Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Nolan County

71 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Nolan County by USDA PLANTS. 22 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Nolan County, Texas

PLANTS records only 22 garden-ready natives here (under 30). County records are thin in some places; the Texas list is a useful second check.

Native species: 71 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 22 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 71 native species): Percent of the 71 native species in each growth type

Tree 4% (3)
Shrub 6% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 66% (47)
Grass or grass-like 21% (15)
Vine 3% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (66%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (21%).

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 8a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 22

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

Garden-ready native plants of Nolan County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
crested pricklypoppy Argemone polyanthemos	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
eastern redbud Cercis canadensis	Tree	30 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 4b
false indigo bush Amorpha fruticosa	Shrub	15 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
lyreleaf greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata	Wildflower (forb)	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
narrowleaf blue-eyed grass Sisyrinchium angustifolium	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 7a
post oak Quercus stellata	Tree	60 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
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
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
skunkbush sumac Rhus trilobata	Shrub	4 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 2a
tobosagrass Pleuraphis mutica	Grass or grass-like	2.3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 7b
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi	Grass or grass-like	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
vine mesquite Panicum obtusum	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 5a
western wheatgrass Pascopyrum smithii	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
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 49

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
annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
bushy knotweed Polygonum ramosissimum
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
Carolina woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
crowpoison Nothoscordum bivalve
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
desert biscuitroot Lomatium foeniculaceum
downy ragged goldenrod Solidago petiolaris
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
eyebane Chamaesyce nutans
feather fingergrass Chloris virgata
fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
hyssopleaf sandmat Chamaesyce hyssopifolia
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
mucronate sprangletop Leptochloa panicea
Muhlenberg's sedge Carex muehlenbergii
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
Nuttall's sensitive-briar Mimosa nuttallii
prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
prairie cupgrass Eriochloa contracta
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
Red River scaleseed Spermolepis inermis
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
southern cattail Typha domingensis
Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
spinystar Escobaria vivipara
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
stemless evening primrose Oenothera triloba
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
warty caltrop Kallstroemia parviflora
wedgeleaf draba Draba cuneifolia
western horsenettle Solanum dimidiatum
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
white heath aster Symphyotrichum ericoides
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, Nolan County and Texas
Measure	Nolan County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	71	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	22	61	656
Tree	3	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	47	—	877
Grass or grass-like	15	—	431
Vine	2	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Nolan County.

Coke County, TX 10 garden-ready
Fisher County, TX 12 garden-ready
Jones County, TX 17 garden-ready
Mitchell County, TX 30 garden-ready
Scurry County, TX 31 garden-ready
Taylor County, TX 84 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: Nolan County (county FIPS 48353), Texas. 71 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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