Native plants · New Mexico

Native plants of Lea County

60 plant species are recorded as native to New Mexico in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Lea County by USDA PLANTS. 31 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

Lea County, New Mexico

Native species: 60 Typical New Mexico county: 258 (median of 33 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 31 Typical New Mexico county: 160
Share by type (all 60 native species): Percent of the 60 native species in each growth type

Tree 8% (5)
Shrub 10% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 43% (26)
Grass or grass-like 37% (22)
Vine 2% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (43%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (37%).

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 7b to 8a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 31

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

Garden-ready native plants of Lea County, New Mexico
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
black grama Bouteloua eriopoda	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis	Grass or grass-like	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri	Grass or grass-like	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8b
cane bluestem Bothriochloa barbinodis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7b
catclaw acacia Senegalia greggii	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens	Shrub	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
green prairie coneflower Ratibida tagetes	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa	Tree	50 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
needle and thread Hesperostipa comata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
plains pricklypear Opuntia polyacantha	Shrub	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
soaptree yucca Yucca elata	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
squirreltail Elymus elymoides	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
whitethorn acacia Vachellia constricta	Tree	9 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b

Other native species recorded here 29

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.

annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
feather fingergrass Chloris virgata
foothill bladderpod Lesquerella ludoviciana
hoary tansyaster Machaeranthera canescens
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
scrambled eggs Corydalis aurea
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
spinystar Escobaria vivipara
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
Texas croton Croton texensis
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
witchgrass Panicum capillare

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 New Mexico

The typical county is the median of the 33 New Mexico 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, Lea County and New Mexico
Measure	Lea County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	60	258	1,103
Garden-ready natives	31	160	570
Tree	5	—	81
Shrub	6	—	95
Wildflower (forb)	26	—	602
Grass or grass-like	22	—	275
Vine	1	—	22
Fern	0	—	28

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: Lea County (county FIPS 35025), New Mexico. 60 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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