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Native plants · Montana

Native plants of Deer Lodge County

71 plant species are recorded as native to Montana in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Deer Lodge County by USDA PLANTS. 51 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

Deer Lodge County, Montana

Native species
71 Typical Montana county: 161 (median of 56 counties)
Garden-ready natives
51 Typical Montana county: 104
Share by type (all 71 native species)
Percent of the 71 native species in each growth type
Tree 13% (9)
Shrub 8% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 77% (55)
Grass or grass-like 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (77%), followed by trees (13%).

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 zones 4b to 5a (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 51

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

Garden-ready native plants of Deer Lodge County, Montana
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alpine bistort Polygonum viviparum Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun High Zone 3b
American speedwell Veronica americana Wildflower (forb) 10 in Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
arumleaf arrowhead Sagittaria cuneata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
balsam poplar Populus balsamifera Tree 80 ft Sun High Zone 1a
blanketflower Gaillardia aristata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae Shrub 1.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Chamisso arnica Arnica chamissonis Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
common selfheal Prunella vulgaris Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Douglas aster Symphyotrichum subspicatum Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 6b
fireweed Chamerion angustifolium Wildflower (forb) 5.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
giant mountain aster Canadanthus modestus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Greene's mountain ash Sorbus scopulina Tree 12 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 7a
heartleaf arnica Arnica cordifolia Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
largeleaf avens Geum macrophyllum Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
longleaf starwort Stellaria longifolia Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
longstalk starwort Stellaria longipes Wildflower (forb) 11 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
longstyle rush Juncus longistylis Grass or grass-like 1.8 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
maiden blue eyed Mary Collinsia parviflora Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
nineleaf biscuitroot Lomatium triternatum Wildflower (forb) 2.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
nodding microseris Microseris nutans Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun Medium Zone 12a
pale agoseris Agoseris glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
pipsissewa Chimaphila umbellata Shrub 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
prairie sagewort Artemisia frigida Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
pussy willow Salix discolor Tree 40 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
quaking aspen Populus tremuloides Tree 65 ft Sun High Zone 1a
red elderberry Sambucus racemosa Tree 18 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
redosier dogwood Cornus sericea Tree 12 ft Sun High Zone 3b
Rocky Mountain beeplant Cleome serrulata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12b
Rocky Mountain maple Acer glabrum Tree 30 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
russet buffaloberry Shepherdia canadensis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 1a
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
shrubby cinquefoil Dasiphora fruticosa Shrub 2.5 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
silky lupine Lupinus sericeus Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
small enchanter's nightshade Circaea alpina Wildflower (forb) 11 in Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
spreadingpod rockcress Arabis ×divaricarpa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4b
sticky cinquefoil Potentilla glandulosa Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4a
sticky purple geranium Geranium viscosissimum Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 6a
textile onion Allium textile Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
thickstem aster Eurybia integrifolia Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
thinleaved owl's-clover Orthocarpus tenuifolius Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 12b
western larch Larix occidentalis Tree 200 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
western polemonium Polemonium occidentale Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
western stoneseed Lithospermum ruderale Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
western water hemlock Cicuta douglasii Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun High Zone 4b
white sweetvetch Hedysarum sulphurescens Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4a
woolly groundsel Packera cana Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a

Other native species recorded here 20

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.

  • balsam groundsel Packera paupercula
  • Carolina geranium Geranium carolinianum
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • elkweed Frasera speciosa
  • fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
  • fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
  • giant red Indian paintbrush Castilleja miniata
  • hookedspur violet Viola adunca
  • muskflower Mimulus moschatus
  • northern water plantain Alisma triviale
  • Pennsylvania cinquefoil Potentilla pensylvanica
  • pleated gentian Gentiana affinis
  • rosy pussytoes Antennaria rosea
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • small-leaf pussytoes Antennaria parvifolia
  • spiny phlox Phlox hoodii
  • strict blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium montanum
  • tower rockcress Arabis glabra
  • twinflower Linnaea borealis
  • wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
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 Montana

The typical county is the median of the 56 Montana 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, Deer Lodge County and Montana
MeasureDeer Lodge CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 71 161 1,086
Garden-ready natives 51 104 606
Tree 9 — 71
Shrub 6 — 98
Wildflower (forb) 55 — 609
Grass or grass-like 1 — 246
Vine 0 — 18
Fern 0 — 44

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Deer Lodge 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
Deer Lodge County (county FIPS 30023), Montana. 71 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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