Native plants · Texas
Native plants of Hill County
95 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Hill County by USDA PLANTS. 29 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
Hill County, Texas
PLANTS records only 29 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Texas list is a useful second check.
- Native species
- 95 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 29 Typical Texas county: 61
- Share by type (all 95 native species)
-
Percent of the 95 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (61%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (24%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 29
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 lotus Nelumbo lutea | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides | Grass or grass-like | 6 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 4a |
| common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-veneris | Fern | 1.7 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4a |
| composite dropseed Sporobolus compositus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| dotted blazing star Liatris punctata | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides | Grass or grass-like | 5 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
| eastern woodland sedge Carex blanda | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4b |
| fringeleaf wild petunia Ruellia humilis | Wildflower (forb) | 2.6 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 4a |
| giant goldenrod Solidago gigantea | Wildflower (forb) | 8.2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4a |
| grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 5a |
| green hawthorn Crataegus viridis | Tree | 30 ft | Sun | High | Zone 5a |
| honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos | Tree | 70 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima | Vine | 1 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| needlepod rush Juncus scirpoides | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 7a |
| nodding lady's tresses Spiranthes cernua | Wildflower (forb) | 1.5 ft | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| Philadelphia fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus | Wildflower (forb) | 2.8 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 4b |
| redroot flatsedge Cyperus erythrorhizos | Grass or grass-like | 2.5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 11a |
| roughleaf dogwood Cornus drummondii | Tree | 20 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 4b |
| sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 3b |
| 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 |
| splitbeard bluestem Andropogon ternarius | Grass or grass-like | 3.9 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 5b |
| stiff goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum | Wildflower (forb) | 3.6 ft | Sun–part shade | Medium | Zone 3a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 66
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.
- American star-thistle Centaurea americana
- annual marsh elder Iva annua
- Baldwin's flatsedge Cyperus croceus
- Baldwin's ironweed Vernonia baldwinii
- beaked cornsalad Valerianella radiata
- bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
- buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
- camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
- Carolina puccoon Lithospermum caroliniense
- Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
- clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
- Columbian watermeal Wolffia columbiana
- Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
- curlycup gumweed Grindelia squarrosa
- Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
- downy hawthorn Crataegus mollis
- downy phlox Phlox pilosa
- Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
- fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
- fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
- grassy arrowhead Sagittaria graminea
- green antelopehorn Asclepias viridis
- green comet milkweed Asclepias viridiflora
- gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum
- hairy pinweed Lechea mucronata
- hogwort Croton capitatus
- honeyvine Cynanchum laeve
- Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
- lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
- lateflowering thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum
- lesser duckweed Lemna aequinoctialis
- Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
- mucronate sprangletop Leptochloa panicea
- narrowleaf pinweed Lechea tenuifolia
- narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
- Nuttall's prairie parsley Polytaenia nuttallii
- obedient plant Physostegia virginiana
- Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
- pine barren flatsedge Cyperus retrorsus
- pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
- poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
- prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
- prairie groundsel Packera plattensis
- prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
- prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
- ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
- rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
- rough dropseed Sporobolus clandestinus
- shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
- silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
- sneezeweed Helenium amarum
- Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
- stretchberry Forestiera pubescens
- tapered rosette grass Dichanthelium acuminatum
- tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
- Vahl's fimbry Fimbristylis vahlii
- warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
- wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
- western horsenettle Solanum dimidiatum
- western rockjasmine Androsace occidentalis
- western rough goldenrod Solidago radula
- white crownbeard Verbesina virginica
- white fawnlily Erythronium albidum
- white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
- whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
- witchgrass Panicum capillare
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.
- annual ragweedAmbrosia artemisiifolia
- 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.
| Measure | Hill County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 95 | 145 | 1,683 |
| Garden-ready natives | 29 | 61 | 656 |
| Tree | 5 | — | 164 |
| Shrub | 3 | — | 90 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 58 | — | 877 |
| Grass or grass-like | 23 | — | 431 |
| Vine | 5 | — | 83 |
| Fern | 1 | — | 38 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Hill County.
- Ellis County, TX 75 garden-ready
- Johnson County, TX 38 garden-ready
- Limestone County, TX 44 garden-ready
- McLennan County, TX 187 garden-ready
- Navarro County, TX 34 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
- Hill County (county FIPS 48217), Texas. 95 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