Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Colfax County

83 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Colfax County by USDA PLANTS. 52 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

Colfax County, Nebraska

Native species
83 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives
52 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 83 native species)
Percent of the 83 native species in each growth type
Tree 13% (11)
Shrub 4% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 54% (45)
Grass or grass-like 27% (22)
Vine 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (54%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (27%).

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 5b (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 52

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

Garden-ready native plants of Colfax County, Nebraska
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
American water horehound Lycopus americanus Wildflower (forb) 1.8 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
black raspberry Rubus occidentalis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
broadleaf arrowhead Sagittaria latifolia Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
cloaked bulrush Scirpus pallidus Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
common blue violet Viola sororia Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
common duckweed Lemna minor Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
common evening primrose Oenothera biennis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
common sneezeweed Helenium autumnale Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
ditch stonecrop Penthorum sedoides Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
false daisy Eclipta prostrata Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 10b
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
green bulrush Scirpus atrovirens Grass or grass-like 5.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 2a
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos Tree 70 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus Wildflower (forb) 9.8 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
Kentucky coffeetree Gymnocladus dioicus Tree 100 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
little barley Hordeum pusillum Grass or grass-like 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun High Zone 3a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
Philadelphia fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus Wildflower (forb) 2.8 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
purplestem beggarticks Bidens connata Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
redroot flatsedge Cyperus erythrorhizos Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 11a
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
silver maple Acer saccharinum Tree 90 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 2b
smooth sumac Rhus glabra Tree 12 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
teal lovegrass Eragrostis hypnoides Grass or grass-like 4 in Sun High Zone 3b
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a

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.

  • Allegheny monkeyflower Mimulus ringens
  • Baldwin's ironweed Vernonia baldwinii
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • blackseed plantain Plantago rugelii
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • Drummond's halfchaff sedge Lipocarpha drummondii
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
  • green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
  • heavy sedge Carex gravida
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • lanceleaf fogfruit Phyla lanceolata
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • low serviceberry Amelanchier humilis
  • manyfruit primrose-willow Ludwigia polycarpa
  • narrowleaf paleseed Leucospora multifida
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • stiff sunflower Helianthus pauciflorus
  • swollen duckweed Lemna gibba
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • winged lythrum Lythrum alatum
  • woodbine Parthenocissus vitacea
  • 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.

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, Colfax County and Nebraska
MeasureColfax CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 83 169 1,131
Garden-ready natives 52 81 452
Tree 11 — 68
Shrub 3 — 48
Wildflower (forb) 45 — 687
Grass or grass-like 22 — 253
Vine 2 — 46
Fern 0 — 29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Colfax 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
Colfax County (county FIPS 31037), Nebraska. 83 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.