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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Polk County

95 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Polk County by USDA PLANTS. 50 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

Polk County, Nebraska

Native species
95 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives
50 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 95 native species)
Percent of the 95 native species in each growth type
Tree 7% (7)
Shrub 4% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 62% (59)
Grass or grass-like 24% (23)
Vine 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (62%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (24%).

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 50

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

Garden-ready native plants of Polk County, Nebraska
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American plum Prunus americana Tree 24 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
American water horehound Lycopus americanus Wildflower (forb) 1.8 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
awlfruit sedge Carex stipata Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
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
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
clustered field sedge Carex praegracilis Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
common goldstar Hypoxis hirsuta Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
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
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
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
hairy white oldfield aster Symphyotrichum pilosum Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus Wildflower (forb) 9.8 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris Wildflower (forb) 2 in Sun High Zone 4a
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
Philadelphia fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus Wildflower (forb) 2.8 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
purplestem beggarticks Bidens connata Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
redosier dogwood Cornus sericea Tree 12 ft Sun High Zone 3b
rice cutgrass Leersia oryzoides Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun High Zone 4a
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii Tree 20 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 4b
roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
sand lovegrass Eragrostis trichodes Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
sandcherry Prunus pumila Shrub 6 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 4a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
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
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
Woods' rose Rosa woodsii Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

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.

  • Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • blue skullcap Scutellaria lateriflora
  • Carolina anemone Anemone caroliniana
  • clammy groundcherry Physalis heterophylla
  • common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
  • fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
  • great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
  • groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
  • hairy evening primrose Oenothera villosa
  • hairy fimbry Fimbristylis puberula
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • lanceleaf fogfruit Phyla lanceolata
  • large St. Johnswort Hypericum majus
  • long-stolon sedge Carex inops
  • lowland rotala Rotala ramosior
  • Mead's sedge Carex meadii
  • Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • needleleaf sedge Carex duriuscula
  • New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
  • northern bog violet Viola nephrophylla
  • Nuttall's prairie parsley Polytaenia nuttallii
  • oneflowered broomrape Orobanche uniflora
  • prairie false dandelion Nothocalais cuspidata
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
  • prairie violet Viola pedatifida
  • purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
  • purple spikerush Eleocharis atropurpurea
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • slenderleaf false foxglove Agalinis tenuifolia
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • swamp verbena Verbena hastata
  • Texas croton Croton texensis
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
  • western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • winged lythrum Lythrum alatum
  • winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
  • 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, Polk County and Nebraska
MeasurePolk CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 95 169 1,131
Garden-ready natives 50 81 452
Tree 7 — 68
Shrub 4 — 48
Wildflower (forb) 59 — 687
Grass or grass-like 23 — 253
Vine 2 — 46
Fern 0 — 29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Polk 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
Polk County (county FIPS 31143), Nebraska. 95 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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