Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Crane County

84 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Crane County by USDA PLANTS. 40 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

Crane County, Texas

Native species: 84 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 40 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 84 native species): Percent of the 84 native species in each growth type

Tree 2% (2)
Shrub 11% (9)
Wildflower (forb) 57% (48)
Grass or grass-like 26% (22)
Vine 2% (2)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (57%), 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 40

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

Garden-ready native plants of Crane County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
American tarwort Flourensia cernua	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
big sacaton Sporobolus wrightii	Grass or grass-like	5.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
black grama Bouteloua eriopoda	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae	Shrub	1.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri	Grass or grass-like	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8b
cane bluestem Bothriochloa barbinodis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7b
catclaw acacia Senegalia greggii	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
creosote bush Larrea tridentata	Shrub	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
crested pricklypoppy Argemone polyanthemos	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens	Shrub	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
green prairie coneflower Ratibida tagetes	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
gypsum grama Bouteloua breviseta	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 7a
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
lemonscent Pectis angustifolia	Wildflower (forb)	8 in	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
littleleaf ratany Krameria erecta	Shrub	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
mesa dropseed Sporobolus flexuosus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 7a
Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima	Vine	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
rough menodora Menodora scabra	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 9a
roving sailor Maurandella antirrhiniflora	Vine	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 6b
sago pondweed Stuckenia pectinata	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum	Wildflower (forb)	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
saltgrass Distichlis spicata	Grass or grass-like	1.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
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
southern waternymph Najas guadalupensis	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
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
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 44

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 buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bluejacket Tradescantia ohiensis
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
Fremont's goosefoot Chenopodium fremontii
Geyer's sandmat Chamaesyce geyeri
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
Louisiana broomrape Orobanche ludoviciana
mealy goosefoot Chenopodium incanum
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
spiral ditchgrass Ruppia cirrhosa
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
Texas croton Croton texensis
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
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, Crane County and Texas
Measure	Crane County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	84	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	40	61	656
Tree	2	—	164
Shrub	9	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	48	—	877
Grass or grass-like	22	—	431
Vine	2	—	83
Fern	1	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Crane County.

Ector County, TX 28 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: Crane County (county FIPS 48103), 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

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