Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 21 - 23 of 23 results
Media
Photo of poverty grass clump amid fallen autumn leaves.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Danthonia spicata
Description
A common sight in dry upland Ozark woods, poverty grass is a species you can identify by its leaves alone. The basal leaves persist for several years, becoming dry and curly. Although the flowering stems can be 2 feet high, the basal leaves are only about 5 inches long.
Media
Prairie cordgrass growing against a blue sky
Species Types
Scientific Name
Spartina pectinata
Description
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.
Media
Mature prairie dropseed backlit in prairie
Species Types
Scientific Name
Sporobolus heterolepis
Description
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.
See Also

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!