Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 71 - 80 of 95 results
Photo of common gerardia plant with flowers
Slender False Foxglove
Agalinis tenuifolia (formerly Gerardia tenuifolia)
Slender false foxglove, or common gerardia, is a small, showy wildflower with slender, opposite leaves and thin, wiry, branching stems. The small, funnel-shaped blossoms are pink or purple, with an upper lip that arches over the 4 hairy stamens.
Photo of starry rosinweed flowerheads on a black background
Starry Rosinweed
Silphium asteriscus
Starry rosinweed is a relatively short rosinweed that grows scattered mostly in the southern half of Missouri. It blooms May through September.
Photo of flowering spurge flowers
Flowering Spurge
Euphorbia corollata
With widespread sprays of small white flowers, flowering spurge looks a lot like the "baby's breath" so popular with florists. Each little "flower" has 5 white false petals surrounding a cup of tiny yellow male flowers and a single female flower.
Photo of many blooming ashy sunflower plants, showing gray-green leaves.
Sunflowers
Helianthus spp.
Most people recognize sunflowers when they see them, with their bright yellow ray flowers and rather flattened center of dark disk flowers. There are 16 species of Helianthus in Missouri.
Cobaea beardtongue blooming at Painted Rock Conservation Area
Cobaea Beardtongue (Purple Beardtongue)
Penstemon cobaea
Cobaea beardtongue, or purple beardtongue, is probably Missouri’s showiest species of penstemon. Native to Missouri's southern Ozarks, it is grown statewide for its beauty, and because pollinators like it. It may be purple or white.
Downy gentian flower
Downy Gentian (Prairie Gentian)
Gentiana puberulenta
Downy gentian, or prairie gentian, is a beautifully blue or violet-blue wildflower with opposite leaves that blooms September through November in native grasslands.
Eastern figwort flowers
Eastern Figwort (Carpenter's Square)
Scrophularia marilandica
Eastern figwort occurs statewide in rich woods, woodland borders, and bottomlands. It’s usually 2-5 feet high, has square stems and lance-shaped, toothed leaves, and bears spreading clusters of small, green scoop-shaped flowers with brown petal lobes.
Common ragweed leaves
Common Ragweed
Ambrosia artemisiifolia
Common ragweed is instantly recognizable by its ornate, 2–3 times pinnately lobed, hairy leaves. You’ve probably seen it many times and wondered what it was.
Yellow ironweed blooming flowerhead
Yellow Ironweed
Verbesina alternifolia (syn. Actinomeris alternifolia)
Yellow ironweed is a tall native perennial wildflower. Its yellow petal-like rays droop down, making the many flowerheads look like small, ragged sunflowers. The stems are winged, especially toward the bottom of the plant.
Prairie dogtooth violet blooming at Friendly Prairie, April 10, 2022, sky in background
Prairie Dogtooth Violet (Prairie Trout Lily)
Erythronium mesochoreum
Prairie dogtooth violet, or prairie trout lily, is a small, early blooming lily that lives in prairies and glades. Its flowers are white and its narrow leaves are folded lengthwise and seem waxy on the undersurface.
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!