Native plants · Texas
Native plants of Cottle County
84 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Cottle County by USDA PLANTS. 30 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
Cottle County, Texas
- Native species
- 84 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 30 Typical Texas county: 61
- Share by type (all 84 native species)
-
Percent of the 84 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (64%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (24%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 30
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 licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota | Wildflower (forb) | 4 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3b |
| American water-willow Justicia americana | Wildflower (forb) | 2.5 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 4b |
| black willow Salix nigra | Tree | 100 ft | Sun | High | Zone 1b |
| blue grama Bouteloua gracilis | Grass or grass-like | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| 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 |
| Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia | Tree | 12 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 4b |
| common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens | Grass or grass-like | 4.9 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus | Grass or grass-like | 3.2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 5a |
| crested pricklypoppy Argemone polyanthemos | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| desert willow Chilopsis linearis | Tree | 25 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 5a |
| downy paintedcup Castilleja sessiliflora | Wildflower (forb) | 1.3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea | Wildflower (forb) | 8.2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
| 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 |
| Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 5b |
| Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum | Wildflower (forb) | 3.3 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3a |
| little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana | Wildflower (forb) | 10 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 12a |
| purple poppymallow Callirhoe involucrata | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| purple threeawn Aristida purpurea | Grass or grass-like | 1.4 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| sugarberry Celtis laevigata | Tree | 80 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 5a |
| Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi | Grass or grass-like | 3.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| 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 54
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.
- buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
- camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
- carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
- Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
- Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
- curvepod fumewort Corydalis curvisiliqua
- cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
- Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
- diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
- Drummond's false pennyroyal Hedeoma drummondii
- false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
- field lovegrass Eragrostis elliottii
- flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
- fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
- Geyer's sandmat Chamaesyce geyeri
- green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
- gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum
- Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
- James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
- lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
- lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
- lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
- narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
- narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
- pale dock Rumex altissimus
- pineland threeseed mercury Acalypha ostryifolia
- plains snakecotton Froelichia floridana
- pony beebalm Monarda pectinata
- ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
- ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
- sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
- sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
- scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
- Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
- silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
- silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
- sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
- slickseed fuzzybean Strophostyles leiosperma
- snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
- snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
- sorrelvine Cissus trifoliata
- southern cattail Typha domingensis
- stemless Townsend daisy Townsendia exscapa
- Texas bluegrass Poa arachnifera
- Texas toadflax Nuttallanthus texanus
- tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
- tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
- velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
- warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
- whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis
- winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
- witchgrass Panicum capillare
- woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa
- Wright's plantain Plantago wrightiana
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.
- common pepperweedLepidium densiflorum
- 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 | Cottle County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 84 | 145 | 1,683 |
| Garden-ready natives | 30 | 61 | 656 |
| Tree | 6 | — | 164 |
| Shrub | 2 | — | 90 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 54 | — | 877 |
| Grass or grass-like | 20 | — | 431 |
| Vine | 2 | — | 83 |
| Fern | 0 | — | 38 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Cottle County.
- Childress County, TX 53 garden-ready
- Dickens County, TX 50 garden-ready
- Foard County, TX 23 garden-ready
- Hardeman County, TX 36 garden-ready
- King County, TX 13 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
- Cottle County (county FIPS 48101), Texas. 84 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