Native plants · Texas
Native plants of McMullen County
69 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in McMullen County by USDA PLANTS. 31 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
McMullen County, Texas
- Native species
- 69 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
- Garden-ready natives
- 31 Typical Texas county: 61
- Share by type (all 69 native species)
-
Percent of the 69 native species in each growth type
Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (58%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (20%).
The native plant list
Garden-ready natives 31
Native species with PLANTS growing records (height, light, moisture, minimum temperature). “—” means PLANTS has no value.
| Plant | Type | Height | Light | Water use | Hardy to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| brownseed paspalum Paspalum plicatulum | Grass or grass-like | 3.3 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 8a |
| catclaw acacia Senegalia greggii | Tree | 20 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis | Tree | 15 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 4a |
| creosote bush Larrea tridentata | Shrub | 10 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| curly-mesquite Hilaria belangeri | Grass or grass-like | 10 in | Sun | Low | Zone 8b |
| desert willow Chilopsis linearis | Tree | 25 ft | Sun–part shade | Low | Zone 5a |
| fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens | Shrub | 4 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| 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 |
| green sprangletop Leptochloa dubia | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 6a |
| honey mesquite Prosopis glandulosa | Tree | 50 ft | Sun | Low | Zone 6a |
| Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella | Wildflower (forb) | 2 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 10b |
| knotgrass Paspalum distichum | Grass or grass-like | 11 in | Sun | High | Zone 6a |
| lemonscent Pectis angustifolia | Wildflower (forb) | 8 in | Sun | Low | Zone 5a |
| longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus | Wildflower (forb) | — | Sun | High | Zone 3b |
| mescal bean Sophora secundiflora | Tree | 15 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 8a |
| mule-fat Baccharis salicifolia | Shrub | 10 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 7a |
| Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana | Wildflower (forb) | 10 in | Sun | Medium | Zone 12a |
| 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 |
| red mulberry Morus rubra | Tree | 70 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | 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 |
| saw greenbrier Smilax bona-nox | Vine | 4 ft | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 5b |
| sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula | Grass or grass-like | 3 ft | Sun | Medium | Zone 3a |
| Spanish moss Tillandsia usneoides | Vine | — | Shade-tolerant | Medium | Zone 9b |
| sugarberry Celtis laevigata | Tree | 80 ft | Shade-tolerant | High | Zone 5a |
| swamp smartweed Polygonum hydropiperoides | Wildflower (forb) | — | Sun | Medium | Zone 10b |
| 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 |
No garden-ready natives match these filters. Try clearing one.
Other native species recorded here 38
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 wild carrot Daucus pusillus
- bristly scaleseed Spermolepis echinata
- Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
- Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
- catchfly prairie gentian Eustoma exaltatum
- creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
- Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
- curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
- Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
- diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
- dogfennel Eupatorium capillifolium
- fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
- flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
- grassleaf mudplantain Heteranthera dubia
- hairyfruit chervil Chaerophyllum tainturieri
- ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
- kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
- lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
- lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
- Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
- Madagascar dropseed Sporobolus pyramidatus
- matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
- mucronate sprangletop Leptochloa panicea
- pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
- pink thoroughwort Fleischmannia incarnata
- prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
- red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
- redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
- scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
- showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
- silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
- spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
- upright burhead Echinodorus berteroi
- warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
- warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
- western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
- whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
- woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa
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
- floating primrose-willowLudwigia peploides
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 | McMullen County | Typical county | Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native species | 69 | 145 | 1,683 |
| Garden-ready natives | 31 | 61 | 656 |
| Tree | 7 | — | 164 |
| Shrub | 3 | — | 90 |
| Wildflower (forb) | 40 | — | 877 |
| Grass or grass-like | 14 | — | 431 |
| Vine | 5 | — | 83 |
| Fern | 0 | — | 38 |
Neighboring counties
Counties that share a ZIP code with McMullen County.
- Atascosa County, TX 25 garden-ready
- La Salle County, TX 60 garden-ready
- Live Oak County, TX 29 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
- McMullen County (county FIPS 48311), Texas. 69 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