Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 145 results
Photo of showy partridge pea showing flowers, buds, and leaves.
Showy Partridge Pea
Chamaecrista fasciculata (formerly Cassia fasciculata)
The interesting, bright yellow flowers of showy partridge pea are immediately recognizable. At night, the leaflets close and pull upward into a sleeping position.
Photo of crown vetch, closeup of a flower cluster.
Crown Vetch
Securigera varia (formerly Coronilla varia)
In summer, you’re almost guaranteed to see big colonies of crown vetch along Missouri's highways. This weedy nonnative plant stabilizes the dirt after road construction but degrades our natural ecosystems.
Photo of small bluet flower showing purplish center
Small Bluet (Tiny Bluet)
Houstonia pusilla (H. minima; Hedyotis crassifolia)
Small bluet is a mat-forming winter annual that can color entire lawns blue with its tiny flowers. You can start learning to recognize it by noting the reddish-purple color at the center of the blue-violet flowers.
Photo of violet wood sorrel plant with flowers
Violet Wood Sorrel
Oxalis violacea
Missouri has one introduced and four native wood sorrels. Violet wood sorrel is the only one that has magenta or lavender flowers.
Image of Johnny-jump-up.
Johnny-Jump-Up (Field Pansy)
Viola bicolor
Johnny-jump-up is a flat-faced violet whose small flowers are a washed-out blue or violet with a very light yellow or white center. Look for it in fields, meadows, glades, rights-of-way, disturbed sites, and possibly your front lawn.
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 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.
Western ironweed flowerhead in bloom
Western Ironweed (Baldwin's Ironweed)
Vernonia baldwinii
Ironweeds are tough, grayish-green, branching plants known for their fluffy-looking clusters of reddish-purple florets. They are a familiar sight on roadsides and pastures. Identify western ironweed by the bracts at the base of the flowerheads.
Photo of hedge parsley flower clusters
Hedge Parsley
Torilis arvensis
Hedge parsley is an introduced plant that looks a lot like parsley. It was first collected in Missouri in 1909 and has become much more abundant in recent decades as it spreads along roadsides and railroads.
Photo of long-leaved bluets plants with flowers
Long-Leaved Bluets (Slender-Leaved Bluets)
Houstonia longifolia (sometimes Hedyotis longifolia)
The petals of long-leaved bluets are not blue; they are white, often tinged with pink. Look for it in rocky, open Ozark woods, prairies, glades, and old fields in the southeastern half of the state. It prefers acid soils.
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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!