Flora of Iowa

Aconitum noveboracense, also known as northern blue monkshood or northern wild monkshood, is a flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). Members of its genus (Aconitum) are also known as wolfsbane. A. noveboracense is listed as a threatened species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The species can only be found in Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York, and populations have been in decline since the 1980s. A narrow set of environmental conditions for growth limit the plant to these areas, so a species recovery plan has been set in place to preserve the

Lespedeza leptostachya is a rare species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names prairie lespedeza and prairie bush-clover. It occurs in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. The flowers are creamy-white to purplish and arranged into a narrow terminal spikes.

Solidago sciaphilia is known as shadowy goldenrod or cliff goldenrod. The species is endemic to bluffs along the Mississippi River in southern Minnesota, and the driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin, northern Iowa and Illinois. Throughout its range, S. sciaphila is strongly associated with dolomite and sandstone bedrock, especially dry cliffs. It can be similar to Solidago speciosa but has more serrate lower and mid stem leaves and is generally smaller to much smaller when growing in pockets of shallow soil on cliffs. Small plants are similar to Solidago hispida in general appearance.

Callirhoe bushii is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name Bush's poppy-mallow. It is native to the United States, where it can be found in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. There are also some introduced populations in Iowa. This plant was first described in 1909 and named for the botanist Benjamin Franklin Bush. It produces poppy-like magenta flowers. It is commonly grown as an ornamental plant. In the wild it grows in woodlands and on prairies, often on calcareous soils. It is associated with Verbesina helianthoides, Campanula americana,

Asclepias meadii is a rare species of milkweed known by the common name Mead's milkweed. It is native to the American Midwest, where it was probably once quite widespread in the tallgrass prairie. Today much of the Midwest has been fragmented and claimed for agriculture, and the remaining prairie habitat is degraded. The plant is a federally listed threatened species due to this destruction of its habitat. Factors contributing to its rarity include mowing and plowing, highway expansions, erosion, loss of a natural prairie fire regime, pesticides directly applied or drifting from nearby

Carex missouriensis is a species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae, native to the US states of Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. It is typically found in swales in surviving patches of prairie.

Artemisia serrata is a North American species in the sunflower family, with the common name serrate-leaved sage or saw-tooth wormwood. It is native to the north-central part of the United States (Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, with isolated populations in New York State).

Symphyotrichum parviceps (formerly Aster parviceps) is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the central United States, and it has the common names of smallhead aster and small white aster. A usually short-lived herbaceous perennial plant, it may reach 30 to 100 centimeters (1 to 3+1⁄4 feet) in height. Its flowers have white ray florets and pale yellow disk florets that turn purplish.

Panicum hillmanii, commonly known as Hillmann's panicgrass, is a grass from genus Panicum native to Southwestern United States. It has been introduced to many other areas, notably including southern Australia where it became widespread, and several parts of Europe.

Veronica bullii is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names kittentails and Bull's coraldrops. It is native to the Upper Midwest of the United States, including the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.

Penstemon cobaea is a flowering plant in the plantain family, commonly known as Cobaea beardtongue, prairie penstemon or foxglove penstemon. The plant is native to the central United States, primarily the Great Plains from Nebraska to Texas, with additional populations in the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas. There are also populations reported in the southwestern United States as well as in Illinois and Ohio, but these appear to be introductions.

Eurybia furcata, commonly called forked aster, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Asteraceae. It is native primarily to the Great Lakes region and the Ozark Mountains in the United States. It is uncommon throughout its range, and occurs in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin in the north, south through Nebraska, Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana, and into Missouri and Arkansas. The species is intolerant of shade and is typically found on rocky, north-facing slopes, especially those composed of limestone, dolomite, or sandstone. It can also be found in seeps on bluffs, in moist woods along

Sanguisorba annua is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names annual burnet and prairie burnet. It is native to North America, including many areas in western and central Canada and the United States. It can be found in several types of habitat, including grassland, sagebrush, and disturbed areas. It is an annual or biennial herb producing a leafy, mostly erect stem up to about 90 centimeters in maximum height. The leaves are composed of several pairs of leaflets, each leaflet oval in shape and usually divided into lobes, sometimes deeply, the lobes becoming

Erythronium mesochoreum, the prairie fawn lily or midland fawnlily, is a plant species in the lily family, native to the US states of Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. Erythronium mesochoreum forms flattened to egg-shaped corms up to 25 mm long. The corms grow offsets in a manner similar to tulips, creating new plants as well as setting seed. Leaves are elliptic to lanceolate, up to 14 cm long. Scape is up to 15 cm tall, bearing only one flower. Tepals are spreading at flowering time, white with blue or purple tinge on the underside and a

Camassia angusta, the prairie camas or prairie hyacinth, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae. It is native to the central US; Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, and Indiana. A bulbous perennial reaching 75 cm (30 in), it blooms in April and May with white, blue, purple, or violet flowers.

Napaea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. The single species is Napaea dioica, a tall perennial herbaceous plant, native to central and eastern USA. Plants are occasionally grown as ornamentals in wildflower gardens. A common name is glade mallow.

Symphyotrichum turbinellum (formerly Aster turbinellus), with the common names of prairie aster, smooth violet prairie aster, and mauve-flowered starwort, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to the United States in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, primarily in the Ozarks. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. It flowers from August to October.

Chrysosplenium iowense is a species of flowering plant in the saxifrage family known by the common name Iowa golden-saxifrage. It is native to North America, where it is "primarily a Canadian species", occurring from the northern Northwest Territories south to British Columbia and east to Manitoba. There are also disjunct, relictual occurrences within the United States, in the Driftless Area of Minnesota and Iowa.

Orbexilum onobrychis, commonly called French-grass or lanceleaf scurfpea, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family (Fabaceae). It is native to the eastern United States where its range is concentrated in the Midwest and Upper South. Its natural habitat is primarily prairies and riverbanks, typically in mesic or wet areas. It is an uncommon species, and can be found in high-quality prairie remnants as well as more disturbed areas. It is a rhizomatous perennial that forms large colonies. It has pinnately trifoliate leaves, with large lanceolate leaflets. Its flowers are pale blue or

Cirsium pumilum var. hillii is a type of thistle endemic to North America. The common name for this plant is Hill's thistle.

Quercus ellipsoidalis, the northern pin oak or Hill's oak, is a North American species of oak tree native to the north-central United States and south-central Canada, primarily in the Great Lakes region and the Upper Mississippi Valley. It most commonly occurs on dry, sandy soils.

Sagittaria cristata, the crested arrowhead, is a perennial herb growing up to 75 centimetres (30 inches) tall. The leaves are flat, long and narrow, not lobed, and up to 40 cm (16 in) long. The flowers are white. The species is native to Ontario and north-central United States (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan). It grows in shallow water along the edges of lakes, streams and marshes.

Desmodium illinoense, the Illinois ticktrefoil, is a flowering plant in the bean family (Fabaceae), native to the central United States and Ontario, Canada. Illinois ticktrefoil grows in sunny places, such as prairies and oak savannas of the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions.

Phemeranthus rugospermus is a species of flowering plant in the miner's lettuce family, Montiaceae, known by the common names prairie fameflower, rough-seeded fameflower, sand fameflower, and flower-of-an-hour. It is native to the central United States from Texas and Louisiana north to Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Phemeranthus rugospermus is a perennial herb growing up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) tall with an erect branching or unbranched stem. The cylindrical leaves are up to 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) long. The pink flowers arise on a tall stalk. The capsules contain wrinkly seeds.

Liatris hirsuta, commonly called hairy gayfeather, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to North America, where it is found primarily in the Midwestern and South-Central regions of the United States. Its typical natural habitat is glades, rocky bluffs, and upland prairies. Liatris hirsuta is similar to Liatris squarrosa, and some authors classify it with varietal status (Liatris squarrosa var. hirsuta). Liatris hirsuta is typically found to the west of the range over Liatris squarrosa, but there are regions of co-occurrence. Liatris hirsuta can be

Amorpha nana (dwarf indigo, dwarf indigobush, dwarf false indigo, fragrant indigo-bush, fragrant false indigo, dwarf wild indigo) is a 1–3-foot (30–91 cm) tall perennial shrub in the Pea family (Fabaceae) which is native to North America. It has vibrant green pinnate leaves and clusters of purple flowers. The fruits are small pods. Dwarf false indigo grows in dry prairies and rocky hillsides. Amorpha nana likes rocky and sandy soil. Thomas Nuttall described this species for science in 1813. The species name, nana, is the botanical Latin term for "dwarf".

Carex assiniboinensis, commonly known as the assiniboia sedge, is a species of sedge (Carex) in the section Hymenochlaenae. First described scientifically in 1884 by American botanist William Boott, it is found in Canada and the United States, where it grows in floodplain forests, old river channels, riparian woodlands, and shrub thickets.

Asclepias lanuginosa, the woolly milkweed or sidecluster milkweed, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, native to central Canada and the upper Midwest United States. It was described in 1818. It is a perennial herb that grows 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) tall.

Phlox bifida, commonly known as cleft phlox or sand phlox, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Polemoniaceae (phlox) family that is native to the central United States.

Smilax illinoensis , the Illinois greenbrier, is a North American species of plants found only in the United States and Canada. It is native primarily to the Great Lakes Region with a few populations further south in Missouri and in the Ohio Valley. Smilax illinoensis is an upright, unbranched herb up to 100 cm (39 inches) tall, with no prickles. It grows in woods and thickets.