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Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · Oregon

Native plants of Columbia County

106 plant species are recorded as native to Oregon in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Columbia County by USDA PLANTS. 72 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 2 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Columbia County, Oregon

Native species
106 Typical Oregon county: 432 (median of 36 counties)
Garden-ready natives
72 Typical Oregon county: 311
Share by type (all 106 native species)
Percent of the 106 native species in each growth type
Tree 12% (13)
Shrub 5% (5)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (55)
Grass or grass-like 25% (26)
Vine 3% (3)
Fern 4% (4)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (52%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (25%).

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 8a to 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 72

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

Garden-ready native plants of Columbia County, Oregon
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
Alaska brome Bromus sitchensis Grass or grass-like 5 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 5b
American pokeweed Phytolacca americana Wildflower (forb) 7.3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
arctic sweet coltsfoot Petasites frigidus Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
awlfruit sedge Carex stipata Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
black hawthorn Crataegus douglasii Tree 15 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
blue wildrye Elymus glaucus Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
broom sedge Carex scoparia Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
California brome Bromus carinatus Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Low Zone 9a
Canadian waterweed Elodea canadensis Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 4a
chamisso sedge Carex pachystachya Grass or grass-like 3.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
Columbian sedge Carex aperta Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun High Zone 5b
common cowparsnip Heracleum maximum Wildflower (forb) 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
common duckweed Lemna minor Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
common rush Juncus effusus Grass or grass-like 6.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
common selfheal Prunella vulgaris Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
common sneezeweed Helenium autumnale Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common spikerush Eleocharis palustris Grass or grass-like 1.3 ft Sun High Zone 3b
coon's tail Ceratophyllum demersum Wildflower (forb) — Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
cursed buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 12b
curvepod yellowcress Rorippa curvisiliqua Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 12b
darkthroat shootingstar Dodecatheon pulchellum Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
Douglas aster Symphyotrichum subspicatum Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun–part shade High Zone 6b
field horsetail Equisetum arvense Fern 11 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
Gardner's yampah Perideridia gairdneri Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 5b
Geyer willow Salix geyeriana Tree 15 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
grand fir Abies grandis Tree 150 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus Grass or grass-like 9.8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
knotgrass Paspalum distichum Grass or grass-like 11 in Sun High Zone 6a
largeleaf avens Geum macrophyllum Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4a
leafy pea Lathyrus polyphyllus Vine 2.7 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 7b
marsh seedbox Ludwigia palustris Wildflower (forb) 2 in Sun High Zone 4a
meadow barley Hordeum brachyantherum Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
miner's lettuce Claytonia perfoliata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 12b
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
oceanspray Holodiscus discolor Shrub 12 ft Sun High Zone 8a
Oregon white oak Quercus garryana Tree 80 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Pacific bleeding heart Dicentra formosa Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 5a
Pacific ninebark Physocarpus capitatus Shrub 8 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Pacific silver fir Abies amabilis Tree 165 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
poverty rush Juncus tenuis Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
prickly currant Ribes lacustre Shrub 3 ft Shade-tolerant — Zone 1a
red alder Alnus rubra Tree 90 ft Sun High Zone 5a
red elderberry Sambucus racemosa Tree 18 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
redosier dogwood Cornus sericea Tree 12 ft Sun High Zone 3b
redroot flatsedge Cyperus erythrorhizos Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 11a
redstem ceanothus Ceanothus sanguineus Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 6a
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
ribbonleaf pondweed Potamogeton epihydrus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 4a
river bulrush Bolboschoenus fluviatilis Grass or grass-like 6.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sago pondweed Stuckenia pectinata Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
Saskatoon serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia Tree 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 1a
Scouler's willow Salix scouleriana Tree 50 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 6a
seep monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
silverleaf phacelia Phacelia hastata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Sitka willow Salix sitchensis Tree 23 ft Sun High Zone 5b
slough sedge Carex obnupta Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 7a
small floating mannagrass Glyceria borealis Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun High Zone 4a
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides Wildflower (forb) — Sun Medium Zone 10b
tapertip onion Allium acuminatum Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
three-way sedge Dulichium arundinaceum Grass or grass-like 2.6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
threepetal bedstraw Galium trifidum Vine 10 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
toughleaf iris Iris tenax Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 6a
vernal water-starwort Callitriche palustris Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun Medium Zone 4a
vine maple Acer circinatum Tree 20 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 6a
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
western pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
woolgrass Scirpus cyperinus Grass or grass-like 4.9 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 34

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.

  • Aleutian maidenhair Adiantum aleuticum
  • American black nightshade Solanum americanum
  • American mannagrass Glyceria grandis
  • American wild carrot Daucus pusillus
  • bay forget-me-not Myosotis laxa
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bigleaf lupine Lupinus polyphyllus
  • bluntleaf yellowcress Rorippa curvipes
  • boreal starwort Stellaria borealis
  • Canadian gooseberry Ribes oxyacanthoides
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • Douglas' knotweed Polygonum douglasii
  • dune willow Salix hookeriana
  • European bur-reed Sparganium emersum
  • feathery false lily of the valley Maianthemum racemosum
  • fringed willowherb Epilobium ciliatum
  • hairy evening primrose Oenothera villosa
  • heartleaf twayblade Listera cordata
  • hemlock waterparsnip Sium suave
  • Howell's pussytoes Antennaria howellii
  • knotsheath sedge Carex retrorsa
  • maidenhair spleenwort Asplenium trichomanes
  • male fern Dryopteris filix-mas
  • Modoc yellowcress Rorippa tenerrima
  • narrowleaf minerslettuce Montia linearis
  • northern sweetgrass Hierochloe hirta
  • northern water plantain Alisma triviale
  • northern watermeal Wolffia borealis
  • purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
  • red baneberry Actaea rubra
  • summer coralroot Corallorhiza maculata
  • twinflower Linnaea borealis
  • yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia
Also listed as native and introduced here 2

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.

Compared with Oregon

The typical county is the median of the 36 Oregon 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, Columbia County and Oregon
MeasureColumbia CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 106 432 1,058
Garden-ready natives 72 311 683
Tree 13 — 87
Shrub 5 — 115
Wildflower (forb) 55 — 567
Grass or grass-like 26 — 232
Vine 3 — 18
Fern 4 — 39

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Columbia 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
Columbia County (county FIPS 41009), Oregon. 106 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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