Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 31 - 40 of 46 results
Star of Bethlehem cluster of plants with flowers
Star of Bethlehem
Ornithogalum umbellatum
Star of Bethlehem is an introduced exotic plant that makes clusters of bright white flowers in the spring. It reproduces prolifically by forming a multitude of bulbs underground.
Photo of royal catchfly flowers
Royal Catchfly
Silene regia
A spectacular plant of the tallgrass prairie, royal catchfly is threatened by habitat destruction and degradation throughout its range. Missouri has most of the world's populations of this noble plant.
Photo of wild four-o'clock flower
Wild Four-O’Clock
Mirabilis nyctaginea
Wild four-o’clock grows in fields, prairies, waste places, roadways, and railroads, often in poor soils. It’s called “four-o’clock,” because the magenta flowers don’t open until late afternoon.
Photo of sand vine, leaves with flower cluster.
Sand Vine (Climbing Milkweed)
Cynanchum laeve
Bees, butterflies, and other insects love its nectar, but sand vine is also a problem weed that can be difficult to eradicate. Some people cultivate it as an ornamental. Beekeepers value it as an excellent honey plant.
Photo of yarrow or common milfoil flower cluster
Yarrow (Common Milfoil)
Achillea millefolium
Native to North America, Europe, and Asia, yarrow has been used for medicine and magic for millennia. This aromatic plant has fine, hairy, fernlike leaves and flat-topped clusters of little white flowers.
Photo of hogwort plant showing upper stem leaves and flowers.
Hogwort (Woolly Croton)
Croton capitatus
Hogwort is fuzzy, densely covered with whitish hairs. A common but often overlooked plant in pastures, prairies, ditches, and roadsides, it’s usually less than 18 inches tall.
Rope dodder stems
Dodders
Cuscuta spp.
Dodders are easy to identify, even though at first you might not recognize them as plants. These parasitic plants usually look like a hairlike mass of yellow or orange, leafless, wiry, vining stems wrapping around the stems of other plants.
Common purslane plant growing on bare, dry soil
Common Purslane
Portulaca oleracea
Purslane can be an aggressive pest in gardens and is one of the worst agricultural weeds in the world. Meanwhile, it’s also a favorite wild vegetable served cooked or raw, and many people cultivate it.
Common chickweed plant in bloom
Common Chickweed
Stellaria media
Common chickweed, native to Europe, has been introduced nearly worldwide and is a familiar garden weed in Missouri. It forms spreading mats on the ground and has small flowers with 5 petals, each deeply lobed making it look like 10.
Sweet autumn virginsbower (autumn clematis) flowers
Sweet Autumn Virgin's Bower (Autumn Clematis)
Clematis terniflora
Sweet autumn virgin’s bower, also called autumn clematis, is a nonnative, invasive perennial vine that spreads aggressively and climbs rapidly over any support. In late summer, it produces dense clusters of white, sweet-smelling flowers, which mature into fuzzy seed masses.
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About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri

A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!