Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Dakota County

113 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Dakota County by USDA PLANTS. 50 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Dakota County, Nebraska

Native species
113 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives
50 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 113 native species)
Percent of the 113 native species in each growth type
Tree 17% (19)
Shrub 4% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 56% (63)
Grass or grass-like 15% (17)
Vine 4% (5)
Fern 4% (5)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (56%), followed by trees (17%).

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 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 50

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

Garden-ready native plants of Dakota County, Nebraska
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American basswood Tilia americana Tree 100 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
American bellflower Campanulastrum americanum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 12b
American plum Prunus americana Tree 24 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
black raspberry Rubus occidentalis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
black walnut Juglans nigra Tree 100 ft Sun High Zone 4b
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 2b
coon's tail Ceratophyllum demersum Wildflower (forb) — Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana Vine 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda Grass or grass-like 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4b
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
hophornbeam Ostrya virginiana Tree 45 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
jewelweed Impatiens capensis Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 10b
littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus Wildflower (forb) 2.8 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
nannyberry Viburnum lentago Tree 28 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
nimblewill Muhlenbergia schreberi Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
nodding fescue Festuca subverticillata Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
northern red oak Quercus rubra Tree 81 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
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
pinnate prairie coneflower Ratibida pinnata Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
plains muhly Muhlenbergia cuspidata Grass or grass-like 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
prairie blazing star Liatris pycnostachya Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
rattlesnake fern Botrychium virginianum Fern 1.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii Tree 20 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
sawtooth sunflower Helianthus grosseserratus Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
silver buffaloberry Shepherdia argentea Tree 18 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
slippery elm Ulmus rubra Tree 85 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
smooth sumac Rhus glabra Tree 12 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
spotted joe pye weed Eutrochium maculatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4b
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
white avens Geum canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
whitegrass Leersia virginica Grass or grass-like 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 63

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.

  • American lopseed Phryma leptostachya
  • aromatic aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
  • arrowhead rattlebox Crotalaria sagittalis
  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • beggarslice Hackelia virginiana
  • blackseed plantain Plantago rugelii
  • bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
  • bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
  • bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
  • brittle bladderfern Cystopteris fragilis
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • Canadian clearweed Pilea pumila
  • Canadian honewort Cryptotaenia canadensis
  • Canadian woodnettle Laportea canadensis
  • Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
  • carpenter's square Scrophularia marilandica
  • clustered blacksnakeroot Sanicula odorata
  • common moonseed Menispermum canadense
  • common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
  • common yellow oxalis Oxalis stricta
  • downy hawthorn Crataegus mollis
  • eastern bottlebrush grass Elymus hystrix
  • eastern waterleaf Hydrophyllum virginianum
  • Equisetum ×ferrissii Equisetum ×ferrissii
  • falsegold groundsel Packera pseudaurea
  • feathery false lily of the valley Maianthemum racemosum
  • fragrant bedstraw Galium triflorum
  • hairy pagoda-plant Blephilia hirsuta
  • hairy wildrye Elymus villosus
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • inflated narrow-leaf sedge Carex grisea
  • Mead's sedge Carex meadii
  • meadow garlic Allium canadense
  • Michigan lily Lilium michiganense
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • Muhlenberg's sedge Carex muehlenbergii
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • prairie blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium campestre
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • purple milkwort Polygala sanguinea
  • red columbine Aquilegia canadensis
  • rosy sedge Carex rosea
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • small skullcap Scutellaria parvula
  • smooth rose Rosa blanda
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • Sprengel's sedge Carex sprengelii
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • Virginia groundcherry Physalis virginiana
  • Virginia strawberry Fragaria virginiana
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • white fawnlily Erythronium albidum
  • white vervain Verbena urticifolia
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
  • widowsfrill Silene stellata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca

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, Dakota County and Nebraska
MeasureDakota CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 113 169 1,131
Garden-ready natives 50 81 452
Tree 19 — 68
Shrub 4 — 48
Wildflower (forb) 63 — 687
Grass or grass-like 17 — 253
Vine 5 — 46
Fern 5 — 29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Dakota 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
Dakota County (county FIPS 31043), Nebraska. 113 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.