Here goes one more attempt to document what I have in my prairies. This will be the final installment of the wildflowers, the forbs and a couple shrubs that are found in the native and restored prairies on the farm where I grew up. I started it not sure if I would get to 100, with the stipulation that all the species must either be found in my native prairie or very nearby. In other words, a species that is native just east or south of here that I have purchased seed for and established in the restoration would not qualify. The gray area is those species that have a record in Day County, where the restoration resides, but that I have never seen before locally. In the end, it seems I included a couple of those, but not all. So it goes. The point of the post, however, is to document not just what is there, but my experiences around that plant, and their potential inclusion in the “seed bank” concept. Thus, I also left out a few weedy native species which will never be part of the seed bank, such as common ragweed and curlycup gumweed. There will eventually be a post specifically detailing where all these forbs, along with a few of the grasses and sedges, fit into the goal of a living seed bank for this area. In the meantime I will start with #76, and after I finish the wildflowers I will move on to the grasses for yet another post this winter. As I wrote in the last post, as I am getting to many of the less notable wildflowers, ;meaning there will be fewer pictures and stories, something that will be sporadically corrected as I get pictures next summer.

76 and 77. Wild, or Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana) and Smooth Rose (Rosa blanda) I put both of these together not because they are similar, but because I will have little to say about smooth rose, a shrub that inhabits a couple patches along Anderson Lake, which borders my prairies and that I do not have in my restoration. It is also a common, almost weedy, shrub as you go east of here. On the other hand, as we sit almost on the western edge of its native range, maybe our biotype would serve a purpose. They both share the same two methods of natural propagation, cloning by rhizomatous growth, usually occurring in clonal patches, and by making tasty red berries, irresistible to birds, who then crap out the seeds wherever they go. It is not unusual to see them lining the roadside in areas along gravel roads where birds have gone to pick up little stones to aid their digestion. Wild Rose is a common plant in my prairies, with patches in all the remnants. It is a decreaser, however, which will disappear under heavy grazing. Cows mouths are tough enough that the little thorny stems do not seem to be an impediment. A couple times I have waited for them to ripen, only to lose an entire seed crop to grazing. I don’t know what happens to the seeds in a cow’s rumen, so I don’t know if they are usurping the birds job of finding them new homes. They are often mentioned in texts relating to edible native plants, but their reputation exceeds the reality of the culinary experience. There’s a little bland material surrounding a cavity full of tough seeds (they wouldn’t get through a bird’s gut able to germinate if they weren’t tough, would they). I’ve eaten plenty, but there are better choices. So, prairie rose is a candidate for the seed bank, though not a high priority, because of its ubiquity, and I am still deciding on the Rosa blanda. Below is the evidence of cattle preferences with several chewed off rose stems. Below that is a pan of drying rose hips. And below that is a picture of Rosa blanda along our little lake.

78. Canada Milkvetch (Astragalus canadensis) Unlike the several Astragalus sp. that I listed earlier that grow on xeric sites, Canada milkvetch is a lover of mesic areas. I had some in the original CRP mix that was planted, and a large number of plants established on xeric areas of the restoration, a couple of which are in the picture below, looking a bit sad residing in such a droughty soil. Canada milkvetch is another of the clonal species, often showing up in discrete patches which likely have their origin in one seed. Our example below will not make a patch, and is more likely to disappear from this site, outcompeted by the yellow coneflower, purple prairie clover, yarrow and blanketflower it is surrounded by, along with the grasses. It provides a dilemma for the seed bank as I am once more uncertain of the source of the seed in the CRP mix. However, I have been gathering and adding local milkvetch seed, including from my prairies, and I hope to be able to represent it as local origin seed in a few years after any unsuited plants die. The assumption will be that anything that lives for ten years is adapted to our climate and that a significant amount of the living plants come from my gathered seed. Like the rose it has the characteristic of being “cow candy”, as evidenced in the second picture of some that has been grazed. While it is resilient under light grazing, season long grazing will eliminate it from a pasture.

79. False Sunflower/Ox-eye Daisy/Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides) False sunflower is a broadly adapted cousin of the true sunflowers, primarily an inhabitant of mesic prairies in this area, needing well drained soils. It is rare in pastures, grazed out with steady grazing. I have a few in my prairies, and a fair amount in the restoration. I gather seeds when I can, mostly from the dry mesic prairies at my friend, Tim Holtquists place. It is a low priority for the seed bank, but perhaps I can get enough to make it worthwhile. It was a part of the original seeding as it is fairly easy to “farm”, and seed is cheap. The local seed purveyor, Milborns, offers it as South Dakota sourced seed, but I am suspicious its origin is from a CRP seeding that likely planted seed grown in Iowa. So it goes once again. Ambivalence rarely accomplishes anything, yet that is where I stand on its use in the seed bank now. I will not to stay ambivalent about anything for long, however. Still, it is not a high priority.

80. Horsemint/Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa). Monarda is yet another forb that is quite common in the seed trade. Much like the false sunflower it is reasonably priced, (usually coming from Iowa sources) and easy to establish, so it is often a part of diverse pollinator seedings and restorations. I have a few in my native prairies and a large number from that good Iowa seed in the restoration. I have gathered some from my friend Tim’s prairie and from a couple other prairies, but I am certain that almost all of the plants in my restoration have an origin in Iowa. Thus, it is unlikely to be considered in my seed bank. I have one memory from college of making mint tea with horsemint leaves. As I remember it was pleasant, but not enough to cause me to gather and dry leaves for storage. I also have a few plants of spotted horsemint (Monarda punctata) in the restoration that were not specifically purchased, but came along for the ride with some other seed. It is not native here, though it is in Minnesota, so I am just having fun seeing a few. Below is a Monarda fistulosa in bloom, and below that one in the restoration at maturity.

81. Black-Eyed Susan (R;udbeckia hirta) This will finish this batch of common prairie plants that were seeded with the Conservation District drill in the original CRP seeding. Again, the seed is cheap, from questionable sources, and I have a few in my native prairies. However, it is not a major component of my native prairies, nor is it important to my seed bank project. This is particularly popular for pollinator mixes sold by various seed vendors because it is a biennial, and thus can establish the year of seeding and provide oodles of flowers the next year. It tends to diminish as the seeding develops and fewer spaces can be found by the seeds. I had those oodles the second year of the restoration, and now see some here and there sporadically each summer. It is almost a bit weedy, as it shows up in ditches and waste areas and grows across the entire eastern half of the country. I found a picture of it hanging around some other items I had photographed, so did a little editing and came up with a decent offering.

82. Prairie lettuce (Lactuca ludoviciana), I think. I put the qualifier there because while reading up on this, I’m realizing that I could have the wrong lettuce species. There are several choices, all biennials, many not native, whose seeds blow around to find disturbed areas to start in. It is scattered throughout my gravelly hills, often finding its biotic space in wetter years on the comparatively open gravel hills. Though it leans a bit weedy, in my prairies it never is aggressive, taking the crumbs it is left by the perennials and having attractive blue flowers that I assume feed various pollinators. Still, as a ubiquitous species that can colonize ditches and waste areas, it is not a priority for the seed bank.

83. Dotted Gayfeather (Liatris punctata) This is one of the plants that I probably knew when I was 6 or 7, helping get prairie hay bales by driving our WD Allis with a hand clutch slowly between bales while my brother threw them on the hay rack. It grows all over the gravel hills, giving quite a show in late July and August as it blooms for several weeks. I have thousands in my native prairies and perhaps a hundred in the restoration. It is not totally conservative, the seeds blowing around and colonizing gravel roadsides that border native pastures. It is very showy, very tough, and somewhat of an iconic prairie species to me, almost to the same extent as black samson, prairie turnip and pasqueflower. The leaves can be a bit sharp as they mature, necessitating gloves to gather (likely that is why it has the species epithet “punctata”), but it is pretty easy to gather otherwise, stripping the seeds along with other flower parts and some leaves to fill your bag. Though it is not uncommon, with a wide range, it is still an important plant for the seed bank. Seed is not cheap, $25/ounce, so almost a penny per seed from Prairie Moon Seeds, probably from a combination of being hard to “farm” and from problems with germination because of seed predators. In the picture below it is in the lower left, along with a group of prairie onions, silky asters and a couple yellow coneflowers in the upper right. In the bottom of the picture are some flax plants that appear about to bloom. This is a picture from a sidehill in a native pasture, and you can also see seedheads of porcupine grass arcing across the bottom of the picture, while a little higher up I think it is needle and thread, a rare juxtaposition in the same picture, denoting a quick change from a dry mesic soil at the bottom to a more xeric soil as one travels up the hill.

84 and 85. Rough Gayfeather (or Blazing Star) (Liatris aspera) and Northern Plains Gayfeather (or Blazing Star) (Liatris ligulistylis). These two members of the Liatris genus are grouped together because, to be honest, they are damned hard to tell apart. The two pictures below are first, Liatris aspera, and below, Liatris ligustylis. If you would go to a plant key you would find verbiage talking about features of their flower bracts, the leaflike coverings around the actual flower that are often assumed to be parts of the flower. However, there’s an easier way. If you look at the top picture you will see all the upper flowers attached almost directly to the stalk. In the lower picture the flowers have an inch long stem which attaches to the stalk. Of course, L. aspera sometimes has short flower stalks as in the lower flowers below just to mess with a person. On top of that I’ve read they can hybridize, not a big surprise when you look at them. L. aspera favors drier habitats and I have some in my prairies and I see many in some nearby prairies. I’ve gathered many from my friend Tim’s dry mesic prairie. L. ligustylis favors wetter environments and I have none in my prairies, though I can find some a few miles away, where my friend Levi Waddell gathers seed. Thus, they are part of the seed bank project, though the whole hybridization issue has me wondering.

86. Prairie Ragwort/Groundsel (Packera plattensis) I have little to talk about here, and no good picture. Most springs there will be 7-10 days where the xeric hilltops have large populations of the pretty yellow blooms of the ragwort waving 12-18″ in the air, towering over all the other short cool season forbs. A week later the seed is formed, and in perhaps another week it all blows away in the late spring winds. In short, it’s a bugger to gather seed for; you need to be out there in a very short window of time. It is fairly tolerant of grazing, more common in the lightly grazed pasture than in the old hayland. I don’t see it in the more heavily grazed pasture next to the farmsite, however. There are many hundreds in the two native pastures, and I have seen a couple that have established in the restoration. I think it is a short lived plant which implies that it is good at establishing in existing sod, so I hope to finally get the right day to gather seed and get some spread over the restoration. As a very widely distributed, somewhat weedy native it is a low priority for the seed bank.

87. Canada Anemone (Anemone canadensis) Unlike the other two anemones that inhabit my prairies, pasqueflower and thimbleweed, Canada anemone is a denizen of mesic environments, sometimes even wet mesic. It is another clonal species, spreading by rhizomes to form patches at the base of many hills in my native prairies. I have not so far been able to get colonies started in the restorations, but am confident it is just a matter of time. A few plants can easily turn into a few hundred. Canada anemone is not a very conservative species, often showing up in road ditches, and has a huge native range, so it is a low priority for the seed bank. The seeds have a complicated dormancy, so it may even be most efficient to dig up some rhizomes to plant. The picture below shows a patch in bloom, as well as my ineptitude in keeping the lens clean on my cell phone.

88. Field Pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta) There are several species of pussytoes, of which the most likely to be found here is A. neglecta, so that is what I assume this is. I have a few patches in my native prairies, and a few patches have started in the restoration. As the picture shows, it is very short, with basal leaves and seedheads that only shoot up a few inches, spreading by stolons, so I mostly see them in bare, or disturbed areas in the prairie. A. neglecta has a large range, and seems to find places to establish both in native prairies, and occasionally in other disturbed areas, so it is a low priority for the seed bank. Both pictures below are from the restoration, the bottom picture showing the leaves.

89. Milkwort (Polygala alba, I think) There are several similar milkworts, but P. alba is a western species that both fits the description and the gravel hill sites where I find hundreds or perhaps thousands of them. There is a closely related species with the wonderful name “Seneca snakeroot”, which is much more evocative than writing “white milkwort”. As the picture shows there will be areas with many, many white to pale lavender blooms in June and July, probably again from rhizomatous growth. I have tried to gather seed a few times, but the little buggers take a long time to mature and then seem to disappear. I have yet to see any in the restoration, so alas, they are not yet in the seed bank, though if someone wants to crawl around in July to see if some seed can be found they will be welcome to the attempt.

90. Early Figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata) I had never heard of figworts until one day while collecting seed, Ben was excited to find some. All I could reply was, “Figwort? What the hell is that?” It turns out that I have a few in three or four mesic areas in my native prairies and have established some in two of my restoration plantings. Thus. they are becoming a favorite plant, one of the few that will find a way to grow in the brome patches in the valleys. I am hoping to continue to increase the populations and would like to find another native seed source in the area. They are reputed to be magnets for bees and hummingbirds because their subtle little flowers practically drip nectar, hoping to draw in pollinators to take their pollen elsewhere. There are few enough in my prairies that augmenting their population is a priority, and they are definitely in the seed bank. Unfortunately, no pictures, probably because they have no showy flower. I will be sure to remedy that this summer and get a photo inserted in this post.

91. Chickweed (Cerastium arvense) Though there are thousands across the native prairie hills I have never been able to gather much seed and I have not noticed them in the restoration. They are tiny, sneaky little things, so they may be there. They are a low priority for the seed bank. The only picture that I could find was of a mature plant when I was picking textile onion seed, which is the little plant in the upper right. The chickweed is the tan plant to the left with the tubular flower husks, presumably with some seeds inside. If this is a good year for textile onions I will likely gather them together as they both occur in the same xeric sites, and also will try to get a better picture.

92. Flodmans thistle (Cirsium flodmanii) Another thing that I learned once I began studying prairie plants more intensely a few years back was that all thistles are not the spawn of the devil. I have been conditioned to view them that way primarily by fighting Canada thistles in cropped fields, but also by battling with invasive bull thistles and plumeless thistles in rangeland. A major job for my wife, Linda, each summer is to spend several days driving around her pastures on an ATV with a mounted sprayer to try to treat every invasive thistle with herbicide, quite a job on 420 acres. Invariably she will come in after many sessions of driving around the pasture announcing that she has completed the task, only to go back a week or two later to “mop up” the many thistles she overlooked. Our native thistles tend to be superficially similar, but a whole other animal. Most striking is their lack of the dense thicket of spines that the various invasive thistles have, meaning that they can be grazed by both native herbivores and livestock, unlike bull thistle or plumeless thistle. Neither are they rhizomatous like Canada thistle. They play nice. I have many across my prairie hills, scattered across the xeric and dry mesic areas, and a few in the restoration which have blown in on their own. I have never collected seed from them; they tend to bloom over a long period meaning there are never many seedheads to collect, and the seeds absciss and blow away in a wind. Add to that the scattered nature of their occurrence and it is difficult to gather much. I hope to try this summer, and probably to add it to the seed bank. Wavyleaf thistle (Cirsium undulatum) is another possible species I may have, though my poor botanical skills have only identified Flodman’s thistle so far.

93 and 94. American Vetch (Vicia americana) and Veiny Pea (Lathyrus venosus) Both of these are members of the pea family which aren’t common in my prairies. I have a good number of vetch plants vining around in parts of the restoration, and, while I have not found any veiny pea plants in the restoration yet, I have spread seed that Ben has gathered, and hope to see some soon. Both could become part of the seed bank, but that will demand a lot more plants establishing over the next few years. While I will take opportunities to gather and spread their seed neither is a high priority. Of the two, veiny pea is the higher priority as it has a more limited range, and there seems to be more opportunities to gather some seed locally.

95. American licorice (Glycyrrhiza lepidota) Birders have a phrase, “nemesis bird”, to refer to one they are unable to catch sight of, even after numerous attempts when the target is known to be in the area where the birder is looking. Thus, I have christened licorice my nemesis wildflower. I have many patches in my native prairies, some within 100 feet of the restoration. I have gathered pounds of seed to spread. Still, I have yet to see a single licorice in the restoration. Last fall I noticed a patch (licorice are aggressively rhizomatous) that had started to invade the fenceline adjoining the restoration. All my attempts may have gone for naught (though it is quite possible I have just missed some), but a determined clone of licorice may do what I have not been able to do. Once established, I have no doubt they will prosper in the mesic valleys in the restoration. They are definitely part of plans for the seedbank.

96 Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis) Wood betony and its close relative in the second picture, swamp betony, are both parasitic species, with wood betony across the hills, and swamp betony in the low, damp areas. Neither is common in my prairies, but both occur in the immediate area, though we are on the western edge of the home territory for both. I have a few of each in the restoration, and hope to establish more, so that they can be included in the seed bank.

97. Swamp Betony (Pedicularis lanceolata)

98. Skeleton Plant (Lygodesmia juncea) This is yet one more of the humble, small plants of the gravel hills. I have them scattered throughout the native prairies, but they are difficult to gather seed from. If I can accomplish that and get some started in the restorations I will consider entering them into the list for the seedbank.

99. Louisiana broomrape (Orobanche ludoviciana) I really have nothing significant to say about broomrape, but use it as an example of just how much there is to learn. I came upon the little plant below two summers ago on a hilltop and had no clue of what I had discovered. I sent a picture to my friend, Ben, and one of us came up with an ID. I knew nothing of this plant and had never seen one in all my years of walking these prairies. Plants do not always bloom. Annuals do not always germinate. an observer is not always in the right place at the right time. Several years ago in a different prairie we own 25 miles east of here near the Minnesota border I came upon a small orchid. I have never seen it again and don’t even remember the name. Species that have very small populations are by definition always at risk to disappear, The resiliency of millions of acres of prairie surrounding you, with almost unlimited resources to resupply a population that was lost in an area are no longer there. This is the real lesson that I have learned and the purpose of the seed bank. I have enough acres available theoretically to provide stable populations of a great many species if I can find diverse sources of seed to provide a broad genetic base, and if I can find a way to get enough of the those species established. Thus, when I say a plant is part of the seed bank it means that I will try to establish enough plants to sustain a presence for that species through the years, and that I will try to access seed and establish plants from a variety of populations to provide some genetic diversity and avoid inbreeding, which supports that longevity. It’s a big job, and one that I will not finish in my lifetime, though I hope to provide a good start, and ideas for those who come after me. These blog posts are part of establishing a base of information to guide those efforts. The little broomrape is below.

100. Rattlesnake Root/Glaucous White Lettuce (Nabalus (or Prenanthes) racemosa) I end with another plant that I do not have in my prairies, but that is commonly found in this area. I have established a few in the restoration through the use of seedling plugs and would like to do more. I do not know the significance of this plant to pollinators, small mammals or other insects, but I really like it. Perhaps its the name, I don’t know. This is the far western edge of their range, and I would love to get enough going to add them to the seedbank. I know several prairies where I can gather some seed, and will likely grow more plugs in an attempt to make the best use of that seed. We will see what Ben and I can accomplish. If I see some able to bloom in the restoration this summer I will add a picture.

That will do it for now. I am running out of plants for which I have stories and pictures, but I am not running out of plants that are native to the area nor have I exhausted plants which are native to my humble prairies. Similar to the story about the broomrape, last summer Ben helped me find two species of the genus Agalinis, the false foxgloves, that I had never seen before. Both are annuals which germinated, grew and made seed because of the wet year. Both were limited to small areas in my pasture which I might not walk over at the right time of year to see, or if I did they it might be the wrong year to see them. I am at a loss so far in how to respond to what may be 50 species that are hard to find, but that might be important to increase. I have plenty to occupy my time and attention, and all I can tell myself is that it’s all good; since I have a hard time determining what is most important, I should just do good work and accept the uncertainty. Again, so it goes. This will be the last post on the forbs for now, though I may insert others as they come to mind. Next I will try to do a post on the grasses.