Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Clay County

73 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Clay County by USDA PLANTS. 31 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

Clay County, Nebraska

Native species: 73 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 31 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 73 native species): Percent of the 73 native species in each growth type

Tree 5% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 63% (46)
Grass or grass-like 26% (19)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 4% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (63%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (26%).

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 6a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 31

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

Garden-ready native plants of Clay County, Nebraska
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American elm Ulmus americana	Tree	120 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 2b
American vetch Vicia americana	Vine	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
American water plantain Alisma subcordatum	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	High	Zone 4a
arumleaf arrowhead Sagittaria cuneata	Wildflower (forb)	2.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
boxelder Acer negundo	Tree	60 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
disk waterhyssop Bacopa rotundifolia	Wildflower (forb)	1 in	Sun	High	Zone 4a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
dotted smartweed Polygonum punctatum	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana	Tree	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3a
fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus	Grass or grass-like	9.8 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b
Missouri River willow Salix eriocephala	Tree	52 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3b
needle spikerush Eleocharis acicularis	Grass or grass-like	8 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii	Wildflower (forb)	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
river bulrush Bolboschoenus fluviatilis	Grass or grass-like	6.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus	Wildflower (forb)	6.6 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus	Grass or grass-like	1.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
white doll's daisy Boltonia asteroides	Wildflower (forb)	8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
white sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 42

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.

annual marsh elder Iva annua
Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
blackfoot quillwort Isoetes melanopoda
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
bog yellowcress Rorippa palustris
bouquet mudplantain Heteranthera multiflora
bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
common bladderwort Utricularia macrorhiza
curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
Engelmann's spikerush Eleocharis engelmannii
eyebane Chamaesyce nutans
fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
grassy arrowhead Sagittaria graminea
Great Plains flatsedge Cyperus lupulinus
great ragweed Ambrosia trifida
hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
Hall's bulrush Schoenoplectiella hallii
hooded arrowhead Sagittaria calycina
lowland rotala Rotala ramosior
meadow garlic Allium canadense
Mexican Mosquito Fern Azolla microphylla
minute duckweed Lemna perpusilla
needleleaf sedge Carex duriuscula
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
plains bluegrass Poa arida
prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
small skullcap Scutellaria parvula
snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
soft-hair marbleseed Onosmodium bejariense
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
velvety goldenrod Solidago mollis
wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
western rockjasmine Androsace occidentalis
white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
witchgrass Panicum capillare
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.

annual ragweedAmbrosia artemisiifolia

Compared with Nebraska

The typical county is the median of the 93 Nebraska 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, Clay County and Nebraska
Measure	Clay County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	73	169	1,131
Garden-ready natives	31	81	452
Tree	4	—	68
Shrub	0	—	48
Wildflower (forb)	46	—	687
Grass or grass-like	19	—	253
Vine	1	—	46
Fern	3	—	29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Clay County.

Adams County, NE 59 garden-ready
Fillmore County, NE 34 garden-ready
Hall County, NE 164 garden-ready
Hamilton County, NE 55 garden-ready
Nuckolls County, NE 54 garden-ready
York County, NE 45 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: Clay County (county FIPS 31035), Nebraska. 73 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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