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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Montana

Native plants of Toole County

82 plant species are recorded as native to Montana in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Toole County by USDA PLANTS. 51 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 3 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Toole County, Montana

Native species
82 Typical Montana county: 161 (median of 56 counties)
Garden-ready natives
51 Typical Montana county: 104
Share by type (all 82 native species)
Percent of the 82 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (7)
Shrub 16% (13)
Wildflower (forb) 73% (60)
Grass or grass-like 1% (1)
Vine 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (73%), followed by shrubs (16%).

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 4a (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 Toole County, Montana
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alkali buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
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
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 12b
common juniper Juniperus communis Tree 10 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Douglas' dustymaiden Chaenactis douglasii Wildflower (forb) 1.6 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
fireweed Chamerion angustifolium Wildflower (forb) 5.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Gardner's saltbush Atriplex gardneri Shrub 4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
golden currant Ribes aureum Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Low 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
largeflower hawksbeard Crepis occidentalis Wildflower (forb) 11 in Sun Low Zone 5a
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
narrowleaf cottonwood Populus angustifolia Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4b
narrowleaf willow Salix exigua Tree 10 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
northern bedstraw Galium boreale Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun Medium Zone 12a
Pacific anemone Anemone multifida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 5a
plains pricklypear Opuntia polyacantha Shrub 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
prairie sagewort Artemisia frigida Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
quaking aspen Populus tremuloides Tree 65 ft Sun High Zone 1a
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
rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
russet buffaloberry Shepherdia canadensis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 1a
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
shrubby cinquefoil Dasiphora fruticosa Shrub 2.5 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
silverberry Elaeagnus commutata Shrub 12 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
silvery lupine Lupinus argenteus Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
slender cinquefoil Potentilla gracilis Wildflower (forb) 2.4 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
tall cinquefoil Potentilla arguta Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
textile onion Allium textile Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
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
winterfat Krascheninnikovia lanata Shrub 2 ft Sun Low Zone 2a
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
yellow penstemon Penstemon confertus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 31

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.

  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
  • Bebb willow Salix bebbiana
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • Douglas' knotweed Polygonum douglasii
  • flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
  • fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
  • groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
  • hoary tansyaster Machaeranthera canescens
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • Laxmann's milkvetch Astragalus laxmannii
  • Louisiana broomrape Orobanche ludoviciana
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • needleleaf navarretia Navarretia intertexta
  • needleleaf sedge Carex duriuscula
  • nodding onion Allium cernuum
  • plains springparsley Cymopterus acaulis
  • povertyweed Iva axillaris
  • pygmyflower rockjasmine Androsace septentrionalis
  • rosy pussytoes Antennaria rosea
  • salt sandspurry Spergularia salina
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • shy wallflower Erysimum inconspicuum
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • tiny trumpet Collomia linearis
  • velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
  • wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
  • white prairie aster Symphyotrichum falcatum
  • woolly cinquefoil Potentilla hippiana
Also listed as native and introduced here 3

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, Toole County and Montana
MeasureToole CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 82 161 1,086
Garden-ready natives 51 104 606
Tree 7 — 71
Shrub 13 — 98
Wildflower (forb) 60 — 609
Grass or grass-like 1 — 246
Vine 1 — 18
Fern 0 — 44

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Toole 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
Toole County (county FIPS 30101), Montana. 82 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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