Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Starr County

94 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Starr County by USDA PLANTS. 36 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

Starr County, Texas

Native species: 94 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 36 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 94 native species): Percent of the 94 native species in each growth type

Tree 6% (6)
Shrub 4% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 59% (55)
Grass or grass-like 21% (20)
Vine 6% (6)
Fern 3% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (59%), 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 zones 9b to 10a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 36

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

Garden-ready native plants of Starr County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American century plant Agave americana	Shrub	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 8b
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
black willow Salix nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1b
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides	Grass or grass-like	6 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
bushy seaside tansy Borrichia frutescens	Shrub	2.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
Canadian horseweed Conyza canadensis	Wildflower (forb)	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 12b
cedar elm Ulmus crassifolia	Tree	90 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 6a
common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis	Tree	15 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 4a
curly-mesquite Hilaria belangeri	Grass or grass-like	10 in	Sun	Low	Zone 8b
dotted smartweed Polygonum punctatum	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
false daisy Eclipta prostrata	Wildflower (forb)	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 10b
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens	Shrub	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
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
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
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
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
roving sailor Maurandella antirrhiniflora	Vine	10 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 6b
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
smooth horsetail Equisetum laevigatum	Fern	5 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani	Grass or grass-like	9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
sweetscent Pluchea odorata	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
tanglehead Heteropogon contortus	Grass or grass-like	8 in	Sun	Low	Zone 8a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
whitethorn acacia Vachellia constricta	Tree	9 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 9a

Other native species recorded here 58

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
bigseed alfalfa dodder Cuscuta indecora
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
bluestem pricklypoppy Argemone albiflora
buffalobur nightshade Solanum rostratum
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
cusp dodder Cuscuta cuspidata
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
Drummond's false pennyroyal Hedeoma drummondii
erect spiderling Boerhavia erecta
fiveangled dodder Cuscuta pentagona
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
Guadeloupe cucumber Melothria pendula
hairy waterclover Marsilea vestita
hairyseed paspalum Paspalum pubiflorum
heartleaf nettle Urtica chamaedryoides
herb of grace Bacopa monnieri
hogwort Croton capitatus
horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris
ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lemon beebalm Monarda citriodora
Madagascar dropseed Sporobolus pyramidatus
marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
neckweed Veronica peregrina
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
ram's horn Proboscidea louisianica
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
scarlet spiderling Boerhavia coccinea
showy evening primrose Oenothera grandis
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
slimspike threeawn Aristida longespica
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
sorrelvine Cissus trifoliata
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
stemless evening primrose Oenothera triloba
Texas signalgrass Urochloa texana
Texas vervain Verbena halei
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
Vahl's fimbry Fimbristylis vahlii
verrucose seapurslane Sesuvium verrucosum
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
wedgeleaf draba Draba cuneifolia
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa

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, Starr County and Texas
Measure	Starr County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	94	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	36	61	656
Tree	6	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	55	—	877
Grass or grass-like	20	—	431
Vine	6	—	83
Fern	3	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Starr County.

Hidalgo County, TX 65 garden-ready
Zapata County, TX 30 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: Starr County (county FIPS 48427), Texas. 94 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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