Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Midland County

54 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Midland County by USDA PLANTS. 19 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Midland County, Texas

PLANTS records only 19 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Texas list is a useful second check.

Native species: 54 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 19 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 54 native species): Percent of the 54 native species in each growth type

Shrub 7% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 63% (34)
Grass or grass-like 26% (14)
Vine 2% (1)
Fern 2% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (63%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (26%).

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 8a to 8b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 19

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

Garden-ready native plants of Midland County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 2b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
creosote bush Larrea tridentata	Shrub	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
downy paintedcup Castilleja sessiliflora	Wildflower (forb)	1.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
golden crownbeard Verbesina encelioides	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
hairy grama Bouteloua hirsuta	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Low	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
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea	Grass or grass-like	1.4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4a
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca	Shrub	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
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
woolly plantain Plantago patagonica	Wildflower (forb)	6 in	Sun	Low	Zone 12b

Other native species recorded here 35

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.

American star-thistle Centaurea americana
bigbract verbena Verbena bracteata
bristly scaleseed Spermolepis echinata
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
curvepod fumewort Corydalis curvisiliqua
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
pony beebalm Monarda pectinata
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
spinystar Escobaria vivipara
Texas vervain Verbena halei
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
western horsenettle Solanum dimidiatum
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whitest evening primrose Oenothera albicaulis

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, Midland County and Texas
Measure	Midland County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	54	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	19	61	656
Tree	0	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	34	—	877
Grass or grass-like	14	—	431
Vine	1	—	83
Fern	1	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Midland County.

Ector County, TX 28 garden-ready
Glasscock County, TX 8 garden-ready
Martin County, TX 19 garden-ready
Upton County, TX 17 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: Midland County (county FIPS 48329), Texas. 54 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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