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Native plants · Oklahoma

Native plants of Cotton County

83 plant species are recorded as native to Oklahoma in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Cotton County by USDA PLANTS. 39 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Cotton County, Oklahoma

Native species
83 Typical Oklahoma county: 203 (median of 77 counties)
Garden-ready natives
39 Typical Oklahoma county: 80
Share by type (all 83 native species)
Percent of the 83 native species in each growth type
Tree 14% (12)
Shrub 2% (2)
Wildflower (forb) 58% (48)
Grass or grass-like 20% (17)
Vine 2% (2)
Fern 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (58%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (20%).

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 8a (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 39

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

Garden-ready native plants of Cotton County, Oklahoma
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
American lotus Nelumbo lutea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun High Zone 3b
American water-willow Justicia americana Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
clasping coneflower Dracopis amplexicaulis Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun High Zone 10b
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis Tree 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 4a
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 2b
coon's tail Ceratophyllum demersum Wildflower (forb) — Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 5a
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana Tree 50 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus Grass or grass-like 9.8 ft Sun High 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
inland rush Juncus interior Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
little walnut Juglans microcarpa Tree 20 ft Sun Medium Zone 7a
Maryland senna Senna marilandica Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 5b
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata Wildflower (forb) 2.4 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 7a
pecan Carya illinoinensis Tree 120 ft Sun High Zone 5a
post oak Quercus stellata Tree 60 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
purple lovegrass Eragrostis spectabilis Grass or grass-like 11 in Sun Low Zone 3a
purple poppymallow Callirhoe involucrata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
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
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum Wildflower (forb) 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
saltgrass Distichlis spicata Grass or grass-like 1.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
slippery elm Ulmus rubra Tree 85 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5a
trumpet creeper Campsis radicans Vine 2 ft Sun Low Zone 6a
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 5a
white prairie clover Dalea candida Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 44

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 star-thistle Centaurea americana
  • American wild carrot Daucus pusillus
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • Carolina anemone Anemone caroliniana
  • Carolina geranium Geranium carolinianum
  • Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
  • chairmaker's bulrush Schoenoplectus americanus
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
  • desert horsepurslane Trianthema portulacastrum
  • Great Plains lady's tresses Spiranthes magnicamporum
  • great ragweed Ambrosia trifida
  • green antelopehorn Asclepias viridis
  • hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
  • hairyfruit chervil Chaerophyllum tainturieri
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
  • marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
  • pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
  • prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
  • prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
  • prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
  • purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
  • red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
  • redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
  • showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
  • silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
  • silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
  • slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
  • sneezeweed Helenium amarum
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
  • Texas star Sabatia campestris
  • Texas toadflax Nuttallanthus texanus
  • Texas vervain Verbena halei
  • tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
  • tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
  • verrucose seapurslane Sesuvium verrucosum
  • Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
  • western horsenettle Solanum dimidiatum
  • whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
  • whorled milkwort Polygala verticillata

Compared with Oklahoma

The typical county is the median of the 77 Oklahoma 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, Cotton County and Oklahoma
MeasureCotton CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 83 203 1,513
Garden-ready natives 39 80 535
Tree 12 — 130
Shrub 2 — 63
Wildflower (forb) 48 — 849
Grass or grass-like 17 — 341
Vine 2 — 85
Fern 2 — 45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Cotton 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
Cotton County (county FIPS 40033), Oklahoma. 83 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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