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Native plants · South Dakota

Native plants of Aurora County

95 plant species are recorded as native to South Dakota in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Aurora County by USDA PLANTS. 44 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

Aurora County, South Dakota

Native species
95 Typical South Dakota county: 110 (median of 65 counties)
Garden-ready natives
44 Typical South Dakota county: 59
Share by type (all 95 native species)
Percent of the 95 native species in each growth type
Tree 4% (4)
Shrub 3% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 65% (62)
Grass or grass-like 25% (24)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (65%), 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 zone 5a (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 44

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

Garden-ready native plants of Aurora County, South Dakota
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
American plum Prunus americana Tree 24 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
American water horehound Lycopus americanus Wildflower (forb) 1.8 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
arumleaf arrowhead Sagittaria cuneata Wildflower (forb) 2.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
broadbeard beardtongue Penstemon angustifolius Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
Canada goldenrod Solidago altissima Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4b
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common duckweed Lemna minor Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
disk waterhyssop Bacopa rotundifolia Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 4a
flatstem spikerush Eleocharis compressa Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun High Zone 4a
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
inland rush Juncus interior Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
needle and thread Hesperostipa comata Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
nodding waternymph Najas flexilis Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum Wildflower (forb) 3.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
prairie cordgrass Spartina pectinata Grass or grass-like 8 ft Sun High Zone 3b
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Shade-tolerant High Zone 3b
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii Wildflower (forb) 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
reed canarygrass Phalaris arundinacea Grass or grass-like 5 ft Sun High Zone 3b
river bulrush Bolboschoenus fluviatilis Grass or grass-like 6.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
shortawn foxtail Alopecurus aequalis Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
slender wheatgrass Elymus trachycaulus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum Fern 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
star duckweed Lemna trisulca Wildflower (forb) 4 in Sun High Zone 3b
textile onion Allium textile Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.6 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 51

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 sloughgrass Beckmannia syzigachne
  • bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
  • blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
  • buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
  • bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
  • Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
  • carelessweed Cyclachaena xanthiifolia
  • Carolina draba Draba reptans
  • Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
  • curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
  • hairy hedgenettle Stachys pilosa
  • hooded arrowhead Sagittaria calycina
  • horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
  • lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • lilac penstemon Penstemon gracilis
  • longbract spiderwort Tradescantia bracteata
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • neckweed Veronica peregrina
  • northern bog violet Viola nephrophylla
  • Northern Idaho biscuitroot Lomatium orientale
  • northern water plantain Alisma triviale
  • prairie false dandelion Nothocalais cuspidata
  • prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • rayless alkali aster Symphyotrichum ciliatum
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • Rocky Mountain fescue Festuca saximontana
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • rough false pennyroyal Hedeoma hispida
  • rush skeletonplant Lygodesmia juncea
  • Sartwell's sedge Carex sartwellii
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • slimpod Venus' looking-glass Triodanis leptocarpa
  • smooth rose Rosa blanda
  • stiff sunflower Helianthus pauciflorus
  • tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
  • velvety goldenrod Solidago mollis
  • violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
  • water mudwort Limosella aquatica
  • western rockjasmine Androsace occidentalis
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • woolly sedge Carex pellita
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.

Compared with South Dakota

The typical county is the median of the 65 South Dakota 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, Aurora County and South Dakota
MeasureAurora CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 95 110 1,092
Garden-ready natives 44 59 473
Tree 4 — 61
Shrub 3 — 69
Wildflower (forb) 62 — 640
Grass or grass-like 24 — 243
Vine 1 — 34
Fern 1 — 45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Aurora 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
Aurora County (county FIPS 46003), South Dakota. 95 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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