 Hidalgo County is in the South Texas Plains vegetation area, which features grasses, mesquite, live oaks, and chaparral.Native plants, reduced in recent years by extensive farming, include chapote, guayacan, ebony, huisache, brasil, and yucca.In 1982, 91% of the land was in farms and ranches, with 52% of the farmland under cultivation and 85% irrigated; 51 to 60% of the county was considered prime farmland.