Field Guide

Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants

Showing 1 - 10 of 168 results
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 sideoats grama, closeup on floral spikes showing orange anthers.
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Sideoats grama is a native perennial clump-forming grass with flowering stalks 1–3 feet tall. The oatlike seeds dangle uniformly in two rows on one side of the flattened stalk. It occurs nearly statewide.
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 a geocarpon plant showing stems and foliage
Geocarpon (Earth Fruit; Tiny Tim)
Geocarpon minimum
Geocarpon is a tiny, inconspicuous plant found almost exclusively on sandstone glade outcrops. Extremely rare, it is a species of conservation concern. It is related to carnations!
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.
Photo of mullein basal leaves
Mullein
Verbascum thapsus
Mullein immigrated to America along with Europeans, and with them it has spread across the continent. Its fuzzy, green-gray rosettes of leaves and tall spikes of yellow flowers make it easy to identify.
Photo of moth mullein flowers
Moth Mullein
Verbascum blattaria
Moth mullein is a native of Eurasia introduced to our continent in the early 1800s. Since then, it has spread across North America. It’s named because the fuzzy flower, with 2 antennalike stamens, looks something like a moth.
Photo of spring beauty plants and flowers
Spring Beauty
Claytonia virginica
Our most widely distributed early spring flower, spring beauty has 5 white or pink petals with distinct pink veining, and 5 pink anthers. The narrow, bladelike leaves are fleshy. These flowers often grow in abundance, covering a patch of ground with the beauty of spring.
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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!