Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Winkler County

85 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Winkler County by USDA PLANTS. 38 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Winkler County, Texas

Native species: 85 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 38 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 85 native species): Percent of the 85 native species in each growth type

Tree 6% (5)
Shrub 9% (8)
Wildflower (forb) 52% (44)
Grass or grass-like 32% (27)
Vine 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (52%), 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 38

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

Garden-ready native plants of Winkler County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
American tarwort Flourensia cernua	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
beaked spikerush Eleocharis rostellata	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 4b
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
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
bush muhly Muhlenbergia porteri	Grass or grass-like	2.8 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 8b
catclaw acacia Senegalia greggii	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
Chickasaw plum Prunus angustifolia	Tree	12 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4b
common threesquare Schoenoplectus pungens	Grass or grass-like	4.9 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3b
creosote bush Larrea tridentata	Shrub	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
desert willow Chilopsis linearis	Tree	25 ft	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 5a
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
grassleaf rush Juncus marginatus	Grass or grass-like	2 ft	Sun–part shade	Medium	Zone 5a
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
leafy pondweed Potamogeton foliosus	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
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
little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 3b
littleleaf sumac Rhus microphylla	Tree	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
longleaf pondweed Potamogeton nodosus	Wildflower (forb)	—	Sun	High	Zone 3b
mesa dropseed Sporobolus flexuosus	Grass or grass-like	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 7a
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
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
sand lovegrass Eragrostis trichodes	Grass or grass-like	3.5 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
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
tanseyleaf tansyaster Machaeranthera tanacetifolia	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 4a
Torrey's rush Juncus torreyi	Grass or grass-like	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3b

Other native species recorded here 47

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
American wild carrot Daucus pusillus
annual buckwheat Eriogonum annuum
bluejacket Tradescantia ohiensis
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
cottonbatting plant Pseudognaphalium stramineum
false boneset Brickellia eupatorioides
false buffalograss Munroa squarrosa
fourpoint evening primrose Oenothera rhombipetala
Geyer's sandmat Chamaesyce geyeri
globe beaksedge Rhynchospora globularis
hairy pinweed Lechea mucronata
hoary tansyaster Machaeranthera canescens
James' cryptantha Cryptantha cinerea
lacy tansyaster Machaeranthera pinnatifida
lemon scurfpea Psoralidium lanceolatum
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
prairie sandmat Chamaesyce missurica
prairie spiderwort Tradescantia occidentalis
prairie sunflower Helianthus petiolaris
purple sandgrass Triplasis purpurea
queen's-delight Stillingia sylvatica
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
roundseed panicgrass Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
sand sagebrush Artemisia filifolia
sand spikerush Eleocharis montevidensis
sandhill amaranth Amaranthus arenicola
scarlet beeblossom Oenothera suffrutescens
Schweinitz's flatsedge Cyperus schweinitzii
shaggy dwarf morning-glory Evolvulus nuttallianus
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
sixweeks threeawn Aristida adscensionis
sleepy silene Silene antirrhina
slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
slickseed fuzzybean Strophostyles leiosperma
snowball sand verbena Abronia fragrans
Spanish gold Grindelia papposa
spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
Texas croton Croton texensis
thin paspalum Paspalum setaceum
tufted lovegrass Eragrostis pectinacea
twistspine pricklypear Opuntia macrorhiza
warty spurge Euphorbia spathulata
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
winged pigweed Cycloloma atriplicifolium
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, Winkler County and Texas
Measure	Winkler County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	85	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	38	61	656
Tree	5	—	164
Shrub	8	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	44	—	877
Grass or grass-like	27	—	431
Vine	1	—	83
Fern	0	—	38

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: Winkler County (county FIPS 48495), Texas. 85 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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