Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 71 - 80 of 157 results
Photo of leaf cup flower
Pale-Flowered Leaf Cup
Polymnia canadensis
Leaf cup is named for the leafy appendages that wrap around the stem at the bases of the opposite leaves. Part of the sunflower family, leaf cup has about 8 white ray florets surrounding yellow disk florets.
Photo of purple meadow parsnip foliage and flowers
Meadow Parsnip
Thaspium trifoliatum
One of our more challenging plants to identify, meadow parsnip looks an awful lot like golden Alexanders. But you can do it! Look closely at the flower clusters and at the edges of the leaves, and then check the seeds.
Photo of common golden Alexanders plant with flowers
Common Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Named for its resemblance to a European herb that was popular in Medieval times, golden Alexanders is a native Missouri wildflower with bright yellow flowers arranged in umbrella-like clusters.
Photo of a Queen Anne's lace flower cluster, seen from the top
Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot)
Daucus carota
Queen Anne’s lace is many things to many people — roadside wildflower, noxious introduced weed, wild edible, medicinal herb, delightful cut flower. In Missouri, it blooms May through October.
Caucasian bluestem seed head
Caucasian Bluestem
Bothriochloa bladhii
Causasian bluestem and the closely related yellow bluestem are both aggressive, weedy degraders of pasturelands that escape cultivation and endanger native habitats. Learn more about these Old World grasses, and please don’t plant them!
Photo of Johnson grass flower clusters
Johnson Grass
Sorghum halepense
Johnson grass is a native of the Mediterranean that is invasive in our country. It’s a weed that infests cropland and degrades native ecosystems, and heavy infestations are found in all the major river bottoms of Missouri.
Photo of prairie showing big bluestem leaves and flowering stalks
Big Bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
Every Missourian should know big bluestem. It is the most famous of our native prairie grasses. The seed head of this tall grass branches into three parts, resembling a turkey’s foot.
Photo of several big bluestem seed heads against a blue sky.
Grasses
All true grasses (species in the grass family)
Missouri has 276 species in the grass family, including well-known crop plants and our native prairie grasses. Distinguishing between the species can be difficult, but it’s easy to learn some basics about the group.
Photo of Indian grass flower head in bloom
Indian Grass
Sorghastrum nutans
Indian grass is a native perennial bunch grass with flowering stalks up to 7 feet tall. The golden seed heads are plumelike, with twisted awns. It occurs nearly statewide and is an important component of native prairies and glades.
Photo of little bluestem mature seed head
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Little bluestem is a native perennial bunch grass with flowering stalks 1–4 feet tall. In fall, the leaves turn coppery. It occurs statewide and is an important component of native prairies and glades.
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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!