Native plants · Texas
Native plants of Carson County
121 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Carson County by USDA PLANTS. 39 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 2 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.
County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP
Carson County, Texas
- Native species
- 121 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 39 Typical Texas county: 61
- Share by type (all 121 native species)
-
Percent of the 121 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (59%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (31%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 39
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 3a |
| Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis | Wildflower (forb) | 5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 12b |
| curly-mesquite Hilaria belangeri | Grass or grass-like | 10 in | Sun | Low | Zone 8b |
| dotted blazing star Liatris punctata | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum | Grass or grass-like | 3.3 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| featherplume Dalea formosa | Shrub | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| green prairie coneflower Ratibida tagetes | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4b |
| hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta | Grass or grass-like | 6 in | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa | Tree | 50 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 10b |
| Indiangrass Sorghastrum nutans | Grass or grass-like | 6 ft | Sun | Medium | 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 |
| Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca | Grass or grass-like | 3.3 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3a |
| Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima | Vine | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana | Wildflower (forb) | 10 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 12a |
| Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum | Wildflower (forb) | 3.9 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 10b |
| 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 |
| sand bluestem Andropogon hallii | Grass or grass-like | 6.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| sandhill muhly Muhlenbergia pungens | Grass or grass-like | 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 yellowcress Rorippa sinuata | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| switchgrass Panicum virgatum | Grass or grass-like | 5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4a |
| Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi | Grass or grass-like | 3.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus | Grass or grass-like | 2.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4b |
| western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4b |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 82
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.
Hidden while “Garden-ready only” is on.
- annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
- bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
- bighead pygmycudweed Evax prolifera
- bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
- blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
- buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
- bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
- carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
- Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
- Carruth's sagewort Artemisia carruthii
- coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
- Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
- curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
- curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
- diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
- dwarf horseweed Conyza ramosissima
- Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
- false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides
- feather fingergrass Chloris virgata
- fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
- fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
- flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
- groundplum milkvetch Astragalus crassicarpus
- hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
- Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
- James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
- lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
- lanceleaf sage Salvia reflexa
- Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
- mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
- matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
- mealy goosefoot Chenopodium incanum
- narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
- narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
- narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
- neckweed Veronica peregrina
- Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
- pale dock Rumex altissimus
- pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
- pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
- poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
- prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
- prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
- prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
- ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
- red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
- ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
- rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
- rush skeletonplant Lygodesmia juncea
- sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
- sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
- sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
- scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
- shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
- shortstalk chickweed Cerastium brachypodum
- silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
- sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
- sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
- slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum
- snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
- southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
- southern cattail Typha domingensis
- Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
- spinystar Escobaria vivipara
- stemless evening primrose Oenothera triloba
- stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
- Texas bergia Bergia texana
- Texas croton Croton texensis
- thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
- tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
- tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
- tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
- twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
- upright burhead Echinodorus berteroi
- velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
- Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
- wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
- wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
- western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
- white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
- whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata
- woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa
Also listed as native and introduced here 2
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.
- Kentucky bluegrassPoa pratensis
- toothed spurgeEuphorbia dentata
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.
| Measure | Carson County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 121 | 145 | 1,683 |
| Garden-ready natives | 39 | 61 | 656 |
| Tree | 1 | — | 164 |
| Shrub | 6 | — | 90 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 71 | — | 877 |
| Grass or grass-like | 37 | — | 431 |
| Vine | 5 | — | 83 |
| Fern | 1 | — | 38 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Carson County.
- Armstrong County, TX 58 garden-ready
- Donley County, TX 61 garden-ready
- Gray County, TX 54 garden-ready
- Hutchinson County, TX 78 garden-ready
- Moore County, TX 28 garden-ready
- Potter County, TX 62 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
- Carson County (county FIPS 48065), Texas. 121 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