Native plants · Texas
Native plants of Jim Wells County
97 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Jim Wells County by USDA PLANTS. 35 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
Jim Wells County, Texas
- Native species
- 97 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 35 Typical Texas county: 61
- Share by type (all 97 native species)
-
Percent of the 97 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (56%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (35%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 35
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica | Grass or grass-like | 4 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta | Wildflower (forb) | 1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 5a |
| broadleaf signalgrass Urochloa platyphylla | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 9a |
| broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae | Shrub | 1.5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides | Grass or grass-like | 6 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 3b |
| Canada germander Teucrium canadense | Wildflower (forb) | 3.3 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3a |
| Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis | Wildflower (forb) | 5 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 12b |
| 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 |
| common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis | Tree | 15 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4a |
| curly-mesquite Hilaria belangeri | Grass or grass-like | 10 in | Sun | Low | Zone 8b |
| disk waterhyssop Bacopa rotundifolia | Wildflower (forb) | 1 in | Sun | High | Zone 4a |
| dotted blazing star Liatris punctata | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 11b |
| golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 5a |
| golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria | Wildflower (forb) | 3 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 12b |
| green sprangletop Leptochloa dubia | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 6a |
| 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 |
| mescal bean Sophora secundiflora | Tree | 15 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 8a |
| plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia | Grass or grass-like | 2.7 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| 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 |
| salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum | Wildflower (forb) | 1.2 ft | Sun | Medium | 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 |
| sugarberry Celtis laevigata | Tree | 80 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 5a |
| tanglehead Heteropogon contortus | Grass or grass-like | 8 in | Sun | Low | Zone 8a |
| tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus | Grass or grass-like | 1.3 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 3b |
| upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera | Wildflower (forb) | 3.1 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| vine mesquite Panicum obtusum | Grass or grass-like | 2 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 5a |
| wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Shade-tolerant | Low | Zone 9a |
| winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis | Grass or grass-like | 3.5 ft | Sun–part shade | High | Zone 4a |
| yellow trumpetbush Tecoma stans | Tree | 20 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 9a |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 62
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.
- blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
- Brazilian watermeal Wolffia brasiliensis
- camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
- carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
- Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
- Carolina mosquitofern Azolla caroliniana
- Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
- clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
- coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
- Columbian watermeal Wolffia columbiana
- creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
- Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
- Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
- early wildrye Elymus macgregorii
- Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
- eyebane Chamaesyce nutans
- foxtail barley Hordeum jubatum
- gaping grass Steinchisma hians
- green antelopehorn Asclepias viridis
- hairy fimbry Fimbristylis puberula
- hairyseed paspalum Paspalum pubiflorum
- heartleaf nettle Urtica chamaedryoides
- Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
- hogwort Croton capitatus
- hyssopleaf sandmat Chamaesyce hyssopifolia
- lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
- lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
- lateflowering thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum
- little duckweed Lemna obscura
- Louisiana broomrape Orobanche ludoviciana
- Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
- marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
- narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
- Pennsylvania everlasting Gamochaeta pensylvanica
- pink thoroughwort Fleischmannia incarnata
- pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
- prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
- prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
- prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
- prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
- prickly fanpetals Sida spinosa
- red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
- redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
- slimspike threeawn Aristida longespica
- small Venus' looking-glass Triodanis biflora
- smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
- southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
- spoonleaf purple everlasting Gamochaeta purpurea
- spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
- Texas signalgrass Urochloa texana
- Texas vervain Verbena halei
- thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
- tropical flatsedge Cyperus surinamensis
- tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
- tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
- Vahl's fimbry Fimbristylis vahlii
- velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
- Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
- Virginia winged rockcress Sibara virginica
- western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
- white four o'clock Mirabilis albida
- whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
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.
- common pepperweedLepidium densiflorum
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 | Jim Wells County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 97 | 145 | 1,683 |
| Garden-ready natives | 35 | 61 | 656 |
| Tree | 6 | — | 164 |
| Shrub | 1 | — | 90 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 54 | — | 877 |
| Grass or grass-like | 34 | — | 431 |
| Vine | 1 | — | 83 |
| Fern | 1 | — | 38 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with Jim Wells County.
- Brooks County, TX 26 garden-ready
- Duval County, TX 24 garden-ready
- Live Oak County, TX 29 garden-ready
- Nueces County, TX 83 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
- Jim Wells County (county FIPS 48249), Texas. 97 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