Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Scurry County

68 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Scurry County by USDA PLANTS. 31 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Scurry County, Texas

Native species: 68 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 31 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 68 native species): Percent of the 68 native species in each growth type

Tree 6% (4)
Shrub 6% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 49% (33)
Grass or grass-like 32% (22)
Vine 4% (3)
Fern 3% (2)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (49%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (32%).

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 31

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

Garden-ready native plants of Scurry County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
Canada wildrye Elymus canadensis	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 3a
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
common maidenhair Adiantum capillus-veneris	Fern	1.7 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
dotted blazing star Liatris punctata	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
eastern gamagrass Tripsacum dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
false indigo bush Amorpha fruticosa	Shrub	15 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
golden tickseed Coreopsis tinctoria	Wildflower (forb)	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 12b
green sprangletop Leptochloa dubia	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
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
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 sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima	Vine	1 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
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
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
white prairie clover Dalea candida	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 3b
woolly locoweed Astragalus mollissimus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 4b

Other native species recorded here 37

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 buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bighead pygmycudweed Evax prolifera
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina coralbead Cocculus carolinus
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
gum bully Sideroxylon lanuginosum
Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
mudbabies Echinodorus tenellus
narrowleaf four o'clock Mirabilis linearis
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
slender lipfern Cheilanthes feei
slimflower scurfpea Psoralidium tenuiflorum
small pondweed Potamogeton pusillus
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
Texas bluegrass Poa arachnifera
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
wedgeleaf Phyla cuneifolia
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
witchgrass Panicum capillare
woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa

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, Scurry County and Texas
Measure	Scurry County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	68	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	31	61	656
Tree	4	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	33	—	877
Grass or grass-like	22	—	431
Vine	3	—	83
Fern	2	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Scurry County.

Borden County, TX 13 garden-ready
Fisher County, TX 12 garden-ready
Kent County, TX 12 garden-ready
Mitchell County, TX 30 garden-ready
Nolan County, TX 22 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: Scurry County (county FIPS 48415), Texas. 68 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

Independent reference site. No government affiliation or endorsement.