Bigtooth Aspen

Order: Salicales

Family: Salicaceae

Genus: Populus

Species: P. grandidentata

Identifying Characteristics:

-Native, short-lived, dioecious, medium-sized deciduous tree with a straight trunk and gently ascending branches.

- Fruit a two-valved capsule

- Bigtooth aspen has 19 pairs of chromosomes (2n=38).

- Height at maturity 60'-80' with diameters of 8'-10'; grows rapidly.

- Age: Stands begin to deteriorate after 50-70 years on good sites, but individuals may live as long as 100 years

- Roots shallow and wide spreading; lateral root spread in a forest may be 33'-66'. Generally, four to five lateral roots originate from the tree and then branch within 2'; vertical, penetrating roots near the base anchor the tree.

- Bark of young trees smooth; after 30 years rough with grooves.

-Distinguished from Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) by having slightly larger leaves with large irregular teeth on the leaf edges. Quaking Aspen has finely toothed leaf edges.

Special Adaptations:

- Most commonly floodplains, gently rolling terrain, and the lower slopes of uplands. Large stands grow on sands, loamy sands, and light sandy loams. Lower soil pH limit of 4.0.

- Tolerates drier conditions than Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides). However, for good growth on upland sites the watertable must be at least 2', but not more than 5', below the surface.

- Soil must be moist but well aerated for good growth

- Very shade intolerant; most shaded stems die.

- Commonly occurs in areas that frequently burn, such as large upland areas distant from water and upwind of natural fire breaks such as lakes.

Queen Anne's Lace

Order: Apiales

Family: Apiaceae

Genus: Daucus

Species: D. carota

Identifying Characteristics:

- Height: 1-3 feet

- Flower size: tiny, in clusters 3-5 inches across

- Flower color: white

- Daucus carota is a variable biennial plant, usually growing up to 1 m tall and flowering from June to August. The umbels are claret-coloured or pale pink before they open, then bright white and rounded when in full flower, measuring 3–7 cm wide with a festoon ofbracts beneath; finally, as they turn to seed, they contract and become concave like a bird's nest. The dried umbels detach from the plant, becoming tumbleweeds.

^{Special Adaptations:}

^{- Also known as the wild carrot}

- Like the cultivated carrot, the wild carrot root is edible while young, but quickly becomes toowoody to consume. A teaspoon of crushedseeds has long been used as a form of birth control

-This beneficial weed can be used as acompanion plant to crops. Like mostumbellifers it attracts predatory wasps to its small flowers in its native land; however, where it has been introduced it attracts only very few of such wasps . This species is also documented to boost tomato plant production when kept nearby, and it can provide amicroclimate of cooler, moister air for lettuce, when intercropped with it.

-Wild carrot was introduced and naturalised inNorth America, where it is often known as "Queen Anne's lace". It is so called because the flower resembles lace; the red flower in the center represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. The function of the tiny red flower, coloured by anthocyanin, is to attract insects.

-the plant is amazingly abundant, growing in old fields and even along roadsides where more fastidious flora can't survive

Smooth Brome

Order: Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Bromus

Species: B. inermis

Identifying Characteristics

-An erect, leafy, long-lived perennial, 1 ½ to 3 feet tall, rhizomatous and commonly producing a dense sod

- Seedhead: Compact to somewhat open panicle, 4 to 8 inches long; panicle branches in whorls; spikelets ¾ to 1 inch long, slender, turn brownish at maturity, contain 5 to 10 florets; lemmas awnless to awn-tipped, glabrous and split near the tip, into a bifid apex.

- Leaves: Glabrous or occasionally pubescent, particularly on the sheaths; blades 8 to 15 inches long, ¼ to ½ inch wide, flat, with a raised and keeled midrib below; sheaths closed, except near collar, and papery when dry; leaves rolled in the bud; ligules up to 1/8 inch long, rounded, and membranous; auricles absent.

Special Adaptations:

-Smooth brome was introduced from Europe and has been used in range seedings in many areas of the country. Smooth brome is a good forage producer on the mountain loam sites, and it is also adapted to the upland sites. In the lower rainfall areas, some irrigation is required for optimum production

- comes on fairly early in the spring, but is not as early as intermediate wheatgrass with which it compares very closely in its adaptations.

-Due to it's aggressiveness, the species can be considered weedy. It is not tolerant of prolonged flooding

-Soils: It is best adapted to fertile, loamy, deep soils including stony loams where there is at least 16 inches of rainfall annually, or supplemental irrigation equivalent to that. Smooth brome is mildly alkaline and moderately salt tolerant.

-It starts growth in early spring; flowers May to July; reproduces from seeds, tillers, and rhizomes. It may regrow and reflower in the fall if moisture is sufficient

Common Evening Primrose

Order:

Family: Onagraceae

Genus: Oenothera

Species: O. biennis

Identifying Characteristics:

- This native biennial plant can be 8' tall, although it is often shorter.

- There is usually a central stem with alternate leaves, but sometimes there will be multiple stems in open areas, creating a bushy appearance. The stems are light green or red, and are covered with white hairs. The light or olive green leaves are up to 8" long and 2" wide, but usually smaller. They are lanceolate and resemble willow leaves. The margins of the leaves are smooth or slightly dentate, and are nearly hairless. Smaller secondary leaves often appear at the axils of major leaves on the central stem.

- A panicle of pale yellow flowers occurs at the apex of the plant (or at the ends of major stems, if the plant is bushy). Each flower is about 1" across when fully open, with 4 petals and prominent stamens, and a long green calyx. The flowers remain open from evening to early morning, but will remain open longer on cloudy days. They have a mild lemony scent, and bloom from mid-summer to fall on mature plants. Long narrow seedpods develop, which split open from the top to release many tiny, irregular brown seeds. They are small enough to be dispersed by the wind, and can remain viable in the soil after 70 years. The root system consists of a fleshy taproot.

Special Adaptations:

-The preference is full sun, average moisture, and a soil that is somewhat sandy, but other growing conditions are acceptable

-This plant forms a stubby rosette during the first year, but becomes tall during the second year, at which time it flowers, sets seed, and dies.

-Common Evening Primrose is easy to grow, but often becomes rather unsightly as the season progresses. Disease can cause small brown spots to form on the leaves, while drought causes the lower leaves to turn yellow and fall off the plant.

-It is a common plant that is particularly conspicuous during late summer or fall. Disturbed areas are favored in both natural and developed habitats, including mesic to dry black soil prairies, sand prairies, thickets, glades, lakeshore dunes, abandoned fields, roadsides and railroads, slopes of drainage ditches, vacant lots, etc.

Little Bluestem

Order: Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Schizachyrium

Species: S. scoparium

Identifying Characteristics:

-This native perennial grass is 2-3' tall and tufted at the base. The culms are tan or reddish brown, hairless, and terete; the base of each culm is erect, rather than decumbent across the ground.

Alternate leaves are produced primarily along the lower half of each culm. The leaf blades are up to 10long and ¼" across, light green or light blue, hairless or slightly pubescent, and curling outward. The leaf sheaths are light green or light blue, hairless or slightly pubescent, and finely ribbed.

Special Adaptations:

-The preference is full sun and mesic to dry conditions. Different kinds of soil are tolerated, including those that contain clay-loam, gravel, or sand. Less fertile soil is preferred because of the reduced competition from taller vegetation. Because of its C4 metabolism, Little Bluestem develops primarily during the warm weather of summer and early fall, and it has excellent drought resistance.

- Habitats include hill prairies, gravel prairies, sand prairies, black soil prairies, clay prairies, scrubby barrens, rocky slopes of thinly wooded bluffs, sandy savannas, hilltop glades (limestone, sandstone, or shale), sand dunes, gravelly areas along railroads, and abandoned fields.

-Little Bluestem is often used in prairie restorations and it is occasionally found in gardens as an ornamental grass. In Illinois, this is one of the dominant grasses of hill prairies

Prairie Dropseed

Order: Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Sporobolus

Species: S. heterolepis

Identifying Characteristics:

- Taking up to five years to mature from seed, the adult dropseed can range from 1-4 feet tall and can survive over multiple growing seasons, as it is a perennial plant.

- its long luscious green leaves grow in bunches around a circular base and are no more than 1/8th of an inch wide. The leaves range in color from a rich green hue in summer to a golden rust complexion in the fall. From late July to mid-September, the grass blooms with rusty-tan flowers.

Special Adaptations:

- Native Americans were known to grind the seeds of the grass to make a tasty flour, and several species of birds find the grainy seeds a very edible treat.

-The preference is full sun, mesic to dry conditions, and soil that is loamy, rocky, or gravelly. Because the seeds are difficult to germinate, it is easier to propagate this grass by dividing the dense tufts of leaves. Once it becomes established at a suitable site, Prairie Dropseed is long-lived

- Habitats consist primarily of hill prairies, gravel prairies, dolomite prairies, black soil prairies, cemetery prairies, prairie remnants along railroads, and limestone glades. Less often, Prairie Dropseed has been found in savannas, thinly wooded rocky bluffs, and grassy fens. This grass is found primarily in high quality natural areas. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Indian Grass

Order:Cyperales

Family: Poaceae

Genus: Sorghastrum

Species: S. nutans

Identifying Characteristics:

-This native perennial grass is 3-7' tall and unbranched

-It typically consists of tight bunches of flowering culms and their leaves. The culms are terete, glabrous, and light green to pale yellow.

-The blades of the alternate leaves are up to 2' long and ½" across; they are dull green to dark green, flat, and hairless

-The leaf sheaths are dull green, hairless, and open. The nodes of the culms are slightly swollen, dark-colored, and covered with fine silky hairs (at least when they are young). Most of the leaves are located along the lower halves of the culms

-The branchlets are some shade of golden brown or tan, mostly glabrous, and slender. However, the tips of the branchlets underneath the spikelets usually have fine silky hairs. Each branchlet terminates in a one-flowered spikelet about 1/4" (6 mm.) to 1/3" (8 mm.) long

Special Adaptations:

- The preference is full to partial sun and slightly moist to dry conditions. Various kinds of soil are tolerated, including those that can loam, clay-loam, sand, and gravel. Most growth and development occurs during the warm weather of summer because of the C4 metabolism of this grass. It can spread aggressively in some situations (e.g., prairie restorations).

-Habitats include savannas and sandy savannas, black soil prairies, clay prairies, sand prairies, gravel prairies, dolomite prairies, hill prairies, cemetery prairies, barrens with scrubby vegetation, limestone glades, grassy fens, fallow fields, roadsides, and areas along railroads

Sky Blue Aster

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae

Genus: Aster

Species: A. oolentangiense

Identifying Characteristics:

-This native perennial plant is 1½–3' tall, and largely unbranched except at the inflorescence

-The central stem is light green and largely hairless. Near the base of the plant, are basal leaves with long narrow petioles. These basal leaves are about 3" long and 1½" across, cordate or broadly oval, and largely hairless.

-As the leaves alternate upward along the stem, they become greatly reduced in size and more narrow.

-The inflorescence is a large panicle of compound flowers that are daisy-like in appearance; this large inflorescence has a tendency to droop over somewhat. The compound flowers are about ½" across or slightly larger. They consist of about 10-25 lavender or light blue ray florets

Special Adaptations:

-The preference is full or partial sun and mesic to dry conditions. This plant is rather indifferent to soil characteristics, and can flourish in soil that loamy, sandy, rocky, or contains clay. This plant is easy to grow and drought resistant; the lower leaves are occasionally marred by powdery mildew and other foliar Habitats include mesic to dry black soil prairies, rocky upland woods, savannas, woodland borders, sandy meadows, limestone glades, clay banks, and areas along roadsides

- The flowers attract various insects, including small bees, flies, small to medium-sized butterflies, skippers, and wasps. Among these, Green Metallic bees and other Halictid bees are especially common visitors of the flowers, where they seek nectar or pollen.