Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Willacy County

142 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Willacy County by USDA PLANTS. 53 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Willacy County, Texas

Native species: 142 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 53 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 142 native species): Percent of the 142 native species in each growth type

Tree 3% (4)
Shrub 4% (5)
Wildflower (forb) 54% (76)
Grass or grass-like 38% (54)
Vine 2% (3)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (54%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (38%).

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 10a (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 53

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

Garden-ready native plants of Willacy County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy 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
bayhops Ipomoea pes-caprae	Vine	1 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 9a
big sacaton Sporobolus wrightii	Grass or grass-like	5.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
bitter panicgrass Panicum amarum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5b
black willow Salix nigra	Tree	100 ft	Sun	High	Zone 1b
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
brownseed paspalum Paspalum plicatulum	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 8a
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
cane bluestem Bothriochloa barbinodis	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 7b
Carolina desert-thorn Lycium carolinianum	Shrub	9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 9a
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
cosmopolitan bulrush Bolboschoenus maritimus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
fall panicgrass Panicum dichotomiflorum	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	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
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
gulf cordgrass Spartina spartinae	Grass or grass-like	6.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
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
lavender thrift Limonium carolinianum	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	High	Zone 6b
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
needlepod rush Juncus scirpoides	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 7a
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata	Wildflower (forb)	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
Pennsylvania smartweed Polygonum pensylvanicum	Wildflower (forb)	3.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 10b
plains lovegrass Eragrostis intermedia	Grass or grass-like	2.7 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
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
redroot flatsedge Cyperus erythrorhizos	Grass or grass-like	2.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 11a
roundhead rush Juncus validus	Grass or grass-like	3.2 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 7a
salt heliotrope Heliotropium curassavicum	Wildflower (forb)	1.2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
saltgrass Distichlis spicata	Grass or grass-like	1.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
sand dropseed Sporobolus cryptandrus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
seaoats Uniola paniculata	Grass or grass-like	6 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 8a
seashore dropseed Sporobolus virginicus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 9a
smooth cordgrass Spartina alterniflora	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun	High	Zone 5a
squarestem spikerush Eleocharis quadrangulata	Grass or grass-like	4 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4b
sturdy bulrush Bolboschoenus robustus	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 8a
sugarberry Celtis laevigata	Tree	80 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 5a
sweetscent Pluchea odorata	Wildflower (forb)	4.9 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 6a
switchgrass Panicum virgatum	Grass or grass-like	5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
tapertip flatsedge Cyperus acuminatus	Grass or grass-like	1.3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 3b
tapertip rush Juncus acuminatus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a
turkey tangle fogfruit Phyla nodiflora	Wildflower (forb)	2 in	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 5b
turtleweed Batis maritima	Shrub	1 in	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
valley redstem Ammannia coccinea	Wildflower (forb)	1.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b
white mangrove Laguncularia racemosa	Tree	50 ft	Sun	High	Zone 11a
widgeongrass Ruppia maritima	Wildflower (forb)	2 in	Sun	High	Zone 7a
wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 9a
winter bentgrass Agrostis hyemalis	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun–part shade	High	Zone 4a

Other native species recorded here 89

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 wild carrot Daucus pusillus
annual marsh elder Iva annua
annual seepweed Suaeda linearis
bearded flatsedge Cyperus squarrosus
bigtop lovegrass Eragrostis hirsuta
blue mudplantain Heteranthera limosa
camphorweed Heterotheca subaxillaris
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
Carolina fimbry Fimbristylis caroliniana
Carolina larkspur Delphinium carolinianum
chaffweed Anagallis minima
clammy groundcherry Physalis heterophylla
clasping Venus' looking-glass Triodanis perfoliata
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
crested saltbush Atriplex cristata
crowpoison Nothoscordum bivalve
Cuman ragweed Ambrosia psilostachya
cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
desert horsepurslane Trianthema portulacastrum
dwarf saltwort Salicornia bigelovii
erect spiderling Boerhavia erecta
gaping grass Steinchisma hians
green carpetweed Mollugo verticillata
heartleaf nettle Urtica chamaedryoides
Heller's rosette grass Dichanthelium oligosanthes
herb of grace Bacopa monnieri
hogwort Croton capitatus
husk tomato Physalis pubescens
juniper leaf Polypremum procumbens
kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
lanceleaf blanketflower Gaillardia aestivalis
lesser duckweed Lemna aequinoctialis
Louisiana vetch Vicia ludoviciana
lowland rotala Rotala ramosior
Madagascar dropseed Sporobolus pyramidatus
marsh bristlegrass Setaria parviflora
marsh fimbry Fimbristylis castanea
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
Pennsylvania everlasting Gamochaeta pensylvanica
pine barren flatsedge Cyperus retrorsus
pitseed goosefoot Chenopodium berlandieri
poorjoe Diodia teres
prairie broomweed Amphiachyris dracunculoides
prickly fanpetals Sida spinosa
purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
Pursh seepweed Suaeda calceoliformis
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
rough Mexican clover Richardia scabra
roundseed panicgrass Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
saltmarsh false foxglove Agalinis maritima
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
scarlet spiderling Boerhavia coccinea
shore little bluestem Schizachyrium littorale
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
slimspike threeawn Aristida longespica
small Venus' looking-glass Triodanis biflora
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
sorrelvine Cissus trifoliata
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
southern sandbur Cenchrus echinatus
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
spotted sandmat Chamaesyce maculata
sunbright Phemeranthus parviflorus
Texas signalgrass Urochloa texana
Texas star Sabatia campestris
Texas vervain Verbena halei
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tropical flatsedge Cyperus surinamensis
tumble windmill grass Chloris verticillata
twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
upright burhead Echinodorus berteroi
verrucose seapurslane Sesuvium verrucosum
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
Virginia plantain Plantago virginica
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
winged lythrum Lythrum alatum
witchgrass Panicum capillare
woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa
yankeeweed Eupatorium compositifolium
yellowseed false pimpernel Lindernia dubia

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, Willacy County and Texas
Measure	Willacy County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	142	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	53	61	656
Tree	4	—	164
Shrub	5	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	76	—	877
Grass or grass-like	54	—	431
Vine	3	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Willacy County.

Cameron County, TX 96 garden-ready
Hidalgo County, TX 65 garden-ready
Kenedy County, TX 55 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: Willacy County (county FIPS 48489), Texas. 142 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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