lora of the Coastal Bend numbers 1,150 species, not including grasses. Some plant communities of the region have increased in size while others have decreased; however, most of the species present during the settlement era exist today. Much of the vegetation transplanted from Europe, Asia, and South America has become fully naturalized and blends with native growth.

In the rich soil of the region's southernmost edge, grow American elm, sugarberry, black willow and box elder. Thickets of thorny mesquite crowd grasslands. Bottomlands along the Mission, Aransas, and Nueces rivers support both deciduous forest and subtropical forest. Rooted here are Mexican ash, black persimmon, and cedar elm.

While little native habitat remains in the agricultural northern and eastern portions of the Coastal Bend, seacoast bluestem, Texasgrass, tanglehead, cowpen daisy and wild buckwheat flourish in fertile prairie soils.

Oak woodlands, favored spots of migrating birds, were once prolific on the barrier islands; today, only a few remnants of live oak and blackjack oak remain.

Expansive shallow water creates an ideal environment for seagrasses supporting an extraordinary ecosystem. Seagrass meadows of the CCBNEP study area cover ten times the acreage of all other Texas bays combined.