Native plants · South Dakota

Native plants of McCook County

63 plant species are recorded as native to South Dakota in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in McCook 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

McCook County, South Dakota

Native species: 63 Typical South Dakota county: 110 (median of 65 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 32 Typical South Dakota county: 59
Share by type (all 63 native species): Percent of the 63 native species in each growth type

Tree 10% (6)
Shrub 5% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 67% (42)
Grass or grass-like 17% (11)
Vine 2% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (67%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (17%).

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 McCook County, South Dakota
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
alkali buttercup Ranunculus cymbalaria	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 3b
American black currant Ribes americanum	Shrub	3 ft	—	—	Zone 2b
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
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
Canadian milkvetch Astragalus canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
cloaked bulrush Scirpus pallidus	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
common duckweed Lemna minor	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
coon's tail Ceratophyllum demersum	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
devil's beggartick Bidens frondosa	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 12a
downy paintedcup Castilleja sessiliflora	Wildflower (forb)	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides	Tree	190 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
field pussytoes Antennaria neglecta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus	Grass or grass-like	9.8 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
lambstongue ragwort Senecio integerrimus	Wildflower (forb)	1.1 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	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
nodding beggartick Bidens cernua	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides	Tree	60 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii	Wildflower (forb)	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
Saskatoon serviceberry Amelanchier alnifolia	Tree	15 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 1a
silver buffaloberry Shepherdia argentea	Tree	18 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum	Wildflower (forb)	3.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	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
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

Other native species recorded here 31

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 mannagrass Glyceria grandis
bald spikerush Eleocharis erythropoda
Carolina anemone Anemone caroliniana
Carolina draba Draba reptans
common milkweed Asclepias syriaca
foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
fringed loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata
groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
hoary puccoon Lithospermum canescens
horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
lanceleaf buckthorn Rhamnus lanceolata
long-stolon sedge Carex inops
Mead's sedge Carex meadii
Missouri gooseberry Ribes missouriense
narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
neckweed Veronica peregrina
Northern Idaho biscuitroot Lomatium orientale
northern water plantain Alisma triviale
Norwegian cinquefoil Potentilla norvegica
prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata
prairie violet Viola pedatifida
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
slender yellow woodsorrel Oxalis dillenii
smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides
soft-hair marbleseed Onosmodium bejariense
spotted water hemlock Cicuta maculata
starry false lily of the valley Maianthemum stellatum
violet woodsorrel Oxalis violacea
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
witchgrass Panicum capillare

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, McCook County and South Dakota
Measure	McCook County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	63	110	1,092
Garden-ready natives	32	59	473
Tree	6	—	61
Shrub	3	—	69
Wildflower (forb)	42	—	640
Grass or grass-like	11	—	243
Vine	1	—	34
Fern	0	—	45

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with McCook County.

Hanson County, SD 34 garden-ready
Hutchinson County, SD 44 garden-ready
Lake County, SD 27 garden-ready
Miner County, SD 21 garden-ready
Minnehaha County, SD 116 garden-ready
Turner County, SD 35 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: McCook County (county FIPS 46087), South Dakota. 63 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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