Upland Prairie Flora

In Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold he says, "No living man will see again the long grass prairie, where a sea of prairie flowers lapped at the stirrups of the pioneer. There were a hundred such plants many of exceptional beauty. Most of them were quite unknown to those who have inherited their domain." This is the first in a series of films that will help you to come to know and, perhaps, appreciate some of the flowers and grasses of what once was the prairie. The first plant of the dry prairie we shall study is lead plant amorpha. It is a woody plant and therefore a shrub. If allowed to grow undisturbed, it can reach heights of four feet tall, but two and a half feet is more common. The name lead plant, perhaps, comes from the lead gray color of the leaves. This color is not uncommon among prairie plants, for it has a reflective quality, which helps sustain the plant during hot summer days. Lead plant amorpha or amorpha canescens is a legume. Legumes are capable of converting soil nutrients into available nitrogen for use by other plants. Legumes also have several visual characteristics, such as compound leaves. lead Planum orphan has pinnately compound leaves which include many leaflets arranged feather-like along the stem also most legumes produce flowers that are pea flower shaped lead plant has many such blue flowers that are small and in tight clusters along the stem these flowers later produce tiny pods pods are also typical of most legumes another common prairie forb is candle anemone or long headed thimble weed this plant is easily identified by the thimble like seed head that persists all summer long and then becomes a cotton seed fluff in the fall the wire like stems branch from a Worrell of five to nine leaves halfway up the plant candle anemone or anemones cylindrical blooms early between May and July the flower is five sepal din greenish white and the solitary flower occurs on a long thin stem one to two feet tall there are some plants in the prairie that are attractive because of foliage rather than bloom one such plant is Louisiana sage Artemisia Lou Duva Sienna the leaves of the Louisiana or silver sage are densely covered with a white fuzz that gives the silver appearance in fact the whole plant takes on this silver or white in color it grows one and a half to three feet tall and provides a good color contrast in both summer and fall the prairie is a very complex environment and most annual plants are not competitive enough to survive however the milkweeds are capable of occupying any disturbed area such as a badger digging or where man has intervened the most common is no stranger to the farmer the common milkweed or asclepius syriaca this plant has very thick leaves that are arranged in an opposite fashion on either side of the stem the flowers bloom pink to lavender and ball like clusters at the end of the stem or in the axils of the leaves only a few of the flowers develop into pods but each pod produces many fluffy seeds that are easily dispersed by late summer breezes this is a field of quarreled milkweed it too is an annual and a prairie invader of disturbed sights it grows one to two feet tall and gets its name world milkweed from its narrow linear leaves that occur in whorls of two to four at each node of the stem the flowers bloom white in tight clusters from June to September and then produce pods that are narrow and stand upright on the stem these pods also turn brown and produce windblown seeds world milkweeds scientific name is Asclepius virtus alana one of the showiest groups of upland forbes is the asters the aster is a member of the composite family or more than one flower per blossom the clusters are tightly packed disc flowers and their radiating fringes are colorful strap shaped ray flowers most asters come into bloom late in the season September to November they bloom in many colors to asters common to the upland prairie are heath aster and silky aster the Heath aster or aster Iroquois DS always blooms white and is one of the smallest asters less than 12 inches tall Sookie aster or aster Sarah seus blooms a pale blue and the blossoms are supported by very thin wire like stems giving it a delicate or fragile appearance when the asters come into bloom it is a very special time to visit the Prairie let's take a moment and review the first group of forbs and one shrub of the upland prairie the first shrub led Planum orphan or amorphous Canessa ng's next candle anemone or anemone cylindrical followed by two milkweeds common milkweed asclepius Sarika and world milkweed asclepius virtus Ilana then the Astor's he faster faster iroquois DS and silky Astor answer sericia the most unusual group of plants are the Indigo's they are also legumes growing two to four feet tall and appearing to rest upon other forbs and mid grasses for support this particular plant is Atlantic Wild Indigo or baptisia leucantha the foliage is smooth on ascending branches the leaves are compound and divided into three leaflets the flower which blooms between May and June is white and pea like the individual flower is about an inch in length attract bumblebees and are arranged in loose clusters up to 12 inches in length the inflated pods which later develop are also about an inch in size they matured to a black indigo color the plains Wild Indigo or baptisia Luke ophea is similar to Atlantic wild indigo the flowers however bloom yellow and do not stand upright but tend to grow low and drooping at one to three feet tall about midsummer the upland prairie will suddenly bloom yellow this new color will usually be the product of a rather small delicate annual called the showy Partridge pea yet two is a legume the pea like flower is yellow with purple anthers the Lee's are pinnately compound with 8 to 15 pairs of leaflets which fold to a closed position at night the show Partridge P or cassia fascicle auda also produces small flat pods that twist upon ripening and throw seeds several feet from the plant it has proven to be an excellent forage crop and has been used extensively throughout the Midwest pastures and roadside plantings most farmers and county weed control officers will recognize our next plant the thistle it comes in many forms some of which can become real pests along roadsides and abandoned farmland however the Prairie being a tight-knit community seldom has a very large population of this very sticker a plant it is an annual invader of disturbed sites which produced windblown seeds in abundance the Goldfinch the state bird of Iowa will not nest until Thistle time and loads its nests with the soft down seeds of this plant most thistles or cirsium species bloom lavender or purple and some are very showy like this native Prairie thistle along about June and most of what we call early summer our next plant makes its presence known in a soft lavender way the pale purple coneflower or echinacea Pulido has come into bloom looking very much like a rather purple Daisy this slender stalk Beauty appears at first glance to have no leaves but with closer investigation we find them on the lower stem long and narrow and like the rest of the plant grizzly Harry the stem and bristly seed head will turn brown in winter and remain standing until next year's crop next is one of the most beautiful of all flowers the down ejection or gentiana boobarella this plant holds to the old adage the best our last four it blooms late August to November the downy gentian has amanoot lee find down on stem and leaves the leaves are land shaped and opposite along the stem the flowers are a violet blue with a funnel-shaped corolla that appears to be twisted the gentians are not a huge splash of color in the prairie but instead are the hidden treasures that speak to the most observant and to the poet's of our society now blossoms bright with autumn do and colored with the heavens on blue that opens when the quiet light succeeds the keen and frosty night it's time again for a review in the second grouping of upland prairie forbs first the Indigo's atlantic Wild Indigo or baptisia leucantha and the plains Wild Indigo baptisia Luke ophea then Shirley Partridge P or cassia fascicular and the thistles or cirsium species pale echinacea or pale purple coneflower or echinacea Paletta and again downy tension or gentiana rule our next flower is very upright and ranging in height from two to five feet round-headed lespedeza is its name or lespedeza capitana it's sometimes called Bush clover this slender plant is covered with a silvery hair to help reduce water loss in the heat of summer the leaves are clover like occurring in groups of three with short stems the flowers are creamy white with pink near the base and held in densely bristle clusters round-headed lespedeza matures to a dark brown and remains erect even through the winter months another slender flower the upland prairie is rough a feather or liya trous espera sometimes called blazing star the leaves are short and narrow and increase in size as you move down the stem the flowers are a deep pink with 25 to 40 rounded Brax per flower head it is a beautiful sight when you come across the field of rough gay feather in bloom they will bloom from July to September and usually in the company of one or two species of goldenrod when entering the prairie edge at midsummer mixed in with common milk weeds and cone flowers is another pink blooming favorite wild bergamot be bombed or monarda pistol OSA the ragged pom-pom of tubular flowers is easily recognized while bergamot is in the mint family typical of mints it has opposite leaves in a square stem it is sometimes referred to as horse matte because of the definite odor the plant emits that is reminiscent of horses there are many golden rods in the Prairie but few are drought tolerant at least enough to be associated with the upland Prairie dyers wheat goldenrod or solidago new Morales is one that passes the test perhaps it's because it is so small and can't compete with the taller varieties of the Messick Prairie that it has chose the upland for its home at any rate it is well equipped with fine hairs on the stem and it's gray green leaves as well there are tiny leaflets at the axles of each leaf where it joins the stem the slender dyers weed seldom reaches the height of 24 inches and has a one-sided yellow plume that gives it an arching habit still another densely fuzzy plant as a dry Prairie is woolly verbena for being a stricte or sometimes called hoary vervain the flowers bloom purple halfway down the flower stalk or sometimes rosy pink the leaves are thick coarsely toothed and almost stockless let's take a look and review the last group of dry Prairie plants there is round-headed lespedeza bush clover or lespedeza capitana ruff gay feather blazing star or liatris espera wild bergamot b-bomb or monarda pistol OSA Dyer's weed goldenrod or solidago new Morales and wooly verbena hoary vervain or verbena stricte the prairie flora splashes its calendar of colors from the white flowering anemone of June to the blue aster injection of October hopefully you will find the opportunity this next summer to experience this glad progression of changing color in the flowers of the upland Prairie