Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 124 results
Photo of yellow violet plant with flower
Yellow Violet
Viola pubescens (formerly V. pensylvanica)
The yellow violet is Missouri's only all-yellow violet. This native wildflower is less common than violet violets. Look for it in low woods, rich slopes, and wooded floodplains.
Photo of blue-eyed Mary flowers
Blue-Eyed Mary
Collinsia verna
The flowers of blue-eyed Mary are only about a half inch wide, but this pretty wildflower makes up for it by usually appearing in abundance, covering a patch of forest floor with little sky-blue and white “faces.”
Photo of Miami mist flowers
Phacelia (Miami Mist)
Phacelia purshii
An annual, spring-blooming wildflower, Miami mist has loose coils of small blue flowers with distinctive, delicate fringes on the petal lobes.
Photo of lowland brittle fern fronds and fiddleheads growing in woods
Lowland Brittle Fern (Southern Fragile Fern)
Cystopteris protrusa (formerly C. fragilis var. protrusa)
Lowland brittle fern, also called southern fragile fern, is an easily recognized species. It’s a common springtime sight in moist forest soils.
Photo of an Engelmann’s adder’s tongue with a black background
Adder's Tongues
Ophioglossum spp.
Four species of adder’s tongue ferns occur in Missouri. They don’t look like typical ferns. They have spoon-shaped leaves and an upright spore-bearing stalk.
Photo of false Solomon's seal plant with flower cluster
False Solomon's Seal (False Spikenard)
Maianthemum racemosum (formerly Smilacena racemosa)
False Solomon's seal can be distinguished from "true" Solomon's seal by differences in flower shape and placement, the color of the berries, and some characteristics of the leaves.
Photo of fire pink flowers
Fire Pink
Silene virginica
Fire pink is a low, clump-forming perennial with many slender, spreading stems that are sticky from glandular hairs, with open clusters of bright red flowers. This showy native Missouri plant is growing in popularity among home gardeners.
Photo of harbinger of spring flower clusters with coin to show size
Harbinger of Spring
Erigenia bulbosa
Heralding a new growing season, harbinger of spring can bloom as early as January in Missouri. You will probably have to look closely for its small clusters. But after a long winter, what a welcome sight they are!
Photo of false rue anemone plant and flower
False Rue Anemone
Isopyrum biternatum
To distinguish false rue anemone from "true" rue anemone, look for the following: 5 white (not pinkish) sepals, and leaves present on the flowering stems. Confirm your identification by noting that it's growing in a colony (not singly) and is in a moist, low area.
Photo of bloodroot plant with flower
Bloodroot
Sanguinaria canadensis
Bloodroot’s pure white petals are even more remarkable given the plant’s bright red sap. This feature, plus the unique leaf shape, make this early spring wildflower easy to identify.
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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!