Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 31 - 40 of 48 results
Star of Bethlehem cluster of plants with flowers
Star of Bethlehem
Ornithogalum umbellatum
Star of Bethlehem is an introduced exotic plant that makes clusters of bright white flowers in the spring. It reproduces prolifically by forming a multitude of bulbs underground.
Photo of winged loosestrife plants and flowers
Winged Loosestrife
Lythrum alatum
Winged loosestrife is a native Missouri wildflower that should not be confused with the nonnative invasive purple loosestrife. Learn to distinguish between the two so you can report infestations of the latter!
Photo of white avens flower and upper stem leaves.
White Avens (Red Root)
Geum canadense
White avens, a common wildflower in the rose family, may not catch your eye during hikes, but you will probably notice the seeds clinging to your socks when you get home!
Photo of sand vine, leaves with flower cluster.
Sand Vine (Climbing Milkweed)
Cynanchum laeve
Bees, butterflies, and other insects love its nectar, but sand vine is also a problem weed that can be difficult to eradicate. Some people cultivate it as an ornamental. Beekeepers value it as an excellent honey plant.
Photo of a false loosestrife flower closeup
False Loosestrife
Ludwigia alternifolia
One of eleven water primrose species in Missouri, false loosestrife is distinguished by its cubical fruits that open at a pore in the tip. Look for it in wet places like the edges of ponds, ditches, and along rivers and streams.
Rope dodder stems
Dodders
Cuscuta spp.
Dodders are easy to identify, even though at first you might not recognize them as plants. These parasitic plants usually look like a hairlike mass of yellow or orange, leafless, wiry, vining stems wrapping around the stems of other plants.
Common purslane plant growing on bare, dry soil
Common Purslane
Portulaca oleracea
Purslane can be an aggressive pest in gardens and is one of the worst agricultural weeds in the world. Meanwhile, it’s also a favorite wild vegetable served cooked or raw, and many people cultivate it.
Bur cucumber flowers and foliage
Bur Cucumber
Sicyos angulatus
Bur cucumber is a nonwoody, native, annual vine common in low, moist soils. It can spread across an area 20 feet wide, covering the ground and nearby shrubs. Note its lobed, gourd-family leaves, curly green tendrils, clusters of prickly, green, oval fruits, and 5-lobed, cream-colored flowers.
Common chickweed plant in bloom
Common Chickweed
Stellaria media
Common chickweed, native to Europe, has been introduced nearly worldwide and is a familiar garden weed in Missouri. It forms spreading mats on the ground and has small flowers with 5 petals, each deeply lobed making it look like 10.
Swamp agrimony flowering stalks
Swamp Agrimony
Agrimonia parviflora
Swamp agrimony has wandlike clusters of tiny yellow flowers atop its stout, upright stems. Its feather-compound leaves have up to 23 narrow, sharp-toothed main leaflets, plus smaller leaflets between the main ones.
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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!