Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Delta County

87 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Delta County by USDA PLANTS. 31 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Delta County, Texas

Native species: 87 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 31 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 87 native species): Percent of the 87 native species in each growth type

Tree 7% (6)
Shrub 3% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 57% (50)
Grass or grass-like 29% (25)
Vine 3% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (57%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (29%).

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 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 31

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

Garden-ready native plants of Delta County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American pokeweed Phytolacca americana	Wildflower (forb)	7.3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
American water-willow Justicia americana	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
blackjack oak Quercus marilandica	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
blunt broom sedge Carex tribuloides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
broadleaf signalgrass Urochloa platyphylla	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
burningbush Euonymus atropurpureus	Tree	10 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	—
Canada germander Teucrium canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3a
common blue violet Viola sororia	Wildflower (forb)	4 in	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
dwarf St. Johnswort Hypericum mutilum	Wildflower (forb)	2.6 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
flatstem spikerush Eleocharis compressa	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
fox sedge Carex vulpinoidea	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
frost grape Vitis vulpina	Vine	83 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 2b
greenwhite sedge Carex albolutescens	Grass or grass-like	3.9 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
halberdleaf rosemallow Hibiscus laevis	Wildflower (forb)	8 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 6a
panicledleaf ticktrefoil Desmodium paniculatum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 6a
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
prairie Junegrass Koeleria macrantha	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	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
shoreline sedge Carex hyalinolepis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4b
Shumard's oak Quercus shumardii	Tree	100 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
smooth sumac Rhus glabra	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
spotted St. Johnswort Hypericum punctatum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
thinfruit sedge Carex flaccosperma	Grass or grass-like	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 6b
white avens Geum canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
white edge sedge Carex debilis	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 6a
woolgrass Scirpus cyperinus	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
yellow passionflower Passiflora lutea	Vine	16 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 5a

Other native species recorded here 56

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 bird's-foot trefoil Lotus unifoliolatus
Aunt Lucy Ellisia nyctelea
azure blue sage Salvia azurea
beaked cornsalad Valerianella radiata
bluestem pricklypoppy Argemone albiflora
Carolina geranium Geranium carolinianum
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina sedge Carex caroliniana
cylindricfruit primrose-willow Ludwigia glandulosa
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
Davis' sedge Carex davisii
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
downy phlox Phlox pilosa
eastern fox sedge Carex triangularis
fescue sedge Carex festucacea
field pansy Viola bicolor
garden dewberry Rubus aboriginum
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
heartleaf four o'clock Mirabilis nyctaginea
hirsute sedge Carex complanata
inflated narrow-leaf sedge Carex grisea
largebracted plantain Plantago aristata
licorice bedstraw Galium circaezans
Long's sedge Carex longii
longleaf groundcherry Physalis longifolia
lowland rotala Rotala ramosior
lyreleaf sage Salvia lyrata
neckweed Veronica peregrina
northern dewberry Rubus flagellaris
Nuttall's prairie parsley Polytaenia nuttallii
pale dock Rumex altissimus
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
pleatleaf knotweed Polygonum tenue
poorjoe Diodia teres
prune-fruit sedge Carex corrugata
rough dropseed Sporobolus clandestinus
shortbeak sedge Carex brevior
silvery everlasting Gamochaeta argyrinea
small skullcap Scutellaria parvula
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
southern dewberry Rubus trivialis
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
St. Andrew's cross Hypericum hypericoides
sunbright Phemeranthus parviflorus
Texas sedge Carex texensis
Texas star Sabatia campestris
Texas vervain Verbena halei
tiny bluet Houstonia pusilla
Virginia plantain Plantago virginica
Virginia springbeauty Claytonia virginica
warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
white vervain Verbena urticifolia
whitetinge sedge Carex albicans
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, Delta County and Texas
Measure	Delta County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	87	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	31	61	656
Tree	6	—	164
Shrub	3	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	50	—	877
Grass or grass-like	25	—	431
Vine	3	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Delta County.

Fannin County, TX 81 garden-ready
Hunt County, TX 100 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: Delta County (county FIPS 48119), Texas. 87 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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