Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
Equisetum (3 spp. in Missouri)
Description
Horsetails, or scouring rushes, are in the genus Equisetum. They’re easy to recognize with their jointed, hollow stems. Like ferns, they reproduce via spores instead of flowers and seeds.
Media
Species Types
Scientific Name
Utricularia spp.
Description
Bladderworts are Missouri’s only carnivorous plants. They are branching, rootless, aquatic plants that tend to grow in thick, floating mats under the water. The leaves are threadlike. The flowers resemble tiny yellow snapdragons and are held above the water.
See Also
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!