Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Bee County

72 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Bee County by USDA PLANTS. 25 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Bee County, Texas

PLANTS records only 25 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Texas list is a useful second check.

Native species: 72 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 25 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 72 native species): Percent of the 72 native species in each growth type

Tree 6% (4)
Shrub 1% (1)
Wildflower (forb) 53% (38)
Grass or grass-like 38% (27)
Vine 3% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (53%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (38%).

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 zones 9a to 9b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 25

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

Garden-ready native plants of Bee County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
broomsedge bluestem Andropogon virginicus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
brownseed paspalum Paspalum plicatulum	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 8a
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
cane bluestem Bothriochloa barbinodis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7b
Carolina desert-thorn Lycium carolinianum	Shrub	9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 9a
cylinder jointtail grass Coelorachis cylindrica	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 5a
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
green sprangletop Leptochloa dubia	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa	Tree	50 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
little barley Hordeum pusillum	Grass or grass-like	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
live oak Quercus virginiana	Tree	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8a
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
mescal bean Sophora secundiflora	Tree	15 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 8a
Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana	Wildflower (forb)	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 12a
plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia	Grass or grass-like	2.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
possumhaw Ilex decidua	Tree	33 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 5b
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
purpletop tridens Tridens flavus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani	Grass or grass-like	9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus	Grass or grass-like	1.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
whiteroot rush Juncus brachycarpus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a

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.

annual phlox Phlox drummondii
bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina geranium Geranium carolinianum
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
crowpoison Nothoscordum bivalve
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
curvepod fumewort Corydalis curvisiliqua
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
hairy fimbry Fimbristylis puberula
hairyseed paspalum Paspalum pubiflorum
heartleaf nettle Urtica chamaedryoides
hogwort Croton capitatus
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
meadow garlic Allium canadense
mucronate sprangletop Leptochloa panicea
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
pale dock Rumex altissimus
pasture heliotrope Heliotropium tenellum
Pennsylvania everlasting Gamochaeta pensylvanica
pink thoroughwort Fleischmannia incarnata
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
slender crabgrass Digitaria filiformis
slender plantain Plantago heterophylla
slimspike threeawn Aristida longespica
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
southern sandbur Cenchrus echinatus
Texas vervain Verbena halei
toothed spurge Euphorbia dentata
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whorled milkwort Polygala verticillata

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, Bee County and Texas
Measure	Bee County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	72	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	25	61	656
Tree	4	—	164
Shrub	1	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	38	—	877
Grass or grass-like	27	—	431
Vine	2	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Bee County.

Karnes County, TX 78 garden-ready
Live Oak County, TX 29 garden-ready
San Patricio County, TX 95 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: Bee County (county FIPS 48025), Texas. 72 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.