Natives by ZIP

Native plants recorded in your state and county

Native plants · State

Native plants of Iowa

1,374 species are recorded as native to Iowa in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS and recorded in the state by USDA PLANTS, 496 of them with growing traits. County lists cover 99 of the state’s 99 counties; the typical county has 44.

State summary · USDA PLANTS and Kew WCVP

Iowa at a glance

Native species statewide
1,374 Of 1,608 species Kew’s World Checklist records as native to Iowa (before this site’s scope)
Garden-ready natives
496 With PLANTS growing records
Typical county
44 Median native species per county; 24 garden-ready
Share by type (all 1,374 native species)
Percent of the 1,374 native species in each growth type
Tree 8% (110)
Shrub 5% (72)
Wildflower (forb) 57% (779)
Grass or grass-like 22% (298)
Vine 4% (55)
Fern 4% (60)

Wildflowers: 779 · grasses and grass-like: 298 · trees: 110 · shrubs: 72 · vines: 55 · ferns: 60.

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.

Native plants by county

99 Iowa counties with PLANTS county records
CountyNative speciesGarden-readyHardiness zones
Adair County 222 93 5b
Adams County 104 49 5b
Allamakee County 81 37 5a
Appanoose County 22 11 5b
Audubon County 132 66 5a–5b
Benton County 11 5 5a
Black Hawk County 21 8 5a
Boone County 95 43 5a–5b
Bremer County 11 5 5a
Buchanan County 6 2 5a
Buena Vista County 33 17 5a
Butler County 2 2 5a
Calhoun County 33 23 5a
Carroll County 79 41 5a
Cass County 148 76 5a–5b
Cedar County 19 6 5a–5b
Cerro Gordo County 43 24 5a
Cherokee County 283 103 5a
Chickasaw County 14 7 5a
Clarke County 34 24 5b
Clay County 122 68 5a
Clayton County 61 24 4b–5a
Clinton County 26 13 5a–5b
Crawford County 168 70 5a–5b
Dallas County 44 23 5a–5b
Davis County 22 8 5b
Decatur County 91 51 5b
Delaware County 21 8 4b–5a
Des Moines County 25 9 5b–6a
Dickinson County 172 89 5a
Dubuque County 31 12 5a
Emmet County 125 62 5a
Fayette County 36 13 4b–5a
Floyd County 14 9 5a
Franklin County 3 3 5a
Fremont County 405 192 5b–6a
Greene County 97 55 5a–5b
Grundy County 1 1 5a
Guthrie County 389 162 5a–5b
Hamilton County 45 27 5a
Hancock County 25 13 5a
Hardin County 38 18 5a
Harrison County 337 163 5a–5b
Henry County 19 6 5b–6a
Howard County 17 9 4b
Humboldt County 37 24 5a
Ida County 131 56 5a
Iowa County 55 25 5a–5b
Jackson County 21 9 5a
Jasper County 34 22 5b
Jefferson County 17 7 5b
Johnson County 96 44 5a–5b
Jones County 31 9 5a
Keokuk County 4 3 5b
Kossuth County 54 31 5a
Lee County 34 8 6a
Linn County 25 11 5a–5b
Louisa County 26 10 5b
Lucas County 37 27 5b
Lyon County 369 163 5a
Madison County 334 138 5b
Mahaska County 74 33 5b
Marion County 46 17 5b
Marshall County 8 5 5a–5b
Mills County 215 102 5b–6a
Mitchell County 36 22 5a
Monona County 291 134 5a–5b
Monroe County 9 5 5b
Montgomery County 107 48 5b
Muscatine County 76 33 5b
O'Brien County 214 94 5a
Osceola County 217 98 4b–5a
Page County 221 107 5b
Palo Alto County 122 67 5a
Plymouth County 202 97 5a
Pocahontas County 33 22 5a
Polk County 71 40 5b
Pottawattamie County 370 171 5a–6a
Poweshiek County 35 18 5a–5b
Ringgold County 197 87 5b
Sac County 37 21 5a
Scott County 25 11 5b
Shelby County 209 89 5a–5b
Sioux County 237 106 5a
Story County 179 86 5a–5b
Tama County 14 6 5a
Taylor County 223 113 5b
Union County 216 92 5b
Van Buren County 33 10 5b–6a
Wapello County 19 6 5b
Warren County 59 32 5b
Washington County 147 63 5b
Wayne County 22 14 5b
Webster County 269 118 5a
Winnebago County 32 16 5a
Winneshiek County 131 64 4b–5a
Woodbury County 250 116 5a
Worth County 12 6 5a
Wright County 22 13 5a

Garden-ready natives of Iowa

Statewide list. A species native somewhere in Iowa may not be native in your county: use the county lists above to narrow it.

Tree 90

Shrub 44

Wildflower (forb) 195

Grass or grass-like 141

Vine 17

Fern 9

Also listed as native and introduced here 4

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.

Look up a Iowa 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.

Territories: Puerto Rico · U.S. Virgin Islands

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
Iowa: 1,374 native species in this site’s scope; county lists for 99 counties.
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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