Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Lamb County

116 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Lamb County by USDA PLANTS. 43 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Lamb County, Texas

Native species: 116 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 43 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 116 native species): Percent of the 116 native species in each growth type

Tree 5% (6)
Shrub 7% (8)
Wildflower (forb) 57% (66)
Grass or grass-like 30% (35)
Vine <1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (57%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (30%).

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 zones 7a to 7b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 43

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

Garden-ready native plants of Lamb County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
American licorice Glycyrrhiza lepidota	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
beaked spikerush Eleocharis rostellata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4b
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis	Grass or grass-like	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
broom snakeweed Gutierrezia sarothrae	Shrub	1.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bur oak Quercus macrocarpa	Tree	100 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri	Grass or grass-like	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
graybark grape Vitis cinerea	Vine	50 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6b
hairawn muhly Muhlenbergia capillaris	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 8a
honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa	Tree	50 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
narrowleaf willow Salix exigua	Tree	10 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
needle and thread Hesperostipa comata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
post oak Quercus stellata	Tree	60 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
prairie fleabane Erigeron strigosus	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
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
roughfruit amaranth Amaranthus tuberculatus	Wildflower (forb)	6.6 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4a
saltgrass Distichlis spicata	Grass or grass-like	1.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
sand bluestem Andropogon hallii	Grass or grass-like	6.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
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
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
spreading yellowcress Rorippa sinuata	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
squirreltail Elymus elymoides	Grass or grass-like	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
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
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
white avens Geum canadense	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4a
woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 73

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.

annual phlox Phlox drummondii
azure blue sage Salvia azurea
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
chickenthief Mentzelia oligosperma
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
downy phlox Phlox pilosa
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides
false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
feather fingergrass Chloris virgata
fetid marigold Dyssodia papposa
fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica
Geyer's sandmat Chamaesyce geyeri
herb of grace Bacopa monnieri
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
humped bladderwort Utricularia gibba
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
Jersey tea Ceanothus herbaceus
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
mat sandbur Cenchrus longispinus
mealy goosefoot Chenopodium incanum
Mexican plum Prunus mexicana
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
prairie groundcherry Physalis hispida
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
rough barnyardgrass Echinochloa muricata
sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silky prairie clover Dalea villosa
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum
snow on the mountain Euphorbia marginata
snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
southern jointweed Polygonella americana
stretchberry Forestiera pubescens
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
Virginia tephrosia Tephrosia virginiana
wavyleaf thistle Cirsium undulatum
wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
western wallflower Erysimum asperum
white four o'clock Mirabilis albida
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
witchgrass Panicum capillare

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, Lamb County and Texas
Measure	Lamb County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	116	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	43	61	656
Tree	6	—	164
Shrub	8	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	66	—	877
Grass or grass-like	35	—	431
Vine	1	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Lamb County.

Bailey County, TX 70 garden-ready
Castro County, TX 30 garden-ready
Hale County, TX 24 garden-ready
Hockley County, TX 23 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: Lamb County (county FIPS 48279), Texas. 116 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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