First off, we have a potential change in title for the prairie complex that we are trying to build. Central Point is the township that I grew up in and where the prairies reside. This is in keeping with the theme that these are in many ways no longer my prairies. We have received a perpetual easement from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and it is now part of their refuge system. While it is on land that Linda and I own, and that will stay in our family when we are gone, in a tangible sense we have transitioned to caretakers, both for our children and grandchildren, but also all others who gain from its presence.

While I have elaborated upon many of the plants which reside on these prairies, and have typed up a list of species that have been found in the restoration that I have updated, during the course of this year I will try to create something that is more than a dry list. It will discuss each plant’s prevalence in both the native and the restored prairies. I will allow myself digressions into thoughts and memories and hopes for the future. This post will be updated as new species are identified, as populations change, as I get relevant (or very cool) photos, or as something new is learned from observation or from others who know the prairies. I will make no claims for a complete list, as the world is a big place, and even my little corner can hold secrets that it may not divulge. And so I begin with a suite of 20 plants adapted to xeric sites, the gravel hills, and will write more posts on more of the plants as the winter progresses. I begin with the state flower of South Dakota, and the symbol of prairie to many people,

1.Pasqueflower (Anemone patens) Abundant on my native prairies with a population likely in the low thousands, with many on every hill. It is becoming more common on the restoration as more seed overcomes dormancy and more plants attain the size to push out blooms. I saw the first bloom in the restoration two years ago, a couple more last year, and then 20 or so this year, so I hope and expect that many more appear in future years. As it seems they need to establish for a few years before they have the ability or need to make seed, this implies that they are a long lived species. Some of my first prairie memories are of trying to keep up with my older brother Leon in the pasture south of our farm going out to pick the first flowers of spring for our mother. As a plant that makes its growth very early it can become thick in overgrazed native pastures where competition has been removed or held back. They are a humble little flower with no discernable aroma, but after a long winter they are shockingly beautiful. I have continued to gather seed when available, and am putting a bit out this spring, and will likely continue in the future. Below is the first pasque I saw blooming in the restoration.

2. Thimbleflower (Anemone cylindrica) Common, but scattered in the native prairies; I doubt there are more than a few hundred plants. Last year I saw perhaps 20-30 in the restoration. It can be very frustrating to seed as the cottony hairs which coat the seed create a ball of seed, from which it can be very difficult to separate individual seeds. That same characteristic makes them easy to gather as they remain as a coherent head for a long time after maturity. This was a plant I was hardly aware of until I began the restoration work. Both the Anemones are quite conservative, not appearing anywhere other than native prairies that I can recall.

3. Gray Goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) Common in native prairies with my estimate in the low thousands. It is the only goldenrod truly adapted to the gravel hills, though other species are hanging in there so far in droughty sites in the restoration. Like all the goldenrods it tends to be an increaser in pastures as it seeds itself in well and cattle are indifferent to grazing it (though some clearly gets chewed). I have a fair catch in the restoration with several hundred growing.

4. Threadleaf, or Needleleaf Sedge (Carex diuruscula) Fairly common on the tops of the gravel hills, along with Sun Sedge (Carex inops). They are both humble little plants, western species which compete wherever the sod forming grasses like blue grama (Bouteluoa gracilis) allow them room. I have gathered a little bit of seed in the past, though none this year, and even tried to transplant a bit of sod which contained them, but as far as I know there are none yet in the restoration. As both species are strongly rhizomatous a little could go a long way when individual plants turn into expansive clones. I think as low plants that grow very early they are advantaged by light grazing, though they may disappear with heavy, repeated grazing.

5. Yellow Sundrops (Oenothera serrulatus) Common in my prairie hills on the most xeric soils, a small species of primrose. So far I have found only one or two in my restoration, which likely found their way on their own. Gathering seed is difficult, as the plant becomes hard to see as it matures, just another small brown bit of foliage. Ben was trying to keep watch on them to get some seed before it shattered, and I will be interested in whether we have some to experiment with. A member of a suite of about 10 humble early blooming forbs found in very xeric sites.

6. False Toadflax (Comandra umbellata) Sticking to the theme, here is another of the early blooming/xeric adapted forbs. False toadflax literally blankets areas of the gravel hills with tiny white blooms, It is very rhizomatous, so areas devoted to a limited number of clones can have a big impact. I have tried to transplant rhizomes before without success, so I worked diligently to gather the seeds this year, of which there are surprisingly few, with large seeds for a small plant, and I hope to either have the Native Plant initiative (NPI) grow some plugs, or just place individual seeds nicely in appropriate spots. With its aggressive ability to clone a few will go a long way.

7. Hoary Puccoon (Lithospermum canadensis) Also a common early blooming denizen of the gravel hills, though with an expansive footprint, more able to compete in slightly wetter, dry mesic environments, Hoary puccoon is another species that I have not so far gotten established in the restoration, and something of a priority for me. Seeds are not easy to gather, as they mature and drop as successive flowers bloom and develop over a period of several weeks. Thus, though plants are not hard to find, each plant may have only one or two mature seeds which are reputedly hard to germinate. We will see if fortune is kind this winter. It can sometimes be found in ditches and other disturbed areas, so it can’t be considered conservative. Seeds may have to go through a bird gut to be germinable, which would explain its ability to colonize road ditches, but if we can recreate a bird gut with a little sandpaper we may be able to get something to happen. It is likely persistent and able to spread naturally if we do get something going. I also must mention that it has perhaps the most distinctive and appealing odor of any wildflower in the prairie. I no longer can smell much after all the cancer treatments and subsequent surgeries, but this was a bloom I used to wait for after a long winter, more for the aroma than the appearance, and I have fond memories of picking them and carrying a small bouquet around to bask in their fragrance.

8. Fringed puccoon (Lithospermum incisum) Once again, an early blooming resident of the hilltops. I didn’t realize how common they were until this year, when ideal May weather set up a bit of a superbloom just off the ridgetop of every hill. Seed set, which seemed very spotty in other years, was excellent, and Ben and I gathered a lot of plants. Just like it’s sister species above, seeds develop and drop off as the season progresses, but rather than one or two mature seeds hanging on, it seemed more like six or eight per plant. They are occasionally found along fencelines, and in ditches, implying bird dispersal as an effective aid to their spread and germination. Ben and I will try to emulate our avian cousins and see if we can get more going in the restoration. There are several that I have seen there so far, likely the courtesy of sparrows travelling between the prairies and the restoration. This species was not really on our radar until we realized how much seed we could get, and we will take advantage of the opportunity.

9. Nuttall’s Violet (Viola nuttallii) For now, this is the last of the xeric miniatures that go together. The picture is of a clump I am about to dig in the native prairie to transplant into the restoration. Included with the little violets were some bastard toadflax, some Kentucky bluegrass, some needleleaf sedge (Carex diuruscula) and dormant blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) and perhaps a couple other plants. This violet is more common in my hills than the normally common prairie violet. Like many of the plants in my xeric prairies this is more of a western species adapted to harsh conditions and short rations. The transplant, pictured below, failed, and I have none in my restoration, meaning I will try again next year.

10. Prairie violet (Viola pedatifida) Not all the violets in my prairies are the yellow flowered Nuttalls. There are prairie violets down towards the base of the same hills where the Nuttall’s violets carry the high ground. I have never been able to gather any seed, so I broke down a few years ago and bought some to spread, and now have some growing in the restoration. Ben was able to gather some this year, so we may try growing some plugs to transplant. As violets are the obligate food source for regal frittilary butterfly larvae, a federally listed species I commonly see in my prairies I feel some added responsibility to get more plants of both species going in the restoration. Below is one of the first that I saw in the restoration.

11. Alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii) This is very common in my native prairies, with plants growing all the way from very xeric sites down through dry mesic areas. The seed is teeny tiny, little more than dust, so a little goes a long way. I purchased a little seed to begin, and had quite a few start up, but I think the seed source was to the south, as many died out the first couple winters. Plants will not bloom unless conditions are good, meaning I got to see just how common they are this year as most used the spring rain to push up blooms, and we gathered a fair amount of seed, literally millions in a few ounces. The trick of doing a good job with seeding them is that they will not mix with other seeds well, being so small. They grow in the same environment as several other small seeded forbs, so I may just mix 2-4 of those species together and spread them separately from the main mix. The plant in the picture below is from a native prairie that we had burned several weeks before. I the lower left and the far right are vegetative hoary puccoon plants, Number 7 on this list.

12. Slender Penstemon/Beardtongue (Penstemon gracilis) This is one of those small seeded wildflowers I just mentioned (both about 400,000 seed per ounce), and one that once again I gathered a fair amount of this year. I have many in the restoration, in a variety of environments. and it is a wonderful, pale violet burst of color in late May, just after the very first flowers like the pasques. All these early blooming hill flowers are likely very important to native bees and other pollinators. This is one of the 20 or 30 biggest successes of my restoration, and one that I will consider gathering for sale in the future, especially if I am able to use this years bounty of seed to get a large number of new seedlings going.

13. White Penstemon/Beardtongue (Penstemon albidus) These begin blooming earlier than their brethren, the P. gracilis, beginning while the pasqueflowers are still out, and I consider them another of the hardiest forbs, growing on otherwise barren areas. We gathered a good amount of this as well, at least several ounces to perhaps a pound when we complete processing them. While they only occupy the most xeric 5-10 % of the prairies there can be hundreds where they occur. I have several acres of appropriate habitat in the Huggett prairie we will burn next spring where most of the seed will go. There are probably several hundred in the restoration now, and with some luck we will have hundreds more growing next year. My guess from past observations is that the seed of both penstemons is quite viable and seedlings quite competitive, which allows them to establish and re-establish themselves on appropriate sites.

14. Pennsylvania Cinquefoil (Potentilla pennsylvanica) This is yet another small, humble early blooming species of the dry hills, mostly blooming in June. Once again there was a bumper seed crop we harvested, and it will likely go in with the other small seeded species for distribution on the more xeric areas. There are many in the native prairies, far more than I thought there were as they showed themselves by using the spring rains to bloom. I have some in the restoration, but hope for a lot more. Like the white penstemon, I think they are a short lived species that puts out a lot of viable seed, much like an annual, and that we could make very good progress in one year with luck. Below is a very large blooming cinquefoil in the restoration. This was four years ago before there was much competition. Both the cinquefoil and the prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha) in back of it are twice the size they normally are in the native prairies.

15. Downy Painted Cup (Castilleja sessiflora) Unlike many other forbs listed above, there are just a few in the native prairies, but the little seed we gathered the first year turned into thousands of plants in the restoration. This is a sister species to the red flowered Indian Paintbrush that is always in the pictures of mountain meadows, white flowered and very showy in its own way. It is a hemi-parasitic species, meaning it can grow independently, but thrives when there is a host plant, like blue grama, to borrow from. I have no idea how I ended up with so many in the restoration, but it is another species which we gathered a lot of seed from this year, and we should have plenty to gather in the future. The seed will likely go into the same bag with the Pennsylvania cinquefoil and the white penstemon for spreading on the most xeric soils. In the picture below, all the feathery looking pale yellow to white flowers are downy painted cup plants in bloom.

16. Groundplum Milkvetch (Astragalus crassicarpus) Groundplums (we grew up calling them buffalo beans) are another early blooming wildflower of the gravel hills, not adapted to the most xeric sites, but along sidehills or on hilltops that have a little soil over the gravel. I probably have several hundred in the native prairies and close to 100 in the restoration, and am aggressively adding more, both seed and transplants. Below is an example of a year old transplant in May, growing after a prescribed burn the fall of 2023.

16. Field Milkvetch (Astragalus agrestis) Like many of the milkvetches this is a western species, though it prefers mesic sites. I have found plants in many areas, but I have what may be a very large and prolific clone in what is likely a wallow area in the native pasture adjoining the restoration. The plants are small, humble little things, and often don’t bloom in those mesic sites, perhaps outcompeted by larger grasses and forbs. In the disturbed area, however, they took over an area of about 100 square feet they dominate and bloom profusely, as in the picture below. I have gathered a little seed and will start to try to propagate in my restorations, where I have none. It doesn’t really fit with the theme of xeric adapted species, but it is a western species like my other milkvetches so I bent my definition a bit. Judging by the flowers and seedheads it is a very close relative of my next species description.

17. Standing milkvetch (Astragalus adsurgens) Once again a western species, but this one really only lives in very xeric, thin soils. I’m not sure why, but I seem to be on a mission to propagate this species and have the ability to give, trade or sell it to others. As I stated in another recent post, I had assumed I had a personal relationship with every one of the 40 or so found in our native prairies and the single one that I had found in the restoration. Then with the bounteous rain of our summer perhaps 50 or even 100 more showed their blooms, and several more appeared in the restoration. I think it is a long lived species, extremely conservative, and easily grazed out with season long grazing. Cows love it. Thus, if I want to propagate seed I will likely have to be extremely judicious in when and how much grazing I allow. Below is a picture of the first one I saw in the restoration a couple years ago.

18. Slender Milkvetch (Astragalus flexuosus) Yet another western milkvetch, though with a different growth habit than the last two, with long, straggly stems radiating from a central crown, sometimes more than two feet long, making a four foot wide plant. I am confused by the seed dispersal mechanism of several of the milkvetches, wondering if the animal who is supposed to eat the pods of groundplum, standing milkvetch and field milkvetch is missing. Slender milkvetch may have a different strategy, however, as the inch long pods twist open as they dry after maturity shedding the seeds. While there may be a small rodent or a ground-feeding bird which is supposed to find and disperse the seeds, what seems to be happening is they simply use the reach of the multitude of stems reaching out to continue making their way across the prairie a couple feet at a time. I have perhaps a hundred plants that I know of in the native prairies and am approaching that number in the restoration, a success that pleases me greatly. Interestingly, adjacent to the prairie that houses the majority of all the Astragalus species is a xeric, consistently overgrazed pasture that I trespass on to see what grows there. This pasture has a fair amount of humble, grazed down groundplum milkvetch and slender milkvetch plants, showing a fair resilience to the appetites of the cattle, but not a single standing milkvetch. Cows like to eat them all, but the standing milkvetch is, unfortunately, cow candy. These are the sorts of things that I need to learn if the restoration is to be both a seedbank and a pasture. Below is a young slender milkvetch plant not yet attaining the reach that it may attain after a couple more years of growth.

19. Prairie Larkspur (Delphinium carolinianum var. virescens) While many of the species I have so far described are quite visible and obvious in the prairies, larkspurs are both less common and except for the seedstalks and flowers, which are quite showy, can be a bit cryptic. Though it can grow in the better xeric soils it is no lover of drought. I believe it is a long lived plant as it is very reluctant to bloom and make seed, preferring to wait for the years with June and early July rain. Several times I have waited for the seedstalks to bloom and make seed for my collecting only to have a hot June week induce the larkspur plants to change their minds. Unlike many species which will abort flowers or developing seeds after water stress, but continue to grow vegetatively, larkspur plants will totally disappear, presumably sending nutrients and carbohydrates back down to the crown and roots to wait for another year. The good summer rains this year meant not only that I got to see many more plants blooming in the restoration (perhaps 30 or so where I assumed there were 4 or 5), but allowed me to gather some seed for the first time in several years. I will likely have the students in the Native Plant Initiative (NPI) lab grow them out for seedling plugs to plant next summer. The plant below was the first I saw in the restoration three years ago.

20. Tall, or Prairie Cinquefoil (Drymocallis arguta) This is a fairly common species that seems to handle some grazing, occurring in lightly and even moderately grazed pastures, though eventually it will be grazed out. I have probably several hundred in my prairies, lightly scattered across the sidehills, though avoiding the most xeric sites, and competing into what I consider dry mesic soils. I was able to gather a fair amount of seed the first year I spent working at augmenting the mix that would be seeded by the Conservation District, mostly from a 10 acre prairie owned by my best friend about 30 miles away from the restoration. It was a very good year for gathering, and I was able to accumulate many pounds of seed that year of many different species. No other species germinated, established and made buckets of new seed in the restoration like the cinquefoil. I have many thousands in the restoration, and it is almost a dominant species in some areas. My assumption is that this situation will not last, and that other forbs and grasses will replace some of the cinquefoil, but it was fun to have something growing and blooming by the second year after seeding when I was still filled with angst over the many empty (or perhaps failed?) areas I saw. As it turned out the angst was unnecessary and I have 130-140 species growing throughout the field, but I have a fond place in my heart for the cinquefoil which gave me hope. It is the blooming plant in the lower left of the picture below.

21. Textile Onion (Allium textile) Textile onion is a small, early blooming forb inhabiting the same very xeric areas as white penstemon, Pennsylvania cinquefoil, standing milkvetch and yellow sundrops. I forgot to include it earlier, but it belongs with the “xeric miniatures”. It blooms in May, makes seed by July, and disappears soon after to wait for the next year. It is very common on several very xeric slopes where there is little competition, with hundreds in several small areas, but will not compete anywhere water relations allow a thick grass sod. Though there are thousands in my native prairies I have yet to see one in the restoration. Last year was a good year to collect seed so we will try to get some established next year. Judging by their ubiquity in the most xeric areas in the native prairies I am optimistic that I will see some soon. It’s fair to say that this is one on the priorities for next year. I will try to make the most of the seed I have and perhaps transplant some of the bulbs. Below are pictures of an onion about to bloom, and a picture of three mature textile onion plants (the little pale guys with black seeds poking out in the one along the top of the picture) showing how hard one has to work to find and gather seed.

22. Blanketflower (Gaillardea aristata) Blanketflower is ubiquitous across the tops of every hill in all the native prairies. Blanketflowers are one of the more grazing tolerant forbs, an increaser, only eliminated from prairies by herbicide treatments, Though they are common, they were not familiar to me as they bloom in June when I was always too busy to get to the prairies. They became the original impetus for my obsession with locally adapted seed a few years ago. I had them added to the original purchased seed mix that was seeded by the conservation district, and was heartened by hundreds blooming the next spring, one of the few early successes from that planting. They didn’t look like the blanketflowers that I saw in my native prairies, however, with much larger and showier flowers. I found the old seedtags and realized that the seed had a source in Colorado, and wrote in a blog post that it would be interesting to see their ability to handle -30 temperatures. We got that cold spell the following winter during a dry stretch with no snow, and I lost 90% or more of the plants. I have been gathering and spreading blanketflower seed every year and assume their resurgence is primarily due to my gathered seed. Now my mission is to get a population, perhaps buttressed by a dedicated field plot so that there would be a source of Northern Plains adapted seed for the conservation community. The picture below shows a plant right after the petals drop. I really wanted to put up a picture of a bloom, but found none stored in my records, so expect one or two to be inserted next June.

23. Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) Prairie smoke is one of everyone’s favorite dry prairie plants, and I feel fortunate that I have probably a couple hundred in the restoration (with more showing up every year) and probably the same amount in my native prairies. As a super early wildflower, almost as early as pasques, it also avoids some grazing (cattle often don’t get out to pasture until late May, and prairie smoke is almost done with its life cycle, remaining as basal leaves to grow and return food to their crowns. It’s native range encompasses all the high country out west, North Dakota and then curves south through the forest/prairie transition country of Minnesota and Wisconsin, making it appear to be a plant of cool climates. This would not bode well for its future in my prairies in a period of warming, as it is not found to the south of me. I will enjoy my success with it, and hope that my position upon the top of the Coteau will keep the habitat appropriate in the future. Below are a couple crowns greening up in early April last year, and below that is a blooming plant in May.

24. Scarlet Gaura (Oenothera suffratescens) Scarlet gaura is a primrose that grows across most of the gravelly hills, with hundreds likely in the native prairies. It’s distribution is a bit patchy and its blooming hard to predict, Couple that with its small stature, and unobtrusive appearance and one has an explanation why I have gathered very little seed and have only found one in the restoration. Once established it seems to compete quite well, and handle some grazing, so I will likely just try again next year. The flower is gorgeous when viewed up close, But I am afraid I will just show a poor picture from a distance.

25. Blueeyed Grass (Sisyrinchium campestre) Another early bloomer, late May to June, there for the bees and early Lepidoptera to get a little food. The picture below shows just a couple blooms, but a plant in a good spot will throw out 20 or more flower heads. Like many rhizomatous species it can be a bit patchy, and one clone may have many crowns. They are not uncommon in my prairies, but I likely have just a few hundred crowns, and perhaps 50-100 in the restoration, most from purchased seed I assume, though I have been able to gather a little seed. Again, like many rhizomatous species, they put less resources into seed, and even if you know where a bunch were blooming there may be very few seed to pick when you return. Thus, this is another species that I may try to dig rhizomes to transplant.

I will close this batch of 25 species (actually 26, as I combined the two xeric sedges) with a picture of the first pasqueflowers of a couple years ago. I already look forward to seeing my old friends again next April This winter I hope to add more pictures of other species, and eventually all of them as I take more pictures. And, I hope to get a couple more installments of plant descriptions up soon, though it may wait until the fall seeding is complete. As a matter of fact, I think I will go out to spread some seed this afternoon.