Native plants · Montana
Native plants of Liberty County
48 plant species are recorded as native to Montana in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Liberty County by USDA PLANTS. 29 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
Liberty County, Montana
PLANTS records only 29 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Montana list is a useful second check.
- Native species
- 48 Typical Montana county: 161 (median of 56 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 29 Typical Montana county: 104
- Share by type (all 48 native species)
-
Percent of the 48 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (81%), followed by shrubs (13%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 29
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota | Wildflower (forb) | 4 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3b |
| American vetch Vicia americana | Vine | 1.3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| blanketflower Gaillardia aristata | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4a |
| broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae | Shrub | 1.5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| cutleaf daisy Erigeron compositus | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| dotted blazing star Liatris punctata | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides | Tree | 190 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| fiddleleaf hawksbeard Crepis runcinata | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| lambstongue ragwort Senecio integerrimus | Wildflower (forb) | 1.1 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3b |
| Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3b |
| northern bedstraw Galium boreale | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
| prairie sagewort Artemisia frigida | Shrub | 2 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3a |
| purple milkvetch Astragalus agrestis | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| redosier dogwood Cornus sericea | Tree | 12 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa | Shrub | 4 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| sagebrush buttercup Ranunculus glaberrimus | Wildflower (forb) | 6 in | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| sanddune wallflower Erysimum capitatum | Wildflower (forb) | 2.5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4b |
| scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3a |
| stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum | Wildflower (forb) | 3.6 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3a |
| sulphur-flower buckwheat Eriogonum umbellatum | Shrub | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 8a |
| tufted evening primrose Oenothera caespitosa | Wildflower (forb) | 6 in | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera | Wildflower (forb) | 3.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Shrub | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3b |
| white prairie clover Dalea candida | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3b |
| woolly groundsel Packera cana | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3a |
| woollypod milkvetch Astragalus purshii | Wildflower (forb) | 7 in | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 19
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.
- Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
- bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
- bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
- curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
- curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
- flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
- groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
- hoary tansyaster Machaeranthera canescens
- large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
- Laxmann's milkvetch Astragalus laxmannii
- Mojave seablite Suaeda moquinii
- Pennsylvania cinquefoil Potentilla pensylvanica
- plains springparsley Cymopterus acaulis
- Pursh seepweed Suaeda calceoliformis
- rosy pussytoes Antennaria rosea
- scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
- tiny trumpet Collomia linearis
- velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
- white prairie aster Symphyotrichum falcatum
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.
- Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis
- white sagebrushArtemisia ludoviciana
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.
| Measure | Liberty County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 48 | 161 | 1,086 |
| Garden-ready natives | 29 | 104 | 606 |
| Tree | 2 | — | 71 |
| Shrub | 6 | — | 98 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 39 | — | 609 |
| Grass or grass-like | 0 | — | 246 |
| Vine | 1 | — | 18 |
| Fern | 0 | — | 44 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Liberty County.
- Hill County, MT 67 garden-ready
- Pondera County, MT 54 garden-ready
- Toole County, MT 51 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
- Liberty County (county FIPS 30051), Montana. 48 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