Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Fillmore County

79 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Fillmore County by USDA PLANTS. 34 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

Fillmore County, Nebraska

Native species: 79 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 34 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 79 native species): Percent of the 79 native species in each growth type

Tree 4% (3)
Shrub 1% (1)
Wildflower (forb) 67% (53)
Grass or grass-like 23% (18)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 4% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (67%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (23%).

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 zones 5b to 6a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 34

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

Garden-ready native plants of Fillmore County, Nebraska
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
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
Bicknell's sedge Carex bicknellii	Grass or grass-like	3.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 3b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
Canada germander Teucrium canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
Carolina foxtail Alopecurus carolinianus	Grass or grass-like	1.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
disk waterhyssop Bacopa rotundifolia	Wildflower (forb)	1 in	Sun	High	Zone 4a
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
inland rush Juncus interior	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b
needle spikerush Eleocharis acicularis	Grass or grass-like	8 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus	Wildflower (forb)	6.6 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
sandbar willow Salix interior	Tree	30 ft	Sun	—	Zone 1a
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
slender bulrush Schoenoplectus heterochaetus	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
smooth sumac Rhus glabra	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum	Wildflower (forb)	3.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus	Grass or grass-like	1.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
tiny mousetail Myosurus minimus	Wildflower (forb)	5 in	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12b
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Virginia threeseed mercury Acalypha virginica	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 10b
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium	Wildflower (forb)	1 in	Sun	High	Zone 5a
white doll's daisy Boltonia asteroides	Wildflower (forb)	8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum	Wildflower (forb)	6 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
wirestem muhly Muhlenbergia frondosa	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 45

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.

bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
blackfoot quillwort Isoetes melanopoda
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
bouquet mudplantain Heteranthera multiflora
Carolina puccoon Lithospermum caroliniense
clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
Engelmann's spikerush Eleocharis engelmannii
eyebane Chamaesyce nutans
Flodman's thistle Cirsium flodmanii
grassy arrowhead Sagittaria graminea
grooved flax Linum sulcatum
groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
Hall's bulrush Schoenoplectiella hallii
Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
hooded arrowhead Sagittaria calycina
leathery knotweed Polygonum achoreum
light poppymallow Callirhoe alcaeoides
long-stolon sedge Carex inops
lowland rotala Rotala ramosior
Mexican Mosquito Fern Azolla microphylla
minute duckweed Lemna perpusilla
neckweed Veronica peregrina
needleleaf sedge Carex duriuscula
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
prairie blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium campestre
prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
prairie rose Rosa arkansana
prairie violet Viola pedatifida
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
shortseed waterwort Elatine brachysperma
silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
velvety goldenrod Solidago mollis
violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
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.

Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis

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, Fillmore County and Nebraska
Measure	Fillmore County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	79	169	1,131
Garden-ready natives	34	81	452
Tree	3	—	68
Shrub	1	—	48
Wildflower (forb)	53	—	687
Grass or grass-like	18	—	253
Vine	1	—	46
Fern	3	—	29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Fillmore County.

Clay County, NE 31 garden-ready
Saline County, NE 58 garden-ready
Thayer County, NE 47 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: Fillmore County (county FIPS 31059), Nebraska. 79 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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