Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Medina County

131 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Medina County by USDA PLANTS. 47 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

Medina County, Texas

Native species: 131 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 47 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 131 native species): Percent of the 131 native species in each growth type

Tree 9% (12)
Shrub <1% (1)
Wildflower (forb) 54% (71)
Grass or grass-like 28% (37)
Vine 3% (4)
Fern 5% (6)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (54%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (28%).

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 47

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

Garden-ready native plants of Medina County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American water-willow Justicia americana	Wildflower (forb)	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
bald cypress Taxodium distichum	Tree	130 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5b
beaked spikerush Eleocharis rostellata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4b
broadleaf cattail Typha latifolia	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	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
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 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
cucumberleaf sunflower Helianthus debilis	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 9b
curly-mesquite Hilaria belangeri	Grass or grass-like	10 in	Sun	Low	Zone 8b
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
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
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
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
honeylocust Gleditsia triacanthos	Tree	70 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Indian blanket Gaillardia pulchella	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
little barley Hordeum pusillum	Grass or grass-like	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
littleleaf leadtree Leucaena retusa	Tree	25 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 8b
littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
mescal bean Sophora secundiflora	Tree	15 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 8a
northern spicebush Lindera benzoin	Tree	12 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
Nuttall's povertyweed Monolepis nuttalliana	Wildflower (forb)	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 12a
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata	Wildflower (forb)	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia	Grass or grass-like	2.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
prairie wedgescale Sphenopholis obtusata	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3a
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
purpletop tridens Tridens flavus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
red buckeye Aesculus pavia	Tree	25 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
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
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
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata	Shrub	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 2a
southern waternymph Najas guadalupensis	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
sweetscent Pluchea odorata	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi	Grass or grass-like	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
Virginia wildrye Elymus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 4b
wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 9a

Other native species recorded here 84

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 star-thistle Centaurea americana
American wild carrot Daucus pusillus
anisescented goldenrod Solidago odora
annual phlox Phlox drummondii
blackstem spleenwort Asplenium resiliens
bristly scaleseed Spermolepis echinata
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
Canada spikesedge Eleocharis geniculata
Canadian blacksnakeroot Sanicula canadensis
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
diamond-flowers Stenaria nigricans
early wildrye Elymus macgregorii
fire on the mountain Euphorbia cyathophora
fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
hairy pinweed Lechea mucronata
hairy woodland brome Bromus pubescens
hairyfruit chervil Chaerophyllum tainturieri
hairyseed paspalum Paspalum pubiflorum
Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
humped bladderwort Utricularia gibba
hyssopleaf sandmat Chamaesyce hyssopifolia
Illinois pondweed Potamogeton illinoensis
lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
lax hornpod Mitreola petiolata
lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
Maximilian sunflower Helianthus maximiliani
meadow garlic Allium canadense
meadow spikemoss Selaginella apoda
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
Pennsylvania pellitory Parietaria pensylvanica
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
plains snakecotton Froelichia floridana
poorjoe Diodia teres
poverty dropseed Sporobolus vaginiflorus
prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
prairie threeawn Aristida oligantha
purple cliffbrake Pellaea atropurpurea
purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
rice button aster Symphyotrichum dumosum
roughfruit scaleseed Spermolepis divaricata
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
slickseed fuzzybean Strophostyles leiosperma
slimspike threeawn Aristida longespica
small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
small Venus' looking-glass Triodanis biflora
soft-hair marbleseed Onosmodium bejariense
southeastern wildrye Elymus glabriflorus
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
spring coralroot Corallorhiza wisteriana
tall lespedeza Lespedeza stuevei
Texas star Sabatia campestris
Texas vervain Verbena halei
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
threeflower melicgrass Melica nitens
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
Vahl's fimbry Fimbristylis vahlii
velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white crownbeard Verbesina virginica
white four o'clock Mirabilis albida
white snakeroot Ageratina altissima
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
whorled marshpennywort Hydrocotyle verticillata
woodland lettuce Lactuca floridana

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, Medina County and Texas
Measure	Medina County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	131	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	47	61	656
Tree	12	—	164
Shrub	1	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	71	—	877
Grass or grass-like	37	—	431
Vine	4	—	83
Fern	6	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Medina County.

Atascosa County, TX 25 garden-ready
Bandera County, TX 64 garden-ready
Bexar County, TX 107 garden-ready
Frio County, TX 26 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: Medina County (county FIPS 48325), Texas. 131 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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