Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Andrews County

110 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Andrews County by USDA PLANTS. 43 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

Andrews County, Texas

Native species: 110 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 43 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 110 native species): Percent of the 110 native species in each growth type

Tree 2% (2)
Shrub 5% (6)
Wildflower (forb) 65% (71)
Grass or grass-like 26% (29)
Vine 2% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (65%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (26%).

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 8a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 43

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

Garden-ready native plants of Andrews County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
black grama Bouteloua eriopoda	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis	Grass or grass-like	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae	Shrub	1.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri	Grass or grass-like	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8b
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
creosote bush Larrea tridentata	Shrub	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
Goodding's willow Salix gooddingii	Tree	40 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
knotgrass Paspalum distichum	Grass or grass-like	11 in	Sun	High	Zone 6a
lemonscent Pectis angustifolia	Wildflower (forb)	8 in	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
needle and thread Hesperostipa comata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata	Wildflower (forb)	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia	Grass or grass-like	2.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum	Wildflower (forb)	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
sanddune wallflower Erysimum capitatum	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
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
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
spreading alkaliweed Cressa truxillensis	Wildflower (forb)	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
squirreltail Elymus elymoides	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
sweetscent Pluchea odorata	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
tobosagrass Pleuraphis mutica	Grass or grass-like	2.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 7b
Torrey's jointfir Ephedra torreyana	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 67

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 bugseed Corispermum americanum
American star-thistle Centaurea americana
annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
bristly scaleseed Spermolepis echinata
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
curvepod fumewort Corydalis curvisiliqua
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
mealy goosefoot Chenopodium incanum
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf goosefoot Chenopodium leptophyllum
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
pony beebalm Monarda pectinata
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silky prairie clover Dalea villosa
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
sneezeweed Helenium amarum
snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
sorrelvine Cissus trifoliata
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
stemless evening primrose Oenothera triloba
Texas vervain Verbena halei
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
verrucose seapurslane Sesuvium verrucosum
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis
winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa

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.

white sagebrushArtemisia ludoviciana

Compared with Texas

The typical county is the median of the 254 Texas 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, Andrews County and Texas
Measure	Andrews County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	110	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	43	61	656
Tree	2	—	164
Shrub	6	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	71	—	877
Grass or grass-like	29	—	431
Vine	2	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

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: Andrews County (county FIPS 48003), Texas. 110 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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