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Native plants · Nebraska

Native plants of Thayer County

114 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Thayer County by USDA PLANTS. 47 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Thayer County, Nebraska

Native species
114 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
Garden-ready natives
47 Typical Nebraska county: 81
Share by type (all 114 native species)
Percent of the 114 native species in each growth type
Tree <1% (1)
Shrub 3% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 62% (71)
Grass or grass-like 30% (34)
Vine 3% (3)
Fern 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (62%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (30%).

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 6a (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 47

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

Garden-ready native plants of Thayer County, Nebraska
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
awlfruit sedge Carex stipata Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
broadfruit bur-reed Sparganium eurycarpum Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
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 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
common spikerush Eleocharis palustris Grass or grass-like 1.3 ft Sun High Zone 3b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
cup plant Silphium perfoliatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade — Zone 2b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
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
fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata Grass or grass-like 5.7 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
harvestlice Agrimonia parviflora Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
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
Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
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
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata Wildflower (forb) 2.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 7a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
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
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
purple poppymallow Callirhoe involucrata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
purplestem beggarticks Bidens connata Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
river bulrush Bolboschoenus fluviatilis Grass or grass-like 6.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun High Zone 4a
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
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
strawcolored flatsedge Cyperus strigosus Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
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
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
white avens Geum canadense Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 67

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
  • azure blue sage Salvia azurea
  • bald spikerush Eleocharis erythropoda
  • Baldwin's ironweed Vernonia baldwinii
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bottlebrush sedge Carex hystericina
  • bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
  • Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
  • Carolina draba Draba reptans
  • Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
  • clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • common moonseed Menispermum canadense
  • common yellow oxalis Oxalis stricta
  • desert biscuitroot Lomatium foeniculaceum
  • Engelmann's spikerush Eleocharis engelmannii
  • Equisetum ×ferrissii Equisetum ×ferrissii
  • eyebane Chamaesyce nutans
  • fall witchgrass Digitaria cognata
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • grooved flax Linum sulcatum
  • groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
  • heavy sedge Carex gravida
  • Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • light poppymallow Callirhoe alcaeoides
  • long-stolon sedge Carex inops
  • longflower beeblossom Oenothera filiformis
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • northern selaginella Selaginella rupestris
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
  • prairie blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium campestre
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
  • prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
  • Red River scaleseed Spermolepis inermis
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • sixangle spurge Euphorbia hexagona
  • slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
  • slimpod Venus' looking-glass Triodanis leptocarpa
  • smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides
  • smooth Solomon's seal Polygonatum biflorum
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
  • Sprengel's sedge Carex sprengelii
  • tarragon Artemisia dracunculus
  • tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
  • violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
  • warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • white vervain Verbena urticifolia
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • 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, Thayer County and Nebraska
MeasureThayer CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 114 169 1,131
Garden-ready natives 47 81 452
Tree 1 — 68
Shrub 3 — 48
Wildflower (forb) 71 — 687
Grass or grass-like 34 — 253
Vine 3 — 46
Fern 2 — 29

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Thayer 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
Thayer County (county FIPS 31169), Nebraska. 114 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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