Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 50 results
Photo of eastern gama grass flowering plant
Eastern Gama Grass
Tripsacum dactyloides
Eastern gama grass is a native perennial bunch grass with flowering stalks up to 8 feet tall. The fingerlike seed heads have separate male and female florets. The seed-bearing, female florets are in the lower portion of each spike. It occurs statewide and is an important component of native prairies and glades.
Photo of Japanese stiltgrass
Japanese Stiltgrass (Eulalia)
Microstegium vimineum
Japanese stiltgrass is an invasive annual grass with thin, pale green, lance-shaped leaves that are 3 inches long. It has spread to nearly every eastern U.S. state. It forms dense patches, displacing and outcompeting native species for nutrients and light.
Photo of common scouring rush, many stems in a colony
Horsetails (Scouring Rushes)
Equisetum (3 spp. in Missouri)
Horsetails, or scouring rushes, are in the genus Equisetum. They’re easy to recognize with their jointed, hollow stems. Like ferns, they reproduce via spores instead of flowers and seeds.
Photo of wild hyacinth flower cluster
Wild Hyacinth
Camassia scilloides
In spring, wild hyacinth bears an elongated cluster of pale blue flowers with prominent anthers that sway on stalks up to 2 feet tall.
Closeup side view of rough blazing star flowerhead
Rough Blazing Star (Rough Gayfeather)
Liatris aspera
Rough blazing star is fairly common and scattered nearly statewide. To distinguish between Missouri’s nine species in the genus Liatris, start by noting details of the flower structure. It’s not hard when you know what to look for.
Photo of tall goldenrod plant with flowers
Goldenrods
Solidago spp. (23 species in Missouri)
There are 23 species of goldenrods in Missouri. They can be hard to identify to species, but as a group, the goldenrods are common and nearly unmistakable.
Deptfort pink blooming in an open area
Deptford Pink
Dianthus armeria
Deptford pink has straight, strong, narrow stems that bear small clusters of pink flowers with white dots. Common statewide in sunny, open locations such as pastures and roadsides.
Photo of blue-eyed grass flower closeup
Blue-Eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium campestre
It has grasslike leaves, but it’s not a grass. In fact, it’s in the same family as the common garden iris! Four species of blue-eyed grass grow in Missouri, and this one, often found on prairies, glades, and pastures, is the most common.
Photo of yellow star grass plant with flowers
Yellow Star Grass
Hypoxis hirsuta
Yellow star grass grows throughout the tallgrass prairie region. Imagine the thoughts of pioneers when they gazed upon these bright little lilies during stops along their westward journey!
Photo of orange day lily flower
Orange Day Lily
Hemerocallis fulva
Native to Europe and Asia, orange day lily was widely planted by early settlers and has become widely naturalized in North America. The seeds don't mature in Missouri, so all the plants here are spread by root divisions.
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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!