Native plants · Texas

Native plants of Zapata County

76 plant species are recorded as native to Texas in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in Zapata County by USDA PLANTS. 30 of them have growing records you can filter by light, moisture, height and estimated cold hardiness. 2 more species are listed as both native and introduced and kept in a separate section.

County summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Zapata County, Texas

Native species: 76 Typical Texas county: 145 (median of 254 counties)
Garden-ready natives: 30 Typical Texas county: 61
Share by type (all 76 native species): Percent of the 76 native species in each growth type

Tree 5% (4)
Shrub 5% (4)
Wildflower (forb) 70% (53)
Grass or grass-like 17% (13)
Vine 1% (1)
Fern 1% (1)

Wildflowers make up the largest share of the native list (70%), followed by grasses and grass-like plants (17%).

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 9b (2023 map).

The native plant list

Garden-ready natives 30

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

Garden-ready native plants of Zapata County, Texas
Plant	Type	Height	Light	Water use	Hardy to
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
blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 5a
bushy seaside tansy Borrichia frutescens	Shrub	2.6 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 9a
creosote bush Larrea tridentata	Shrub	10 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
cursed buttercup Ranunculus sceleratus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	High	Zone 12b
featherplume Dalea formosa	Shrub	3 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 6a
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
lemonscent Pectis angustifolia	Wildflower (forb)	8 in	Sun	Low	Zone 5a
Malabar sprangletop Leptochloa fusca	Grass or grass-like	3.3 ft	Sun	High	Zone 3a
mescal bean Sophora secundiflora	Tree	15 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 8a
partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata	Wildflower (forb)	2.4 ft	Shade-tolerant	Medium	Zone 7a
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
rough menodora Menodora scabra	Wildflower (forb)	1 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 9a
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
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
turkey tangle fogfruit Phyla nodiflora	Wildflower (forb)	2 in	Sun–part shade	Low	Zone 5b
upright prairie coneflower Ratibida columnifera	Wildflower (forb)	3.1 ft	Sun	Medium	Zone 3a
wild tantan Desmanthus virgatus	Wildflower (forb)	2 ft	Shade-tolerant	Low	Zone 9a
yellow trumpetbush Tecoma stans	Tree	20 ft	Sun	Low	Zone 9a

Other native species recorded here 46

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
American bugseed Corispermum americanum
American star-thistle Centaurea americana
bristly scaleseed Spermolepis echinata
Canada spikesedge Eleocharis geniculata
carelessweed Amaranthus palmeri
catchfly prairie gentian Eustoma exaltatum
coastal sandbur Cenchrus spinifex
creeping lovegrass Neeragrostis reptans
cutleaf evening primrose Oenothera laciniata
Dakota mock vervain Glandularia bipinnatifida
Drummond's false pennyroyal Hedeoma drummondii
hogwort Croton capitatus
kiss me quick Portulaca pilosa
Louisiana broomrape Orobanche ludoviciana
Madagascar dropseed Sporobolus pyramidatus
matted sandmat Chamaesyce serpens
narrowleaf stoneseed Lithospermum incisum
pale spikerush Eleocharis macrostachya
Pennsylvania everlasting Gamochaeta pensylvanica
pinkladies Oenothera speciosa
poorjoe Diodia teres
prairie tea Croton monanthogynus
prostrate sandmat Chamaesyce prostrata
red lovegrass Eragrostis secundiflora
redseed plantain Plantago rhodosperma
redwhisker clammyweed Polanisia dodecandra
ribseed sandmat Chamaesyce glyptosperma
sacred thorn-apple Datura wrightii
scarlet spiderling Boerhavia coccinea
silverleaf nightshade Solanum elaeagnifolium
slender plantain Plantago heterophylla
slender snakecotton Froelichia gracilis
smallflower fumewort Corydalis micrantha
sneezeweed Helenium amarum
southern annual saltmarsh aster Symphyotrichum divaricatum
southern cattail Typha domingensis
spiny naiad Najas marina
Texas bergia Bergia texana
Texas vervain Verbena halei
upright burhead Echinodorus berteroi
velvetweed Oenothera curtiflora
Virginia pepperweed Lepidium virginicum
western tansymustard Descurainia pinnata
whitemouth dayflower Commelina erecta
woolly tidestromia Tidestromia lanuginosa

Also listed as native and introduced here 2

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
white sagebrushArtemisia ludoviciana

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, Zapata County and Texas
Measure	Zapata County	Typical county	Statewide
Native species	76	145	1,683
Garden-ready natives	30	61	656
Tree	4	—	164
Shrub	4	—	90
Wildflower (forb)	53	—	877
Grass or grass-like	13	—	431
Vine	1	—	83
Fern	1	—	38

Neighboring counties

Counties that share a ZIP code with Zapata County.

Jim Hogg County, TX 22 garden-ready
Starr County, TX 36 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: Zapata County (county FIPS 48505), Texas. 76 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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