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Native plants · South Dakota

Native plants of Buffalo County

94 plant species are recorded as native to South Dakota in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Buffalo County by USDA PLANTS. 52 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Buffalo County, South Dakota

Native species
94 Typical South Dakota county: 110 (median of 65 counties)
Garden-ready natives
52 Typical South Dakota county: 59
Share by type (all 94 native species)
Percent of the 94 native species in each growth type
Tree 9% (8)
Shrub 12% (11)
Wildflower (forb) 56% (53)
Grass or grass-like 18% (17)
Vine 4% (4)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (56%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (18%).

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 4b (2023 map).

The native plant list

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

Garden-ready natives 52

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

Garden-ready native plants of Buffalo County, South Dakota
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American black currant Ribes americanum Shrub 3 ft — — Zone 2b
American elm Ulmus americana Tree 120 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 2b
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
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
boxelder Acer negundo Tree 60 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae Shrub 1.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa Tree 100 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis Wildflower (forb) 5 ft Sun Medium Zone 12b
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
common duckweed Lemna minor Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
eastern redcedar Juniperus virginiana Tree 50 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
field horsetail Equisetum arvense Fern 11 in Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 11b
golden currant Ribes aureum Shrub 10 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12b
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
hairy false goldenaster Heterotheca villosa Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
Jerusalem artichoke Helianthus tuberosus Wildflower (forb) 9.8 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
marsh muhly Muhlenbergia racemosa Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3b
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
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
prairie sagewort Artemisia frigida Shrub 2 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3a
riverbank grape Vitis riparia Vine 45 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus Wildflower (forb) 6.6 ft Sun High Zone 4a
rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
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
silver sagebrush Artemisia cana Shrub 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata Shrub 4 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 2a
smooth sumac Rhus glabra Tree 12 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi Grass or grass-like 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera Wildflower (forb) 3.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus Grass or grass-like 2.5 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 4b
western snowberry Symphoricarpos occidentalis Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
white panicle aster Symphyotrichum lanceolatum Wildflower (forb) 6 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3b
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 42

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 lopseed Phryma leptostachya
  • biannual lettuce Lactuca ludoviciana
  • big devils beggartick Bidens vulgata
  • bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
  • common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
  • great ragweed Ambrosia trifida
  • heartleaf four o'clock Mirabilis nyctaginea
  • hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
  • hoary verbena Verbena stricta
  • horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
  • large beardtongue Penstemon grandiflorus
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • longstyle sweetroot Osmorhiza longistylis
  • mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
  • matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
  • narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
  • narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
  • Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
  • pale dock Rumex altissimus
  • Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
  • pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
  • povertyweed Iva axillaris
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • purple meadow-rue Thalictrum dasycarpum
  • rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
  • smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
  • stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
  • western silver aster Symphyotrichum sericeum
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis
  • wild cucumber Echinocystis lobata
  • witchgrass Panicum capillare
  • woodbine Parthenocissus vitacea

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, Buffalo County and South Dakota
MeasureBuffalo CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 94 110 1,092
Garden-ready natives 52 59 473
Tree 8 — 61
Shrub 11 — 69
Wildflower (forb) 53 — 640
Grass or grass-like 17 — 243
Vine 4 — 34
Fern 1 — 45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Buffalo 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
Buffalo County (county FIPS 46017), South Dakota. 94 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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