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Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Ward County

108 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Ward County by USDA PLANTS. 49 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

Ward County, Texas

Native species
108 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives
49 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 108 native species)
Percent of the 108 native species in each growth type
Tree 5% (5)
Shrub 6% (7)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (56)
Grass or grass-like 37% (40)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (52%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (37%).

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

Cold hardiness is estimated from each plant’s PLANTS minimum temperature. How we estimate it.

Garden-ready natives 49

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

Garden-ready native plants of Ward County, Texas
PlantType HeightLight Water useHardy to
alkali sacaton Sporobolus airoides Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 3b
Arizona cottontop Digitaria californica Grass or grass-like 4 ft Sun Low Zone 6a
big bluestem Andropogon gerardii Grass or grass-like 6 ft Sun Low Zone 2b
big sacaton Sporobolus wrightii Grass or grass-like 5.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 6a
black grama Bouteloua eriopoda Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
blue grama Bouteloua gracilis Grass or grass-like 1 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides Grass or grass-like 6 in Sun Medium Zone 3b
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri Grass or grass-like 2.8 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 8b
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
catclaw acacia Senegalia greggii Tree 20 ft Sun Low Zone 6a
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus Grass or grass-like 3.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 5a
creosote bush Larrea tridentata Shrub 10 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides Tree 190 ft Sun High Zone 3a
fourwing saltbush Atriplex canescens Shrub 4 ft Sun Medium Zone 3a
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
Goodding's willow Salix gooddingii Tree 40 ft Sun High Zone 5a
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus Grass or grass-like 2 ft Sun–part shade Medium Zone 5a
green sprangletop Leptochloa dubia Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Medium Zone 6a
hardstem bulrush Schoenoplectus acutus Grass or grass-like 9.8 ft Sun High 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
Indianhemp Apocynum cannabinum Wildflower (forb) 3.3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 3a
lemonscent Pectis angustifolia Wildflower (forb) 8 in Sun Low Zone 5a
little barley Hordeum pusillum Grass or grass-like 1.2 ft Sun Medium Zone 10b
longleaf jointfir Ephedra trifurca Shrub 15 ft Sun Low Zone 6a
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca Grass or grass-like 3.3 ft Sun High Zone 3a
mesa dropseed Sporobolus flexuosus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun Low Zone 7a
peachleaf willow Salix amygdaloides Tree 60 ft Sun High Zone 4a
plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia Grass or grass-like 2.7 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
poverty threeawn Aristida divaricata Grass or grass-like 1.3 ft Sun–part shade Low Zone 6b
purple threeawn Aristida purpurea Grass or grass-like 1.4 ft Sun Low Zone 4a
rough menodora Menodora scabra Wildflower (forb) 1 ft Sun Low Zone 9a
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
sanddune wallflower Erysimum capitatum Wildflower (forb) 2.5 ft Sun Medium Zone 4b
scarlet globemallow Sphaeralcea coccinea Wildflower (forb) 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 5a
soapweed yucca Yucca glauca Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
softstem bulrush Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani Grass or grass-like 9 ft Sun High Zone 3b
spreading alkaliweed Cressa truxillensis Wildflower (forb) 10 in Sun Medium Zone 6a
squirreltail Elymus elymoides Grass or grass-like 1.5 ft Sun Low Zone 3a
sweetscent Pluchea odorata Wildflower (forb) 4.9 ft Sun Medium Zone 6a
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia Wildflower (forb) 2 ft Sun Medium Zone 4a
tapertip rush Juncus acuminatus Grass or grass-like 3 ft Sun–part shade High Zone 4a
tobosagrass Pleuraphis mutica Grass or grass-like 2.3 ft Sun Low Zone 7b
Torrey's jointfir Ephedra torreyana Shrub 1 ft Sun Low Zone 4b
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 59

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 bugseed Corispermum americanum
  • annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
  • Baldwin's flatsedge Cyperus croceus
  • coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
  • cottonbatting plant Pseudognaphalium stramineum
  • curlytop knotweed Polygonum lapathifolium
  • Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
  • Engelmann's daisy Engelmannia peristenia
  • false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides
  • false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
  • flatspine stickseed Lappula occidentalis
  • fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
  • Geyer's sandmat Chamaesyce geyeri
  • green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
  • hoary tansyaster Machaeranthera canescens
  • Hopi tea greenthread Thelesperma megapotamicum
  • ivyleaf groundcherry Physalis hederifolia
  • James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
  • juniper leaf Polypremum procumbens
  • kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
  • lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
  • lemon scurfpea Psoralidium lanceolatum
  • matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
  • narrowleaf paleseed Leucospora multifida
  • narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
  • prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
  • prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
  • prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
  • prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
  • purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
  • queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
  • red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
  • ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
  • roundseed panicgrass Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
  • sacred thorn-apple Datura wrightii
  • sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
  • sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
  • sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
  • scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
  • Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
  • silkcotton purslane Portulaca halimoides
  • silverscale saltbush Atriplex argentea
  • sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
  • slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
  • snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
  • spike dropseed Sporobolus contractus
  • spinystar Escobaria vivipara
  • spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
  • Texas croton Croton texensis
  • thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
  • tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
  • tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
  • tumblegrass Schedonnardus paniculatus
  • verrucose seapurslane Sesuvium verrucosum
  • western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
  • whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
  • winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
  • woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa
  • Wright's plantain Plantago wrightiana
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.

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, Ward County and Texas
MeasureWard CountyTypical countyStatewide
Native species 108 145 1,683
Garden-ready natives 49 61 656
Tree 5 — 164
Shrub 7 — 90
Wildflower (forb) 56 — 877
Grass or grass-like 40 — 431
Vine 0 — 83
Fern 0 — 38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Ward County.

Look up another ZIP

Matches your ZIP to the county it mostly lies in, then lists the plants recorded as native to your state (Kew’s World Checklist and USDA PLANTS) and recorded in that county by USDA PLANTS.

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
Ward County (county FIPS 48475), Texas. 108 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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