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Native plants · South Dakota

Native plants of Dewey County

106 plant species are recorded as native to South Dakota in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Dewey County by USDA PLANTS. 59 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Dewey County, South Dakota

Native species
106 Typical South Dakota county: 110 (median of 65 counties)
Garden-ready natives
59 Typical South Dakota county: 59
Share by type (all 106 native species)
Percent of the 106 native species in each growth type
Tree 6% (6)
Shrub 8% (9)
Wildflower (forb) 58% (62)
Grass or grass-like 22% (23)
Vine 4% (4)
Fern 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (58%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (22%).

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 59

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

Garden-ready native plants of Dewey County, South Dakota
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
American plum Prunus americana Tree 24 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
American vetch Vicia americana Vine 1.3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Low Zone 2b
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
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
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
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis Grass or grass-like 3 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 3a
chokecherry Prunus virginiana Tree 25 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa Wildflower (forb) 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 12a
devil's darning needles Clematis virginiana Vine 15 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
fineleaf pondweed Stuckenia filiformis Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
fowl bluegrass Poa palustris Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
Gardner's saltbush Atriplex gardneri Shrub 4 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea Wildflower (forb) 8.2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 4a
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Tree 80 ft Shade-tolerant Medium Zone 2b
leadplant Amorpha canescens Shrub 4 ft Shade-tolerant Low Zone 3b
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
little barley Hordeum pusillum Grass or grass-like 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
Missouri goldenrod Solidago missouriensis Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 3b
needle spikerush Eleocharis acicularis Grass or grass-like 8 in Sun Medium Zone 5a
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua Wildflower (forb) 3.2 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun Medium Zone 12a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
porcupinegrass Hesperostipa spartea Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
poverty rush Juncus tenuis Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun–part shade Medium 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
purple milkvetch Astragalus agrestis Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
rubber rabbitbrush Ericameria nauseosa Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sago pondweed Stuckenia pectinata Wildflower (forb) — Sun High Zone 3b
sand bluestem Andropogon hallii Grass or grass-like 6.1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
sandbar willow Salix interior Tree 30 ft Sun — Zone 1a
sawsepal penstemon Penstemon glaber Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 3b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
silver sagebrush Artemisia cana Shrub 5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata Shrub 4 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 2a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum Wildflower (forb) 3.6 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
tall cinquefoil Potentilla arguta Wildflower (forb) 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
textile onion Allium textile Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3b
threelobe beggarticks Bidens tripartita Wildflower (forb) 3.5 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 12a
tufted evening primrose Oenothera caespitosa Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 6a
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
water knotweed Polygonum amphibium Wildflower (forb) 1 in Sun High Zone 5a
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
wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
Woods' rose Rosa woodsii Shrub 3 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 3a
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica Wildflower (forb) 6 in Sun Low Zone 12b
yellow owl's-clover Orthocarpus luteus Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 47

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
  • aridland goosefoot Chenopodium desiccatum
  • aromatic aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
  • bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
  • brittle bladderfern Cystopteris fragilis
  • candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
  • desert biscuitroot Lomatium foeniculaceum
  • desert princesplume Stanleya pinnata
  • foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
  • green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
  • heavy sedge Carex gravida
  • hedge false bindweed Calystegia sepium
  • large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
  • Laxmann's milkvetch Astragalus laxmannii
  • lilac penstemon Penstemon gracilis
  • long-stolon sedge Carex inops
  • longbract spiderwort Tradescantia bracteata
  • longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
  • mapleleaf goosefoot Chenopodium simplex
  • narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
  • needleleaf sedge Carex duriuscula
  • northern water plantain Alisma triviale
  • Oregon cliff fern Woodsia oregana
  • Pennsylvania cinquefoil Potentilla pensylvanica
  • plains bluegrass Poa arida
  • povertyweed Iva axillaris
  • prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
  • prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
  • prairie plantain Plantago elongata
  • prairie rose Rosa arkansana
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • rush skeletonplant Lygodesmia juncea
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • shaggy fleabane Erigeron pumilus
  • shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
  • silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
  • silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
  • snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
  • tiny trumpet Collomia linearis
  • tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
  • veiny dock Rumex venosus
  • velvety goldenrod Solidago mollis
  • wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
  • white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
  • white prairie aster Symphyotrichum falcatum
  • woodbine Parthenocissus vitacea
  • woolly sedge Carex pellita

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, Dewey County and South Dakota
MeasureDewey CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 106 110 1,092
Garden-ready natives 59 59 473
Tree 6 — 61
Shrub 9 — 69
Wildflower (forb) 62 — 640
Grass or grass-like 23 — 243
Vine 4 — 34
Fern 2 — 45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Dewey 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
Dewey County (county FIPS 46041), South Dakota. 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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