Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Crosby County

90 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Crosby County by USDA PLANTS. 39 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Crosby County, Texas

Native species: 90 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 39 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 90 native species): Percent of the 90 native species in each growth type

Tree 6% (5)
Shrub 4% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 69% (62)
Grass or grass-like 14% (13)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 6% (5)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (69%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (14%).

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 7b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 39

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

Garden-ready native plants of Crosby County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
black willow Salix nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1b
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae	Shrub	1.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Canada goldenrod Solidago canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
cardinalflower Lobelia cardinalis	Wildflower (forb)	5.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4a
Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-veneris	Fern	1.7 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
downy paintedcup Castilleja sessiliflora	Wildflower (forb)	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea	Wildflower (forb)	8.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 4a
golden currant Ribes aureum	Shrub	10 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 3b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa	Tree	50 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
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
littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
purple locoweed Oxytropis lambertii	Wildflower (forb)	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
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
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
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
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata	Shrub	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 2a
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum	Fern	5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
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
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
white sagebrush Artemisia ludoviciana	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 51

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 star-thistle Centaurea americana
annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bastard toadflax Comandra umbellata
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
bighead pygmycudweed Evax prolifera
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
crowpoison Nothoscordum bivalve
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
Louisiana broomrape Orobanche ludoviciana
Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
narrowleaf purple coneflower Echinacea angustifolia
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks fescue Vulpia octoflora
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum
small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
stemless four-nerve daisy Tetraneuris acaulis
stemless Townsend daisy Townsendia exscapa
stiffstem flax Linum rigidum
Texas bluegrass Poa arachnifera
Texas croton Croton texensis
threeflower melicgrass Melica nitens
warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis
woodbine Parthenocissus vitacea

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, Crosby County and Texas
Measure	Crosby County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	90	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	39	61	656
Tree	5	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	62	—	877
Grass or grass-like	13	—	431
Vine	1	—	83
Fern	5	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Crosby County.

Dickens County, TX 50 garden-ready
Floyd County, TX 33 garden-ready
Garza County, TX 80 garden-ready
Hale County, TX 24 garden-ready
Lubbock County, TX 82 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: Crosby County (county FIPS 48107), Texas. 90 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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