Wildflower (forb) · Ranunculaceae
Tiny mousetail
Myosurus minimus
Tiny mousetail is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 513 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Tiny mousetail at a glance
- Native in
- 513 counties, across 32 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 5 in PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Sun to part shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Tiny mousetail is recorded as native to 32 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 513 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 513 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 1 county
- Arizona 6 counties
- Arkansas 30 counties
- California 17 counties
- Colorado 9 counties
- Idaho 7 counties
- Illinois 60 counties
- Indiana 10 counties
- Iowa 1 county
- Kansas 44 counties
- Kentucky 16 counties
- Louisiana 30 counties
- Minnesota 11 counties
- Mississippi 6 counties
- Missouri 69 counties
- Montana 3 counties
- Nebraska 12 counties
- New Mexico 4 counties
- North Carolina 25 counties
- North Dakota 10 counties
- Oklahoma 13 counties
- Oregon 19 counties
- Pennsylvania 1 county
- South Carolina 5 counties
- South Dakota 5 counties
- Tennessee 37 counties
- Texas 21 counties
- Utah 6 counties
- Virginia 14 counties
- Washington 15 counties
- Wisconsin 1 county
- Wyoming 5 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual
- Mature height
- 5 in
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intermediate (sun to part shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 14 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5.2 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Green
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- MYMI2
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.
- Scope
- Myosurus minimus (PLANTS symbol MYMI2).
- 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