Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 10 results
Photo of Johnson grass flower clusters
Johnson Grass
Sorghum halepense
Johnson grass is a native of the Mediterranean that is invasive in our country. It’s a weed that infests cropland and degrades native ecosystems, and heavy infestations are found in all the major river bottoms of Missouri.
Photo of several big bluestem seed heads against a blue sky.
Grasses
All true grasses (species in the grass family)
Missouri has 276 species in the grass family, including well-known crop plants and our native prairie grasses. Distinguishing between the species can be difficult, but it’s easy to learn some basics about the group.
Photo of several reed canary grass plants with flowering heads
Reed Canary Grass
Phalaris arundinacea
Reed canary grass is native to Europe, Asia, and North America, and it varies quite a bit. Our native Missouri version, for instance, is quite different from the Eurasian type that has been widely introduced — and which has proven to be highly invasive.
Photo of path rush, closeup showing drying fruits.
Rushes
Juncus spp. and Luzula spp.
Missouri has 24 species in the rush family. Distinguishing between these grasslike plants can be tricky, but it’s easy to learn some basics about the group.
Photo of eastern woodland sedge plant growing among leaf litter.
Sedges
Carex, Schoenoplectus, Scirpus, and other genera
Missouri has more than 200 species in the sedge family. Distinguishing between these grasslike plants can be difficult, but it’s easy to learn some basics about the group.
Stand of switchgrass in a prairie in late summer
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Switchgrass is a native perennial, warm-season, clump-forming mid or tall grass. In midsummer, delicate-looking, open, multiply-branching flowering clusters rise above the foliage.
Prairie cordgrass growing against a blue sky
Prairie Cordgrass
Spartina pectinata
Prairie cordgrass is a native perennial sod-forming grass with flowering stalks up to 7 feet tall. A grassland species, it grows in dense stands in low, damp soils. It’s often called ripgut because of the tiny sharp saw teeth on the leaf edges.
Mature prairie dropseed backlit in prairie
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Prairie dropseed is a native perennial bunch grass that forms dense clumps of fine, light green, arching leaves. The seed heads are airy, open, branching clusters bearing small, ovate florets on their own individual branchlets.
Photo of tall fescue plants
Tall Fescue
Festuca arundinacea
You’ve seen it a million times, now learn to identify it! Technically an exotic invasive plant, tall fescue is practically everywhere, from lawns to levees, and from pastures to (unfortunately!) prairies.
Vertical image closeup of sweet flag spadix
Sweet Flag (Calamus)
Acorus calamus (syn. A. calamus var. calamus)
At a glance, the upright sword-shaped leaves of sweet flag make it resemble cattails. Like them, sweet flag lives in wet soils. But the flower heads are distinctive, and details of the leaves set them apart, too.
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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!