Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 11 results
Photo of tall bellflower stalk with flowers
Tall Bellflower (American Bellflower)
Campanula americana
Tall bellflower is an abundant native bellflower that is easily identified by its stout, tall habit, short, wheel-shaped, blue corolla, and the curved, purple style that projects beyond the flower.
Photo of a chicory plant.
Chicory
Cichorium intybus
In summer and fall, the pretty blue flowers of chicory decorate roadsides and other disturbed areas. This weedy member of the aster family was introduced from Europe long ago. Its roots have been used as a coffee substitute.
Common dandelion flower head viewed from above
Common Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
The common dandelion is a well-known common weed of lawns, roadsides, and other disturbed places. Originally from Europe, it occurs nearly worldwide.
Photo of swamp milkweed, three plants with flower clusters.
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Swamp milkweed has pink flower clusters at the tips of its tall stalks. The leaves are opposite, narrow, and up to 6 inches long. It grows in moist bottomland soils.
Photo of Indian hemp plant
Indian Hemp (Dogbane)
Apocynum cannabinum
Indian hemp is a shrubby, upright perennial with opposite branches and milky sap. This native plant can be a troublesome weed in crop fields and gardens, but Native Americans used its tough, fibrous stems for rope-making.
Photo of shining blue star flower cluster
Shining Blue Star
Amsonia illustris
Often found on gravelly Ozark streamsides, shining blue star lifts its clusters of showy, light-blue flowers in late spring. A top choice for native wildflower gardening, it is interesting spring, summer, and fall.
Photo of Carolina false dandelion flowerhead.
Carolina False Dandelion
Pyrrhopappus carolinianus
One of several native plants called dandelions, Carolina false dandelion is an annual with sulphur yellow flowers and puffy seedheads.
Photo of western goat's beard or salsify flower
Western Goat's Beard (Yellow Salsify)
Tragopogon dubius
With its yellow composite flowers and round seedheads of fluffy “parachutes,” goat’s beard looks like a gigantic dandelion. A native of Europe, many people view it as an invasive weed.
Photo of common milkweed flower cluster
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
Common milkweed is famous as a food plant for monarch butterflies. It bears curious seedpods bearing seeds that fly on silky parachutes. It's common statewide in a variety of habitats.
Common periwinkle, or Vinca minor, flowers and leaves
Common Periwinkle
Vinca minor
Common periwinkle is a low-growing, mat-forming, purple-flowering perennial that is woody at the base. Native to Eurasia, it is often grown as a groundcover. It has proven invasive in much of the eastern United States and frequently escapes from cultivation. Planting it is not recommended.
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!