Native plants · Oklahoma

Native plants of Washita County

90 plant species are recorded as native to Oklahoma in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Washita County by USDA PLANTS. 34 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Washita County, Oklahoma

Native species: 90 Typical Oklahoma county: 203 (median of 77 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 34 Typical Oklahoma county: 80
Share by type (all 90 native species): Percent of the 90 native species in each growth type

Tree 16% (14)
Shrub 2% (2)
Wildflower (forb) 62% (56)
Grass or grass-like 16% (14)
Vine 3% (3)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (62%), followed by trees (16%).

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 7b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 34

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

Garden-ready native plants of Washita County, Oklahoma
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy 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
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
black walnut Juglans nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4b
black willow Salix nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
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
Canada germander Teucrium canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
chinquapin oak Quercus muehlenbergii	Tree	70 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
common hackberry Celtis occidentalis	Tree	60 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 2b
gray goldenrod Solidago nemoralis	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
leadplant Amorpha canescens	Shrub	4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 3b
little barley Hordeum pusillum	Grass or grass-like	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
little walnut Juglans microcarpa	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7a
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b
pecan Carya illinoinensis	Tree	120 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
purple poppymallow Callirhoe involucrata	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
riverbank grape Vitis riparia	Vine	45 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii	Tree	20 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 4b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
showy milkweed Asclepias speciosa	Wildflower (forb)	6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
slippery elm Ulmus rubra	Tree	85 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	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
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
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 56

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
annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
azure blue sage Salvia azurea
bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
blue wild indigo Baptisia australis
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
Carolina canarygrass Phalaris caroliniana
Carolina coralbead Cocculus carolinus
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
dwarf chinquapin oak Quercus prinoides
dwarf hackberry Celtis pumila
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica
gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
Michaux's stitchwort Minuartia michauxii
narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
northern bog violet Viola nephrophylla
Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
Philadelphia panicgrass Panicum philadelphicum
pineland threeseed mercury Acalypha ostryifolia
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silky prairie clover Dalea villosa
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
Texas croton Croton texensis
Texas toadflax Nuttallanthus texanus
wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white prairie aster Symphyotrichum falcatum
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
witchgrass Panicum capillare

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, Washita County and Oklahoma
Measure	Washita County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	90	203	1,513
Garden-ready natives	34	80	535
Tree	14	—	130
Shrub	2	—	63
Wildflower (forb)	56	—	849
Grass or grass-like	14	—	341
Vine	3	—	85
Fern	1	—	45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Washita County.

Beckham County, OK 44 garden-ready
Caddo County, OK 112 garden-ready
Custer County, OK 93 garden-ready
Kiowa County, OK 69 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: Washita County (county FIPS 40149), Oklahoma. 90 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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