Missouri’s state flower is the hawthorn blossom, its state tree is the flowering dogwood and its state grass is big bluestem. Dogwood typically blooms mid-April to mid-May, tallgrass prairie and glade wildflowers bloom through summer, and fall color typically peaks around mid-October.
This guide sticks to what the state, the Department of Conservation, state parks, the Park Service and the Botanical Garden say, grouped by habitat, with a month-by-month calendar. We leave out where rare plants grow, and we list what we could not confirm. Bloom times are “typically”: always check the site you plan to visit.
Wildflowers, Trees and Plants You Might See
Where and when come from the source in the last column. Bloom times are “typically”: they shift with weather from year to year, so check with the park, garden or preserve before you go. Information as of October 30, 2026.
State Symbols
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorn blossom (state flower) | The statute names the hawthorn, “the blossom of the tree commonly called the ‘red haw’ or ‘wild haw’,” genus Crataegus, as the floral emblem. The Department of Conservation says dozens of kinds grow across the state as shrubs or small trees, flower April to June in clusters of white five-petaled blossoms that look like small apple blossoms, and fruit September to October. | Thorny. The Department lists thorns about 1½ inches long. | Revised Statutes 10.030; MDC: hawthorns |
| Flowering dogwood (state tree) | The statute names the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) the state tree. The Department says the white “petals” are really bracts around a small flower cluster, that it blooms mid-April to mid-May before the leaves, grows mostly in the Ozarks and also north of the Missouri River (mainly the eastern half), and has scarlet fruit August to November and deep red, purple and orange leaves in fall. | Revised Statutes 10.040; MDC: flowering dogwood | |
| Big bluestem (state grass) | Named the state grass by statute (Andropogon gerardii). The Department says it flowers June to September, has roots that often reach 12 feet down, and turns reddish bronze with hints of lavender after fall frosts. | Revised Statutes 10.150; MDC: big bluestem | |
| Smooth chanterelle (state mushroom) | Named the state mushroom by a statute effective August 28, 2026 (Cantharellus lateritius). The Department says it appears late June to early August, statewide, in places like oak-hickory forests. | Never eat a wild mushroom unless an expert confirms it (general guidance, not medical advice). The Department warns of the poisonous jack-o’-lantern, which fruits in fall on stumps or buried wood. | Revised Statutes 10.281; MDC: smooth chanterelle |
| Black walnut and pawpaw | The nut of the black walnut (Juglans nigra) is the state tree nut, and the pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) is the state fruit tree, both by statute. The National Park Service notes pawpaw and prickly pear growing nearly side by side in the Ozarks. | Revised Statutes 10.100; Revised Statutes 10.105; NPS: Ozark Riverways plants | |
| How many symbols | The Secretary of State says Chapter 10 of the statutes covers state emblems, that there is no legal definition of what qualifies as one, and counts 53 official symbols. | Secretary of State: state symbols |
Spring Bloom and Ozark Woods
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern redbud | The Department says it blooms late March to early May, statewide, as a small understory tree with rose-purple flower clusters on bare branches. | MDC: eastern redbud | |
| Virginia bluebells | The Department says they bloom March to June and are scattered statewide except in the northwestern quarter, in bottomland forests, moist ravines and stream banks. | Leave them. The Department says unethical collectors remove entire populations; buy only nursery-grown plants from cultivated stock. | MDC: Virginia bluebells |
| Spring ephemerals in the Ozarks | The National Park Service says the forest floor blooms with spring ephemerals such as trilliums, bloodroot, trout lily and jack-in-the-pulpit in the short span between warm weather and full tree leaves. Another park page says spring beauties bloom in late winter. | See Staying Safe and Leaving Plants Be before you pick or dig anything. | NPS: Ozark Riverways plants; NPS: Ozark wildflowers |
| Fire pink, larkspur, columbine | A National Park Service page describes fire pink, larkspur, purple coneflower and columbine as common in the Ozarks and easy for a beginner to identify. | NPS: Ozark wildflowers |
Glades
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glades in general | The Department describes glades as open, rocky places in upland woodland that are hot and dry, often south- or west-facing. It says they look desert-like but share more plant species with tallgrass prairies, and that cedar takeover and fire suppression closed many of them, so managers use cedar removal and prescribed fire. | You may meet prescribed burns on public land. | MDC: glades |
| Glade wildflowers | The Department lists prickly pear cactus, glade and yellow coneflowers, prairie dock, compass plant and wild petunia among plants adapted to the dry conditions. We say nothing about which glade holds which plant. | Rare plants can live on glades. Look, never dig or pick. | MDC: glades |
| Glade grasses | Little bluestem, sideoats grama, switchgrass and prairie dropseed are common on glades, per the Department. | MDC: glades | |
| Ha Ha Tonka State Park | The state parks page says trails and boardwalks pass woodlands and open rocky glades. It gives no bloom dates. | Check the park for trail status. | Missouri State Parks: Ha Ha Tonka |
Prairie Wildflowers
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallgrass prairie in general | The Department says more than a third of Missouri was prairie before settlement, very few acres remain, and the grasses range from 2 to more than 6 feet tall. | MDC: prairies | |
| Prairie State Park | The state parks page says less than 1 percent of the tallgrass prairie that once covered more than a third of Missouri remains, much of it preserved here, with “swaying grass and ever-changing wildflowers” and a resident bison herd. The Regal Tallgrass Prairie Nature Center has exhibits and programs. | Bison graze freely, so the park bars pets from most trails. Give the animals room. | Missouri State Parks: Prairie State Park |
| Black-eyed Susan | The Department says it blooms May through October and is also planted along roadways. | MDC: prairies | |
| Compass plant and prairie blazing star | Compass plant grows to 8 feet, with foot-long, deeply cleft leaves. Prairie blazing star has an unbranched stalk of rose-purple flowerheads and is called a signature wildflower of tallgrass prairie. | MDC: prairies | |
| Purple and pale purple coneflowers | Purple coneflower blooms May to October, grows to about 3 feet and is scattered nearly statewide but mostly absent from the Bootheel and northwest. Pale purple coneflower occurs nearly statewide except the Bootheel lowlands. | MDC: purple coneflower; MDC: prairies | |
| Summer on Ozark roadsides | The National Park Service says open areas and roadsides in the Ozarks bloom in summer with pale purple coneflower, butterfly weed, asters, daisies and wild carrot. | Roadsides are unsafe places to stop; pull fully off the road. | NPS: Ozark Riverways plants |
Trees and Fall Color
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall color timing, statewide | The Department says the season may last six to eight weeks. Sassafras, sumac and Virginia creeper turn first, from mid-September; black gum, bittersweet and dogwood by late September; peak is usually around mid-October for maples, ashes, hickories and oaks; colors fade by late October and usually finish by mid-November. Color usually starts in the north and west and moves south and east. | Weather shifts every date. The Department posts weekly fall color reports, usually by Thursday evening, from the second half of September to about mid-November. | MDC: fall color |
| Mark Twain National Forest | The Forest Service says the Ozark Highlands Trail and Glade Top Trail show fall color from hickories, oaks and sassafras with views of the Ozark Plateau. The forest lists over 750 miles of trails. | Check the forest alerts page for closures and fire danger before a trip. | Forest Service: fall colors; Forest Service: Mark Twain National Forest |
| Where to look | The Department suggests river routes with bluff views, ridges, back roads, conservation areas, state parks, and even prairies and roadsides, where autumn wildflowers and grasses show gold, copper, purple, olive and auburn. | MDC: fall color | |
| Dogwood, big bluestem and poison ivy in fall | Dogwood leaves go deep red, purple and orange; big bluestem turns reddish bronze; poison ivy turns red, orange or yellow (see Poison Ivy and Thorns). | Pretty is not safe: poison ivy color is a warning, not a reason to touch it. | MDC: flowering dogwood; MDC: big bluestem; MDC: poison ivy |
| Gateway Arch grounds | The Park Service says the walkways are lined with London plane trees planted in 2016 (replacing ash removed in 2014 ahead of the emerald ash borer), and that baldcypress circles hold some of the oldest trees, some planted before 1980. Baldcypress needles turn red and drop each fall, and visitors may walk inside the circles. | Needle fall is normal, not a sign of disease, per the Park Service. | NPS: Gateway Arch plants |
Poison Ivy and Thorns
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poison ivy | The Department says it has three leaflets, with the center leaflet on a longer stalk than the two side leaflets. It can be a vine up to 60 feet, a trailing plant or a low shrub. Oils in all parts cause an itchy rash with blisters. White, waxy berries ripen August to November. | If you touch it, change clothes and wash the area right away with soap and cold water, per the Department. Never burn it: the Department says the smoke can cause severe rashes and breathing it may mean hospital care. | MDC: poison ivy |
| Poison oak and “poison sumac” | The Department says eastern poison oak is uncommon and limited to the southern Missouri Ozarks and northern Bootheel, and that true poison sumac does not occur in Missouri. | MDC: poison ivy | |
| Hawthorn thorns | Hawthorns carry woody spines, with thorns about 1½ inches long. | Wear sturdy gloves if you must move a branch. | MDC: hawthorns |
| Wild mushrooms | The Department calls the smooth chanterelle a choice edible “with caution” and names the poisonous jack-o’-lantern as a lookalike. | Do not eat a wild mushroom unless an expert confirms it (general guidance, not medical advice). | MDC: smooth chanterelle |
Public Gardens and Checklists
| Plant | Where and when, per the source | Care note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis | The Garden is at 4344 Shaw Blvd. Its site offers a What’s in Bloom page and a Plant Finder. Its etiquette page says to stay on pathways and mowed lawn, not walk in planted beds, and not touch, collect or remove seeds, flowers, fruit or plant labels. | Hours and ticket prices change. Check the Garden before you go. | Missouri Botanical Garden; Garden etiquette |
| Shaw Nature Reserve, Gray Summit | The Garden’s site describes the 2,400-acre reserve as educating visitors about the plants, animals and ecosystems of the region. We could not read the reserve’s own site. | Hours, trails and bloom are not confirmed. Ask the reserve. | Missouri Botanical Garden |
| Gateway Arch grounds | See Trees and Fall Color: planted allees of London plane and baldcypress circles. | Check the Park Service for grounds status. | NPS: Gateway Arch plants |
| State park plant checklists | Missouri State Parks lists plant checklists for Babler, Bennett Spring, Hawn (wildflowers and woody plants), Wakonda and Weston Bend. We did not read the lists. | Open the list for the park you plan to visit. | Missouri State Parks: plants and animals |
Bloom Calendar: What Typically Blooms When
Each month lists plants that a source above puts in bloom or in color at that time. “Typically” is deliberate: weather moves every date, so check with the park, forest or garden before you go.
| Month | Typically in bloom or in color | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January | We read no plant source with a bloom for this month. | — |
| February | The National Park Service says spring beauties bloom in late winter in the Ozarks; we read no month-level source. | NPS |
| March | Eastern redbud begins late in the month; Virginia bluebells begin | MDC |
| April | Redbud, Virginia bluebells and hawthorn blossoms; flowering dogwood begins mid-month; Ozark spring ephemerals | MDC; NPS |
| May | Dogwood through mid-May; redbud into early May; hawthorn; purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan begin; poison ivy flowers (May to June) | MDC |
| June | Hawthorn to June; Virginia bluebells to June; big bluestem begins; smooth chanterelle begins late in the month; coneflowers and black-eyed Susan | MDC |
| July | Coneflowers, black-eyed Susan and big bluestem; smooth chanterelle | MDC |
| August | Coneflowers, black-eyed Susan and big bluestem; smooth chanterelle into early August; dogwood fruit and poison ivy berries begin; summer roadside asters and butterfly weed in the Ozarks | MDC; NPS |
| September | Hawthorn fruit; big bluestem to September; sassafras, sumac and Virginia creeper color from mid-month; black gum, bittersweet and dogwood by late September | MDC |
| October | Fall color typically peaks around mid-October; coneflowers and black-eyed Susan to October; hawthorn fruit; poison ivy turns red | MDC |
| November | Color fades and typically finishes by mid-November; the Park Service names the last goldenrods of the year in November | MDC; NPS |
| December | We read no plant source with a bloom for this month. | — |
Where to See Them
We only point to places an official page names.
- Prairie State Park: tallgrass prairie, wildflowers and a bison herd. Our Missouri State Parks guide covers the park system.
- Mark Twain National Forest: Ozark trails and, for fall color, the Ozark Highlands Trail and Glade Top Trail.
- Ozark National Scenic Riverways: spring ephemerals and summer coneflowers, per the Park Service.
- Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, and the Gateway Arch grounds for baldcypress and plane trees. Our St. Louis Area Events guide covers the city.
- Missouri State Parks plant checklists for Babler, Bennett Spring, Hawn, Wakonda and Weston Bend.
- Our fall foliage answer, the Missouri Wildlife guide for ticks, snakes and bears, and Drive Times.
Staying Safe and Leaving Plants Be
- Read this first: the law and park-rule notes below are not legal advice. We read the Missouri Revised Statutes on revisor.mo.gov, the Missouri Department of Conservation and Missouri State Parks rule pages, and the National Park Service, Forest Service and Missouri Botanical Garden pages in Sources on October 30, 2026. Laws, penalties and park rules can change, so check the current text or ask the agency (the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri State Parks, or the park, forest or garden you will visit) before you rely on them. Anything we could not confirm is listed under What We Could Not Verify.
- Conservation areas: the Department prints its rule 3 CSR 10-11.135 on its area pages. It says vegetation, including trees, may not be cut or destroyed; collecting or possessing wild plants and their unprocessed parts is prohibited except under a Letter of Authorization for Plant Collecting or as the Wildlife Code otherwise allows; and nuts, berries, fruits, edible wild greens and mushrooms may be taken only for personal consumption, except that taking edible wild greens is prohibited on Missouri Natural Areas (MDC rule text). One other area page prints a shorter version of the rule, so the wording differs by area (MDC area regulations). We did not read a penalty.
- State parks: Missouri State Parks says removal of plants, animals, rocks, downed timber, artifacts or relics is prohibited without written permission from the state park director (Missouri State Parks: laws and regulations). We did not read a penalty.
- Natural areas: Missouri State Parks says designated natural areas are managed and protected for scientific, educational and historic values (Missouri State Parks: natural areas). The Department points to visitor guidelines for its natural areas, which we did not read (MDC: natural areas).
- Rare and protected plants: we read no Missouri statute or rule listing protected plants, so we state no list and no penalty. We also do not say where rare plants grow. Photograph and leave them.
- Private land and other public land: get the owner’s permission first. We did not read national forest, national park or county park collecting rules; ask the manager (general guidance).
- Poison ivy, thorns and mushrooms: see the alert above and the Poison Ivy and Thorns table.
- Prescribed fire and bison: managers burn glades and prairies, and Prairie State Park bison graze freely. Follow posted signs and stay back.
- Closures: the Mark Twain National Forest home page lists closures and a fire danger status that change. Check its alerts page before a trip.
What We Could Not Verify
- Missouri rules on rare, threatened or endangered plants, and penalties for taking plants on any land. We read none, so we state none. The Department of Conservation can confirm.
- The conservation-area plant rule (3 CSR 10-11.135) is quoted as printed on the Department’s own area pages, not from the Code of State Regulations, and one area page prints a shorter version. The Missouri State Parks rule is read from its web page, not the Code of State Regulations (the Secretary of State files were not read and a legal index returned an access error). Check the current text or ask the agency.
- The year the flowering dogwood became the state tree. The Department says 1955; the statute’s history cites 1955 and 1957 laws and the section is effective August 28, 1957. We state no year.
- Which hawthorn species the statute means. It names the genus Crataegus and the “red haw” or “wild haw” only; the Department lists dozens of kinds.
- University of Missouri Extension poison ivy and plant-identification guidance. The page returned an access error, so poison ivy facts come from the Department of Conservation.
- Shaw Nature Reserve hours, trails, bloom and rules. Its own site would not load. Missouri Botanical Garden hours and ticket prices change, so we print none.
- What Mark Twain National Forest, Ozark National Scenic Riverways and county parks allow for picking or collecting plants, and any current closures. The pages we read do not say. The National Park Service plants page shows a last update of December 20, 2017.
- Bloom dates by region and by year. The Department gives statewide windows for each plant; the north, south, a glade and a valley can differ by weeks. Prairie State Park gives no bloom months.
- The contents of the Missouri State Parks plant checklists, wildflower months at Ha Ha Tonka and Hawn, and bloom at the Gateway Arch grounds. We did not read them.
- Weekly fall color reports. They change weekly, so we link the Department’s page and print no current report.
- Sightings of any plant. The sources give habitat and range, which is not a sighting.
Found something rare? Enjoy it, photograph it, and do not post its exact spot online.
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Questions People Ask
What is the Missouri state flower?
The hawthorn blossom, which the statute describes as the blossom of the “red haw” or “wild haw” (genus Crataegus).
What is the Missouri state tree?
The flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), by statute.
When does the dogwood bloom in Missouri?
The Department of Conservation says mid-April to mid-May. Check local reports for this year.
Is it illegal to pick wildflowers in Missouri?
On Department of Conservation areas the printed rule bars collecting wild plants without a Letter of Authorization, and Missouri State Parks bars removing plants without written permission from the park director. Other lands differ, so ask the owner or agency.
When is fall color in Missouri?
The Department says peak is usually around mid-October, starting in the north and west and moving south and east, and usually finishing by mid-November.
Where can I see tallgrass prairie wildflowers in Missouri?
The state parks page points to Prairie State Park, where less than 1 percent of the original tallgrass prairie remains, much of it preserved there.
Is poison ivy common in Missouri?
The Department calls it common and says oils in all parts cause an itchy rash. Do not burn it.
Can I pick Virginia bluebells?
The Department asks you not to take them from the wild, because collectors remove entire populations. Buy nursery-grown plants.
What is the Missouri state mushroom?
The smooth chanterelle (Cantharellus lateritius), by a statute effective August 28, 2026. Never eat a wild mushroom unless an expert confirms it.
Sources
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.030 (state floral emblem)
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.040 (state tree)
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.100
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.105
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.150
- Revised Statutes of Missouri 10.281
- Missouri Secretary of State: state symbols
- Missouri Department of Conservation: flowering dogwood
- MDC: hawthorns
- MDC: big bluestem
- MDC: smooth chanterelle
- MDC: eastern redbud
- MDC: Virginia bluebells
- MDC: purple coneflower
- MDC: glades
- MDC: prairies
- MDC: fall color
- MDC: poison ivy
- MDC: wild plants, plant products and mushrooms rule
- MDC: conservation area regulations
- MDC: natural areas
- Missouri State Parks: laws and regulations
- Missouri State Parks: designated natural areas
- Missouri State Parks: plants and animals
- Missouri State Parks: Prairie State Park
- Missouri State Parks: Ha Ha Tonka State Park
- National Park Service: Ozark Riverways plants
- National Park Service: Ozark wildflowers
- National Park Service: Gateway Arch plants
- Forest Service: Mark Twain National Forest
- Forest Service: fall colors
- Missouri Botanical Garden: hours and admission
- Missouri Botanical Garden: garden etiquette
Checked October 30, 2026 by It’s Missouri. Cite this page: It’s Missouri (https://itsmissouri.com/wildflowers-and-plants/), checked October 30, 2026. Free to quote with a link.