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Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Loup County

113 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Loup County by USDA PLANTS. 55 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Loup County, Nebraska

Native species
113 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives
55 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 113 native species)
Percent of the 113 native species in each growth type
Tree 5% (6)
Shrub 6% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 43% (49)
Grass or grass-like 39% (44)
Vine 3% (3)
Fern 4% (4)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (43%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (39%).

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 55

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

Garden-ready native plants of Loup County, Nebraska
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American bittersweet Celastrus scandens Vine 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
American licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
American plum Prunus americana Tree 24 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
American water horehound Lycopus americanus Wildflower (forb) 1.8 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Low Zone 2b
black raspberry Rubus occidentalis Shrub 6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
broom sedge Carex scoparia Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
cloaked bulrush Scirpus pallidus Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
clustered field sedge Carex praegracilis Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
common selfheal Prunella vulgaris Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
ditch stonecrop Penthorum sedoides Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana Tree 50 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
flatstem spikerush Eleocharis compressa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun High Zone 4a
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5a
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Low Zone 3b
Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
inland rush Juncus interior Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
jewelweed Impatiens capensis Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 10b
knotted rush Juncus nodosus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
marsh bellflower Campanula aparinoides Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun High 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
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
prairie sandreed Calamovilfa longifolia Grass or grass-like 4.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis Grass or grass-like 11 in Sun Low Zone 3a
rough bentgrass Agrostis scabra Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
sand bluestem Andropogon hallii Grass or grass-like 6.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
sandcherry Prunus pumila Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
sandhill muhly Muhlenbergia pungens Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
silver buffaloberry Shepherdia argentea Tree 18 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
slender flatsedge Cyperus bipartitus Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
tall cinquefoil Potentilla arguta Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
threepetal bedstraw Galium trifidum Vine 10 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
troublesome sedge Carex molesta Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
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
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 58

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
  • bald spikerush Eleocharis erythropoda
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • biannual lettuce Lactuca ludoviciana
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • bottlebrush sedge Carex hystericina
  • candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
  • clammy groundcherry Physalis heterophylla
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • downy gentian Gentiana puberulenta
  • Dudley's rush Juncus dudleyi
  • eastern marsh fern Thelypteris palustris
  • fall rosette grass Dichanthelium wilcoxianum
  • Flodman's thistle Cirsium flodmanii
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • Great Plains flatsedge Cyperus lupulinus
  • green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
  • hairy four o'clock Mirabilis hirsuta
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
  • Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • large beardtongue Penstemon grandiflorus
  • lemon scurfpea Psoralidium lanceolatum
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • northern green rush Juncus alpinoarticulatus
  • northern selaginella Selaginella rupestris
  • Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
  • pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
  • palespike lobelia Lobelia spicata
  • plains snakecotton Froelichia floridana
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
  • prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
  • sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • showy ticktrefoil Desmodium canadense
  • silky prairie clover Dalea villosa
  • sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
  • slender wedgescale Sphenopholis intermedia
  • slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
  • slimleaf milkweed Asclepias stenophylla
  • spinystar Escobaria vivipara
  • sunbright Phemeranthus parviflorus
  • tall blazing star Liatris aspera
  • Texas goldentop Euthamia gymnospermoides
  • thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
  • western poison ivy Toxicodendron rydbergii
  • whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
  • willowleaf aster Symphyotrichum praealtum
  • woolly sedge Carex pellita
  • yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia

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, Loup County and Nebraska
MeasureLoup CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 113 169 1,131
Garden-ready natives 55 81 452
Tree 6 — 68
Shrub 7 — 48
Wildflower (forb) 49 — 687
Grass or grass-like 44 — 253
Vine 3 — 46
Fern 4 — 29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Loup 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
Loup County (county FIPS 31115), 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

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