galium tinctorium	Wildflower (forb)	10 in	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
trumpet creeper Campsis radicans	Vine	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Virginia dayflower Commelina virginica	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
water hickory Carya aquatica	Tree	85 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5b
yellow passionflower Passiflora lutea	Vine	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 41

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.

Alabama supplejack Berchemia scandens
Amazon sprangletop Leptochloa panicoides
American buckwheat vine Brunnichia ovata
American lopseed Phryma leptostachya
annual marsh elder Iva annua
beaked cornsalad Valerianella radiata
bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
brome-like sedge Carex bromoides
Carolina canarygrass Phalaris caroliniana
Carolina coralbead Cocculus carolinus
Carolina horsenettle Solanum carolinense
climbing dogbane Trachelospermum difforme
common moonseed Menispermum canadense
common threeseed mercury Acalypha rhomboidea
crossvine Bignonia capreolata
eastern poison ivy Toxicodendron radicans
giant ironweed Vernonia gigantea
great ragweed Ambrosia trifida
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
green dragon Arisaema dracontium
hairyfruit chervil Chaerophyllum tainturieri
hogwort Croton capitatus
honeyvine Cynanchum laeve
lanceleaf fogfruit Phyla lanceolata
marsh blue violet Viola cucullata
marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
mucronate sprangletop Leptochloa panicea
neckweed Veronica peregrina
oneseed bur cucumber Sicyos angulatus
Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
pink thoroughwort Fleischmannia incarnata
prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
sharpscale sedge Carex oxylepis
smooth false buttonweed Spermacoce glabra
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
southern dewberry Rubus trivialis
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
Virginia buttonweed Diodia virginiana
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.

climbing false buckwheatPolygonum scandens

Compared with Mississippi

The typical county is the median of the 82 Mississippi 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, Sunflower County and Mississippi
Measure	Sunflower County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	79	241	1,473
Garden-ready natives	38	116	528
Tree	9	—	164
Shrub	1	—	63
Wildflower (forb)	41	—	770
Grass or grass-like	13	—	358
Vine	15	—	72
Fern	0	—	46

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Sunflower County.

Bolivar County, MS 90 garden-ready
Humphreys County, MS 46 garden-ready
Leflore County, MS 132 garden-ready
Tallahatchie County, MS 59 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: Sunflower County (county FIPS 28133), Mississippi. 79 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

Independent reference site. No government affiliation or endorsement.