Sights of Summer on Schulenberg Prairie

Recently, I visited Schulenberg Prairie on the grounds of The Morton Arboretum in preparation for a workshop I will be leading there on 21 September 2013 focusing on asters and goldenrods.  This 100-acre created prairie consists of a rich mix of obligate and conservative prairie species and represents the fourth oldest prairie restoration/planting in the country.  The restoration of Schulenberg Prairie began in 1962 with the installation of plants grown from locally collected seed from existing Chicago region prairies.  Prior to that time, the 100 acres was dominated by a single species, as it was used as an agricultural field.  Since 1962, Schulenberg Prairie has been regularly maintained by volunteers and staff from The Morton Arboretum through herbicide, hand-pulling invasive plants, and fire, resulting in the most diverse and natural-looking prairie conversion that I have ever seen.

 

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) and Stiff Goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigidum) are common in Schulenberg Prairie



Stiff Goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigidum)



Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera) adds a touch of pinkish-purple to the prairie backdrop



Cream gentian (Gentiana alba) is surprisingly abundant along the trails through Schulenberg Prairie



A bumblebee (Bombus sp.) forces its way into a Cream Gentian (Gentiana alba) flower in search of a sweet snack



Downy Gentian (Gentiana puberulenta), a real show-stopper



Downy Gentian (Gentiana puberulenta)



Schulenberg prairie was originally planted with a 1:1 ratio of grasses and forbs, and excellent structural diversity still exists 50+ years later thanks to the tireless efforts of staff and volunteers



The expanse of Schulenberg Prairie



Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) adds vertical aspect within an otherwise short-grass portion of the prairie

Schulenberg Prairie was named in honor of Ray Schulenberg, former curator at The Morton Arboretum, and one of the true pioneers in prairie restoration at a time when the few remaining prairies of Illinois were being rapidly transformed into agricultural lands and subdivisions.  It was Ray who, in 1962, was given the task of rehabilitating the land that agricultural activities had degraded for decades through the removal of native vegetation and topsoil.  Ray passed away in 2003, but his memory lives on in this spectacular prairie planting that literally bears both his name and the fruits of his labor.

Late Summer on Bear Lake Prairie

I finally made it to an Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society - North Chapter field trip on 8 September 2012. As the Treasurer and one of the founding members of this new chapter of an established statewide environmental organization, I had hoped to make it to more of the field trips during our inaugural year, but my schedule simply didn't allow.  However, I made it a priority to be at this field trip due to the quality of the site.  On this late summer day, Bill Minter, the land manager at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center, led our group on a hike through Bear Lake Prairie, discussing management activities and challenges at the property.  I'd visited Bear Lake Prairie a couple of times in the past, but it's always great to get back to such a unique natural area.

 

Bill Minter leads the INPAWS group through Bear Lake Prairie.

Bear Lake Prairie is a result of historic artificial drainage that left the marl bottom of Bear Lake exposed for colonization by native prairie species.  The result is a calcareous marl beach wet prairie full of conservative species that you could find in both tallgrass prairie and calcareous fen communities.

Gentiana andrewsii, always a crowd pleaser.

Closed Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) is one of the calciphiles that calls Bear Lake Prairie home.  It is known from the northeastern quarter of the United States and north into much of the eastern half of Canada; it also has been recorded from a couple of counties in Colorado.  Bottle Gentian habitat includes mesic prairies, thickets, openings in wooded areas, fens, and swampy areas.  Looking at the photograph above, you can see why not many insects are able to feed on nectar from Closed Bottle Gentian.  Bumblebees, however, possess the strength to force their way into the "closed" flowers to drink nectar and in the process pollinate the flowers.


Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii lights up the prairie.

One of the most stunning blazing stars, in my opinion, and also one of the least abundant in the Midwest, is Nieuwland's Blazing Star (Liatris scariosa var. nieuwlandii).  This variety of Liatris scariosa was named in honor of chemist and botanist Father Julius Aloysius (Arthur) Nieuwland, who attended the University of Notre Dame as an undergrad and returned there to serve as a professor from 1904 to 1936. Savanna Blazing Star, as this species is also aptly known, can be found in prairies, glades, savannas, and open woodlands.  Its distribution includes scattered clusters of counties in the Great Lakes states, Missouri, and Arkansas, but it achieves its greatest distribution in northwest Indiana and Michigan.

Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda is characteristic of saturated calcareous open areas.

Even if you aren't a botanist, it's possible that you may recognize the bright yellow flowers on the shrub above from your average parking lot, as cultivars of this species are common in the landscaping trade.  In nature, Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda) grows in wet calcareous areas including fens, pannes, and other wet areas near the Great Lakes, and also in dry calcareous habitats including hill prairies, alvars, and limestone barrens. It appears to be distributed in three distinct geographical zones (the western United States, the Great Lakes states, and the New England states) with separation between these areas.  It is also known from much of Canada and Alaska, and from a single county in North Carolina.  Subspecies floribunda is the new world taxa, whereas subspecies fruticosa is of Eurasian origin.  You may know this plant by the Latin name Potentilla fruticosa.

An interesting diverse tapestry makes up the flora of Bear Lake Prairie.

Thanks to Bill Minter for leading an excellent field trip and for managing Bear Lake Prairie to preserve some outstanding biodiversity.

The Gray Area between Work and Hobby

I remember my cousin's reaction the first time he found out that I botanized for fun.  He was pretty amazed that I would go out and slosh through wetlands to get covered in ticks, mosquito bites, and poison sumac.  Why would anyone do that and not get paid for it?  Why wouldn't they?  How can someone work in the environmental field and not be passionate about it?

That gray area is something I deal with all too often.  On a trip to Superior, Wisconsin to do vegetation sampling in late August 2012, a few of the people on my crew joined me on our day off for a trip to Buckley Creek and Barrens State Natural Area in Douglas County.  This 900-acre property was our "site of choice" that day because of the range of plant communities present, from very dry to very wet.  The resulting flora provided a wide range of interesting species for us to feast our eyes and lenses on that fine summer day.  Below I will discuss some of those species and communities.

Agastache foeniculum

Blue Giant Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is a plant of northern North America that I had read about but never seen, so it was a nice surprise to find it on the edge of the oak barrens at Buckley Creek and Barrens.  Primarily found in the upper Midwest, west of the Great Lakes, and into Canada, this mint also ranges as far west as western Montana, and it is found in scattered counties in the eastern United States. In addition to scrubby barrens, Blue Giant Hyssop can be found in dry upland forest openings, prairies, fields, and thickets.

Aster oolentangiensis

Many of us learned the plant in the photograph above as Aster azureus; the specific epithet is a reference to the ray flowers of this composite, which are said to be "sky blue" in color.  However, the rules of botanical nomenclature came into play when it was determined after many years of using the name Aster azureus that a different epithet for the same species had been published several months earlier than the specific epithet azureus.  The plant then became officially known by the first published name, Aster oolentangiensis.  This specific epithet is a reference to the Olentangy River in central Ohio where the specimen at the center of this debate was collected.  Some people seem to despise the specific epithet oolentangiensis, which rolls right off the tongue, but the inimitable Ed Voss was a fan of this name change, as he grew up in a town along the Olentangy only a few miles upstream from the location where the plant was first collected.  Descriptiveness and hometown pride aside, I'm happy to use the name Aster oolentangiensis to stay in line with nomenclatural law.  Many people now call this plant Symphyotrichum oolentangiense, the genus having changed as a result of molecular research.  Sky-blue Aster is found in prairies, barrens, glades, open woodlands, on dunes, and in savannas, often in sandy or shallow soil.  Its geographical range includes the central United States in a band along and just west of the Mississippi River, as well as areas around the Great Lakes.

Oligoneuron album

Speaking of name changes, this one's a doozy.  I first learned Prairie Goldenrod (Oligoneuron album) as Upland White Aster (Aster ptarmicoides).  In the 1970s, botanists began calling this plant Solidago ptarmicoides because the floral structures were more closely aligned with goldenrods.  Then, just about the time this name started gaining widespread use in the 1990s, the name Oligoneuron album came into play.  Many other names have been used for this composite in the past as well.  Prairie Goldenrod has its greatest distribution in the upper Midwest, west of the Great Lakes, but it is also found in numerous Missouri Ozark counties, in scattered counties in Michigan, and scattered elsewhere in the United States and in eastern Canada.  It has an affinity to calcareous soils, where it is found in dry sand, in limestone pavement communities, on glades, on rocky outcrops, and in prairies.  One habitat that is not mentioned in the references I've seen is in barren slag pits that have displaced dune and swale communities.  In this crime against nature "community," Prairie Goldenrod is one of the few native plants that seems to persist after years of degradation.

Liatris aspera

Rough Blazingstar (Liatris aspera) is an attractive species of a variety of habitats including prairies, barrens, dunes, glades, fields, savannas, and woodlands.  It is most frequently found growing in sand and silty loam soils.  This composite is found throughout much of the eastern half of North America, but its greatest distribution is in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and just west of the Mississippi River.  Rough Blazingstar is said to have edible corms that can be used as a survival food, but rodents are said to also feed on these corms and in some places are responsible for reducing the Rough Blazingstar population.  The blazing stars (Liatris spp.) have determinate inflorescences, meaning that the oldest flower clusters are at the tip of the inflorescence and the youngest flower clusters are at the bottom, so the inflorescence does not continue to expand in length as the season progresses.

Solidago nemoralis

Gray Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) is a very common composite found across much of North America with the exception of Alaska and extreme northern Canada and the western third of the United States.  It grows in fields and prairies, along roadsides, and in open woodlands in sandy, gravelly, and clayey soils.  The common name comes from the fine gray hairs that cover the stems, giving the plants an overall grayish cast.

Polygonella articulata

One of the more interesting looking yet overlooked plants of sandhills, dunes, beaches, pine barrens, and other sandy coastal and lakeshore habitats is Coastal Jointweed (Polygonella articulata).  As the first half of the common name implies, this species of the buckwheat family is found along the Atlantic coast and in the Great Lakes states and provinces, particularly in counties bordering the Great Lakes.  The second half of the common name is a reference to the jointed-like appearance of the plant, and especially of the inflorescence before buds emerge.  This appearance is a result of the ocreae (on the stems) and ocreolae (in the inflorescence).  These structures are short sheaths formed by the fused stipules, or leafy structures at the base of each leaf.

Bog

In addition to spending time in the dry oak barrens, we also tromped through a boggy area with typical bog/muskeg vegetation.  This bog had strong representation by plants in the heath family and sedges.

Eriophorum virginicum

One of those sedges was Tawny Cottongrass (Eriophorum virginicum), a striking species of bogs, conifer swamps, fens, marshes, and wet meadows.  This cottongrass is unique in that it has brown scales, and perianth bristles that instead of being pure white often have some brownish or orangish color to them.  It grows in the New England states and southwest along the Appalachians, as well as in the Great Lakes states and provinces. 

Thanks to those who joined me on this weekend outing to see such a unique Wisconsin natural area.

Fail, To Some Extent

I apologize for the delay between posts, but things have been pretty busy lately. Since the Thismia Hunt on 13 August, I've been in five states, including spending nearly a week and a half in Superior, Wisconsin. I'm back home, with plenty of blogging material... but first, a brief Thismia Hunt recap.


Unfortunately, this was the only Thismia americana that I saw on 13 August...


... and it was a lifesize model in a display at the hunt headquarters.


Our team of nine hopeful hunters (several of which are pictured above) spent the day at DuPont Nature Preserve in Gary, Indiana, scouring as much of the wet prairie habitat as we could in five short hours.


Paul Labus (above) of The Nature Conservancy knows this site better than anyone, and he took us to the most likely places where Thismia might occur.


Although our hunt for Thismia was unsuccessful, we were successful in seeing some pretty nice dune and swale habitat with wet prairie in the swales and savannas on the dunes. The wet prairie shown above seemed ideal for Thismia americana, as several of the species originally found growing with the tiny saprophyte were growing here. Our group tallied over 225 plant species during our surveys, which is fairly impressive since we probably only covered 1/4 to 1/2 acre thoroughly, plus our walk to and from the areas that we surveyed.


Another very successful aspect of the Thismia Hunt was the turnout of Thismia hunters. There were over 90 people searching for Thismia (including several very well known Chicago Region botanists) and celebrating 20 years of conservation in the Calumet Region on 13 August. Many of these were people I hadn't seen in a while, and others were new acquaintances.


I am already looking forward to the next Thismia Hunt, as I still maintain hope that it is out there, somewhere.

A Rare Find At Houghton Lake

In 2006, The Nature Conservancy of Indiana acquired a fantastic property in Marshall County. The property, known as Houghton Lake, consists of a fen surrounding a lake that has become alkaline as a result of the calcareous groundwater flowing through the surrounding soil and into a basin. I had visited this property in the past, before it was purchased by TNC, and had assisted with compiling a plant species list that boasts over 180 vascular plant species.

Houghton Lake and surrounding fen

The soil in the fen consists of marl, which is a mix of clay and calcium carbonate that is gray in color and often speckled with remnants of shells. Surrounding this marly substrate at a slightly higher elevation is alkaline peat soil. Typical fen species can be found growing in both of these soils, but the fen itself was likely historically found mostly in the mucky soils surrounding the marl. The marl footprint most likely outlines the historical area of Houghton Lake. As the land was drained for agricultural use, the lake level dropped, exposing marl soils that were then colonized by the encroaching fen species.

Marl

In addition to the existing 100+ acres of lake and fen, approximately 90 acres of lower quality natural land and 180 acres of agricultural fields surrounding the fen were purchased by TNC. Stuart Orr, North Central Indiana Land Steward for TNC, is tasked with restoring the degraded and agricultural lands to a more natural state. This past Saturday, Stuart held a work day at Houghton Lake to collect seed to be installed in the area now in agicultural production after subsurface drainage tiles have been removed and ditches have been plugged or filled and a more natural hydrologic regime has been restored. The goal is to restore sedge meadow, wet prairie, and even fen in this area where these communities were present prior to being drained for agricultural use. On Saturday, our target species for collection was Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata). This member of the Asteraceae has a dense terminal spike of discoid flower heads (there are no ray flowers). It is most commonly found in wet prairies, mesic prairies, and sedge meadows throughout eastern North America.

Dense Blazing Star in bloom in a Marshall County, Indiana fen, July 2004

Given my busy schedule, I don't get to attend many work days (in fact, I think this was my first TNC work day), but helping out with these is something that I feel strongly that everyone who visits and enjoys our natural areas should make time to do. I am involved with several local conservation organizations who all hold numerous work days of their own throughout the year, and I try to attend at least one or two of these events per year. This isn't much, but every little bit helps. Site stewards have very limited staff and rely heavily on volunteer work to accomplish their enormous management goals, and they should be commended for the grueling work that they do. It isn't fair to them or to our natural areas to simply visit these sites for pure enjoyment without giving a little back. I encourage everyone to assist these conservation organizations with their management objectives as much as possible. This is also a great way to have a chance to see these preserves and learn more about the plants and animals that call them home.

Dense Blazing Star in seed

In the four or so hours that we were at the site, our small group collected what Stuart thought would amount to 5 pounds of Dense Blazing Star seed once the seed was dried and separated from the stems, involucres, and chaff.

Seed collecting

Near the end of the work day, I had some time to take a few photos of plants and insects at the preserve. A species that used to be dominant in the fen but that has been reduced a bit by management burns is Shrubby Cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda). As populations of this low shrub, which is in the family Rosaceae, were thinned by fire, habitat for herbaceous fen species that don't deal well with competition was restored. White Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium candidum) in particular has responded well to the prescribed burns. While Shrubby Cinquefoil is a native and desirable fen species, it can suppress the growth of other desirable fen species in the absence of periodic disturbances such as fire or flooding.

Shrubby Cinquefoil

Another characteristic shrubby fen species is Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix). Along with dogwoods (Cornus spp.) and willows (Salix spp.), this native shrub can often encroach on fens, leading to shrub-carr communities when fire or flooding is removed from the system. In the fall, the drooping white berries contrast sharply with the compound crimson leaves, making this member of the Anacardiaceae far more beautiful than it is ever given credit. For some reason, and I assume that it is the dermititis caused by contact with Poison Sumac, this species is considered a noxious weed by the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

Poison Sumac

Many people pigeonhole Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) as a tallgrass prairie species. While this member of the Poaceae is a dominant component of mesic prairies, Big Bluestem is also a characteristic species of alkaline fens. It can be found throughout most of the eastern two-thirds of North America, growing up to 8 feet tall.

Big Bluestem

Swamp Thistle (Cirsium muticum) is a member of the Asteraceae that is found throughout the eastern half of North America in wet prairies, fens, bogs, marshes, and swamps. With appressed phyllaries that sometimes have short apical spines, this is a thistle that does not poke you when you attempt to touch the sticky involucre. The specific epithet muticum means blunt and without a point, referring to the shape of the phyllaries.

Swamp Thistle

An easily overlooked composite (Asteraceae) of fens, wet prairies, tallgrass prairies, and streambanks is Purple Rattlesnakeroot (Prenanthes racemosa). Found in southern Canada and the northern half of the United States (except the northwest), Purple Rattlesnakeroot has smooth stems from the base to the middle of the plant (but the stems are pubescent above). The similar Rough Rattlesnakeroot (Prenanthes aspera) is found in drier habitats, has stems that are pubescent throughout, and has cream to yellow-colored ray corollas.

Purple Rattlesnakeroot

In a recent post about another TNC fen property, I included photographs of Lesser Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis procera). The similar Greater Fringed Gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) grows at Houghton Lake in the drier portions of the fen. This member of the Gentianaceae has wider leaves than Lesser Fringed Gentian, and the petals are fringed both along the sides and along the apex. The flowers of Greater Fringed Gentian also seem to be a deeper blue than those of Lesser Fringed Gentian. Greater Fringed Gentian is found mostly in states and provinces surrounding the Great Lakes, but it is also known from the northeastern and southeastern United States, North Dakota, Quebec, and Manitoba.

Greater Fringed Gentian

Meadow Spikemoss (Selaginella apoda) and Hidden Spikemoss (Selaginella eclipes) are two very similar species in the Selaginellaceae. Both are easily overlooked in wet areas, as they often are well hidden beneath dense herbaceous vegetation. They also look a lot like mosses in the genus Mnium. Meadow Spikemoss is found in swamps, meadows, marshes, pastures, damp lawns, open woods, and streambanks, in basic to acidic conditions. Hidden Spikemoss is found in moist to wet calcareous areas, swamps, meadows, pastures, and open woods, but rarely on rock. I believe that the plant in the photograph below, taken at Houghton Lake, shows Hidden Spikemoss, which has median leaves with long acuminate tips (versus acute tips in Meadow Spikemoss).

Hidden Spikemoss

The best I can tell, the meadow katydid in the photograph below is a Short-winged Meadow Katydid (Conocephalus brevipennis), a common species of the eastern United States. This species usually has short wings (as the common name suggests) and has a dark brown band that runs from the top of the head down the back. This individual is a female, as evidenced by the long ovipositor.

Short-winged Meadow Katydid

The singing insect below is what I believe to be a Round-tipped Conehead (Neoconocephalus retusus). This species has a shorter, rounder cone than most other members of this genus, and there is a narrow black line across the front of the cone (that can be seen if you click on the photograph to enlarge it). The song of the Round-tipped Conehead is very intriguing, as it consists of a long, raspy buzz that sounds like an electric short.

Round-tipped Conehead

Finally, at the end of the day, we happened upon a very interesting moth hanging out on one of the blazing star inflorescences we had collected. Stuart guessed that maybe it was a Blazing Star Borer Moth (Papaipema beeriana). When I got home and downloaded my photos, I compared this photograph with those in my books and online, and it appeared that Stuart's guess was correct. We've sent several photos to moth and Papaipema experts, and they agree that in fact this is the fairly rare Blazing Star Borer Moth. If you only ever click on one photo on our blog, you have to click on this one and look at the eyes of this moth. Amazing! As the common name suggests, the Blazing Star Borer Moth is dependent upon blazing star for survival of the species. Females deposit eggs in the soil at the base of a blazing star plant in the fall. When the eggs hatch in the spring, the larvae climb to the base of the blazing star plant and bore into the stem to feed. In late summer, the larvae burrow into the soil and pupate prior to metamorphosis into an adult moth.

Blazing Star Borer Moth

So there you have it... if I hadn't attended this work day, I wouldn't have had the chance to see these interesting plants and insects or to learn about this rare moth. This is incentive enough for me to attend more work days.