Native plants · Nebraska
Native plants of Thurston County
76 plant species are recorded as native to Nebraska in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Thurston County by USDA PLANTS. 37 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
Thurston County, Nebraska
- Native species
- 76 Typical Nebraska county: 169 (median of 93 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 37 Typical Nebraska county: 81
- Share by type (all 76 native species)
-
Percent of the 76 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (45%), followed by trees (24%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 37
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American basswood Tilia americana | Tree | 100 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 2b |
| American bittersweet Celastrus scandens | Vine | 15 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 3b |
| American hazelnut Corylus americana | Shrub | 10 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
| bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis | Tree | 75 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 2b |
| black raspberry Rubus occidentalis | Shrub | 6 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4b |
| black walnut Juglans nigra | Tree | 100 ft | Sun | High | Zone 4b |
| blue cohosh Caulophyllum thalictroides | Wildflower (forb) | 2.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4a |
| bur oak Quercus macrocarpa | Tree | 100 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | 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 |
| common hackberry Celtis occidentalis | Tree | 60 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 2b |
| fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum | Grass or grass-like | 3.3 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| field horsetail Equisetum arvense | Fern | 11 in | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3a |
| fowl mannagrass Glyceria striata | Grass or grass-like | 5.7 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | 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 |
| Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllum | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 5b |
| Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus | Wildflower (forb) | 9.8 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3a |
| littleleaf buttercup Ranunculus abortivus | Wildflower (forb) | 2.8 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3a |
| Missouri River willow Salix eriocephala | Tree | 52 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 3b |
| nodding beggartick Bidens cernua | Wildflower (forb) | 3.2 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 12a |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii | Wildflower (forb) | 1.4 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| quaking aspen Populus tremuloides | Tree | 65 ft | Sun | High | Zone 1a |
| 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 |
| roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus | Wildflower (forb) | 6.6 ft | Sun | High | Zone 4a |
| sandbar willow Salix interior | Tree | 30 ft | Sun | — | Zone 1a |
| smooth sumac Rhus glabra | Tree | 12 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum | Wildflower (forb) | 3.6 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3a |
| Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus | Grass or grass-like | 2.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4b |
| western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis | Shrub | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 3b |
| white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum | Wildflower (forb) | 6 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3b |
| wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 39
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.
Hidden while “Garden-ready only” is on.
- American bladdernut Staphylea trifolia
- Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
- bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
- bluntlobe cliff fern Woodsia obtusa
- bristly greenbrier Smilax tamnoides
- Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
- climbing false buckwheat Polygonum scandens
- clustered blacksnakeroot Sanicula odorata
- common moonseed Menispermum canadense
- common pricklyash Zanthoxylum americanum
- downy hawthorn Crataegus mollis
- dutchman's breeches Dicentra cucullaria
- eastern waterleaf Hydrophyllum virginianum
- feathery false lily of the valley Maianthemum racemosum
- great ragweed Ambrosia trifida
- hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
- Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
- lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
- lanceleaf figwort Scrophularia lanceolata
- large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
- limber honeysuckle Lonicera dioica
- longbract spiderwort Tradescantia bracteata
- longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
- lowland bladderfern Cystopteris protrusa
- mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
- Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
- Paradox cinquefoil Potentilla paradoxa
- prairie blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium campestre
- prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
- red columbine Aquilegia canadensis
- rosy sedge Carex rosea
- rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
- sicklepod Arabis canadensis
- Sprengel's sedge Carex sprengelii
- starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
- Virginia strawberry Fragaria virginiana
- western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
- witchgrass Panicum capillare
- woodland strawberry Fragaria vesca
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.
| Measure | Thurston County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 76 | 169 | 1,131 |
| Garden-ready natives | 37 | 81 | 452 |
| Tree | 18 | — | 68 |
| Shrub | 5 | — | 48 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 34 | — | 687 |
| Grass or grass-like | 9 | — | 253 |
| Vine | 6 | — | 46 |
| Fern | 4 | — | 29 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Thurston County.
- Burt County, NE 56 garden-ready
- Cuming County, NE 165 garden-ready
- Dakota County, NE 50 garden-ready
- Dixon County, NE 82 garden-ready
- Wayne County, NE 12 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
- Thurston County (county FIPS 31173), Nebraska. 76 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