Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Kinney County

89 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Kinney County by USDA PLANTS. 37 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

Kinney County, Texas

Native species: 89 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 37 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 89 native species): Percent of the 89 native species in each growth type

Tree 11% (10)
Shrub 3% (3)
Wildflower (forb) 58% (52)
Grass or grass-like 17% (15)
Vine 7% (6)
Fern 3% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (58%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (17%).

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 9a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 37

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

Garden-ready native plants of Kinney County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American sycamore Platanus occidentalis	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
American water-willow Justicia americana	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
Apache plume Fallugia paradoxa	Shrub	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
black willow Salix nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1b
cane bluestem Bothriochloa barbinodis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7b
cardinalflower Lobelia cardinalis	Wildflower (forb)	5.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4a
cedar elm Ulmus crassifolia	Tree	90 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6a
climbing hempvine Mikania scandens	Vine	1 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3b
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
common hoptree Ptelea trifoliata	Tree	25 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-veneris	Fern	1.7 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
dotted smartweed Polygonum punctatum	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
eastern redbud Cercis canadensis	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
false indigo bush Amorpha fruticosa	Shrub	15 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
fragrant flatsedge Cyperus odoratus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 11b
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
graybark grape Vitis cinerea	Vine	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6b
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
Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensis	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
littleleaf leadtree Leucaena retusa	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 8b
littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
mescal bean Sophora secundiflora	Tree	15 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 8a
panicledleaf ticktrefoil Desmodium paniculatum	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 6a
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
rice cutgrass Leersia oryzoides	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
roving sailor Maurandella antirrhiniflora	Vine	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 6b
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
smallspike false nettle Boehmeria cylindrica	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
southern waternymph Najas guadalupensis	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 9a

Other native species recorded here 52

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.

Alabama lipfern Cheilanthes alabamensis
American wild carrot Daucus pusillus
bighead pygmycudweed Evax prolifera
bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
Carolina canarygrass Phalaris caroliniana
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
curvepod fumewort Corydalis curvisiliqua
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
Drummond's false pennyroyal Hedeoma drummondii
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides
fire on the mountain Euphorbia cyathophora
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
Guadeloupe cucumber Melothria pendula
hairyseed paspalum Paspalum pubiflorum
Illinois pondweed Potamogeton illinoensis
Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lateflowering thoroughwort Eupatorium serotinum
lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
neckweed Veronica peregrina
Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
Red River scaleseed Spermolepis inermis
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
slimpod Venus' looking-glass Triodanis leptocarpa
small Venus' looking-glass Triodanis biflora
soft-hair marbleseed Onosmodium bejariense
stemless evening primrose Oenothera triloba
threeflower melicgrass Melica nitens
toothed spurge Euphorbia dentata
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white four o'clock Mirabilis albida
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
whorled marshpennywort Hydrocotyle verticillata

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.

cayenne pepperCapsicum annuum

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, Kinney County and Texas
Measure	Kinney County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	89	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	37	61	656
Tree	10	—	164
Shrub	3	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	52	—	877
Grass or grass-like	15	—	431
Vine	6	—	83
Fern	3	—	38

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: Kinney County (county FIPS 48271), Texas. 89 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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