Native plants · South Dakota

Native plants of Jerauld County

68 plant species are recorded as native to South Dakota in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Jerauld County by USDA PLANTS. 32 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Jerauld County, South Dakota

Native species: 68 Typical South Dakota county: 110 (median of 65 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 32 Typical South Dakota county: 59
Share by type (all 68 native species): Percent of the 68 native species in each growth type

Tree 1% (1)
Shrub 4% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 60% (41)
Grass or grass-like 32% (22)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (60%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (32%).

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

Garden-ready natives 32

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

Garden-ready native plants of Jerauld County, South Dakota
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American black currant Ribes americanum	Shrub	3 ft	—	—	Zone 2b
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
clustered field sedge Carex praegracilis	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
disk waterhyssop Bacopa rotundifolia	Wildflower (forb)	1 in	Sun	High	Zone 4a
downy paintedcup Castilleja sessiliflora	Wildflower (forb)	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 11b
green needlegrass Nassella viridula	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
marsh muhly Muhlenbergia racemosa	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	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 beggartick Bidens cernua	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
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
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
saltgrass Distichlis spicata	Grass or grass-like	1.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
slender wheatgrass Elymus trachycaulus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	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
threadleaf sedge Carex filifolia	Grass or grass-like	1.2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
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
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 sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 36

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
Canadian anemone Anemone canadensis
candle anemone Anemone cylindrica
Carolina draba Draba reptans
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
fineleaf hymenopappus Hymenopappus filifolius
foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
heavy sedge Carex gravida
hooded arrowhead Sagittaria calycina
lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
large Indian breadroot Pediomelum esculentum
Laxmann's milkvetch Astragalus laxmannii
lilac penstemon Penstemon gracilis
low serviceberry Amelanchier humilis
mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
Northern Idaho biscuitroot Lomatium orientale
northern water plantain Alisma triviale
Pennsylvania cinquefoil Potentilla pensylvanica
prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
silverleaf Indian breadroot Pediomelum argophyllum
tall thistle Cirsium altissimum
velvety goldenrod Solidago mollis
Virginia groundcherry Physalis virginiana
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
witchgrass Panicum capillare
yellow avens Geum aleppicum
yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia

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, Jerauld County and South Dakota
Measure	Jerauld County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	68	110	1,092
Garden-ready natives	32	59	473
Tree	1	—	61
Shrub	3	—	69
Wildflower (forb)	41	—	640
Grass or grass-like	22	—	243
Vine	0	—	34
Fern	1	—	45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Jerauld County.

Aurora County, SD 44 garden-ready
Beadle County, SD 66 garden-ready
Brule County, SD 71 garden-ready
Sanborn County, SD 49 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: Jerauld County (county FIPS 46073), South Dakota. 68 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

Independent reference site. No government affiliation or endorsement.