Prairie

1. Fox Sedge / Carex stipata

-slender, bunchgrass-like perennial sedge grows 2-3 ft. tall, with a cluster of brown seed capsules clinging high on each stem.
-Leaves are coarse, elongate, narrow, 0.6 cm wide, smooth with rough margins; clustered at the base of the plant and usually taller than the stem, growing up to 1.2 m tall.
-Common Fox Sedge actively grows during the spring and fall when soil temperatures are cool.
-Stems are slender and firm, triangular, brownish at the base and have whitish, thin sheaths that are conspicuously cross-wrinkled near the top.
-The inflorescences are made up of densely flowered spikes that are 4 to 10 cm long and up to 1.5 cm wide. The distinctive inflorescence makes fox sedge easy to identify.

-The seedheads mature in late summer and spray out from the center of the clump, resembling a fox’s tail.

Special Adaptations:
-Makes up 25% of the diet of the swamp sparrow

2. Soft Rush /Juncus effusus L. – common rush

Order Juncales Family:Juncaceae

-Each stem is medium green, terete (round in cross-section), soft, and hairless; it is typically about 4 mm. across at the base, becoming gradually more slender to about 2 mm. across near the inflorescence. Because each stem lacks cauline leaves, it has a naked appearance.
-At the base of each stem, there is a prominent dark-colored basal sheath; it is usually about 2-3" long and lacks any blade. Older sheaths often exist underneath this basal sheath, but they are withered and inconspicuous.

-It can be distinguished from most other rushes by the absence of alternate leaves along its soft stems.


3. Crinkled hair Grass / flexuosa

Family: Poaceae Genus: Deschampsia

-tight clump of narrow, wiry foliage 6” to 12” tall.gold or purplish panicles twisted or "crinkled" later in summer
-individual flowers silver, green or purple often all in same panicle; bloom mid-summer to fall.
-In mid-Summer, glossy, nodding, frothy-looking panicles emerge & mature to golden color

4. Side Oats Granma /Bouteloua curtipendula



-The larger leaf blades often have [Raceme of Spikes] prominent central veins. The leaf sheaths are light green, finely ribbed, and hairless.

-The alternate leaves are more common toward the base of each culm.

-The root system has fibrous roots and short rhizomes. Side Oats Grama often forms tight bunches of culms from its rhizomes, although it also occurs as scattered plants. In moist areas where there is little competition, it may form a dense sod.

Special Adaptations:

Many grasshoppers feed on this prairie grass, as do the stinkbugs Moromorpha tetra and Mecidea major. Some upland gamebirds and granivorous songbirds are known to feed on the seeds of Grama Grasses. In Texas and states of the Great Plains, the McCown Longspur and Wild Turkey eat the seeds of various Grama grasses. Some hoofed mammalian herbivores, including bison, horses, and cattle, graze on Grama grasses readily, including Side Oats Grama.

5. Panic Grass


-The culms are green to reddish green and terete, branching occasionally to produce side stems. Each node of the culms has a dense ring of long white hairs; sometimes the culms are reddish near the nodes.

-The seeds of Panic Grasses are an important source of food to many birds, particularly upland gamebirds and granivorous songbirds (see the Bird Table for a listing of these species). Panic Grasses are eaten occasionally by the Cottontail Rabbit and hoofed herbivores (primarily livestock); the foliage of these grasses is palatable while it is young.

-grasses remaining in the Panicum genus tend to be taller warm-season grasses that bloom from mid-summer to the early fall, after which they die down and become dormant during the winter.


6. Rosinweed


-A panicle of composite yellow flowers appear at the top of the plant, resembling small sunflowers. Each flower is about 2–3" across, consisting of numerous disk florets surrounded by 12-25 ray florets. There is no noticeable floral scent.
Often, there are side stems that bear smaller panicles of flowers.
-The blooming period occurs from mid-summer to fall, and lasts about 1-2 months. The seeds are large, flat, and lightweight – they can be carried several feet by the wind. -The root system consists of a taproot and short rhizomes, which enable this plant to form clumps.
-This plant can survive significant degradation, and recovers readily from occasional wildfires. It competes well against most prairie grasses and forbs in mesic to dry areas.


7. Prairie Dropseed / S. heterolepis
Order: Cyperales Family: Poaceae Genus: Sporobolis

- a beautiful ‘clump’ grass found in high-quality prairies throughout the region. -Narrow long leaves, rarely wider than 1/8 inch, which spring from the soil and fall to the ground like a smooth waterfall.
-Leaves grow densely around a circular base. They vary in color from green to steely blue-gray, and grow up to three feet long.

-The seeds are quite fragrant, and Native Americans used to ground them into a tasty flour.



8. Big Tooth Aspen / P. grandidentata

Order: Salicales Family: Salicaceae Genus: Populus

- medium-sized tree that grows up to 60 feet tall. The trunk is one to two feet wide. It has rounded leaves about four inches long with large teeth.

-Aspens get flowers early in the spring, before they get their leaves. Aspen flowers are called catkins. Catkins are 2 to 3 inches long, tan-colored, and droopy. Later, catkins are replace with fruits. Bigtooth Aspen fruits have small seeds combined with silky hairs. They travel by wind to new places, where they may be able to grow into a new tree. One tree can make over a million seeds.

-Bigtooth Aspens do not like shade. They usually grow on the edges of woods or along streams. They grow fast, but do not live long. These trees live for about 50 years.

On our Own Species...

Self-heal
Order: Lamiales
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Prunella


-Growing from 1 to 2 feet high, with creeping, self-rooting, tough, square, reddish stems branching at leaf axis. The leaves are lance shaped, serrated and reddish at tip, about an inch long and 1/2 inch broad, grow on short stalks in opposite pairs down the square stem.

-The flowers grow from a clublike, somewhat square, whirled cluster, immediately below this club are a pair of stalkless leaves standing out on either side like a collar. Flowers are two lipped and tubular, the top lip is a purple hood, and the bottom lip is often white, it has three lobes with the middle lobe being larger and fringed upwardly.

-Self-heals are low-growing plants, and thrive in moist wasteland and grass, spreading rapidly to cover the ground. They are members of the mint family and have the square stem common to mints.
-Prunella vulgaris has been shown to be an antioxidant, immune stimulant, viral replication inhibitor and an anti-inflammatory agent


Little Brown Bat /little brown myotis / M. lucifugus
Order: Chiroptera Family:Vespertilionidae Genus:Myotis

Characteristics:
-its fur is uniformly dark brown and glossy on the back and upper parts with slightly paler, greyish fur underneath.
-Wing membranes are dark brown on a typical wingspan of 22–27 cm (8.7–11 in).[
-Ears are small and black with a short, rounded tragus.
- Adult bats are typically 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long and weigh 5–14 grams (0.2–0.5 oz).
-All teeth including molars are relatively sharp, as is typical for an insectivore, and canines are prominent to enable grasping hard-bodied insects in flight.
Little brown bats are insectivores, eating moths, wasps, beetles, gnats, mosquitoes, midges and mayflies, among others. Since many of their preferred meals are insects with an aquatic life stage, such as mosquitoes, they prefer to roost near water. They echolocate to find their prey.

Special Adaptions:

Bats perform valuable ecosystem services to humans, in terms of suppression of insect populations that can be agricultural or forest pests and these bats do eat some insects that are annoying or pose health risks to humans. An individual bat can consume its body weight in insects in a night, so the loss of a regional population of millions of bats adds up to a huge number of uneaten insects in the night sky.

Most temperate bats either migrate or hibernate, but little brown bats do both. In summer, the males and females live apart, the females raising young. When fall comes, both sexes fly south to a hibernaculum, where they mate and then hibernate.

White Nose Syndrome is known to affect all six species of hibernating bats that occur in the northeastern U.S. and has recently been confirmed in three other species — making the total number of species affected at nine. Two of the species are already listed as federally endangered (Indiana bat, Gray bat).


Little Blue Stem /S. scoparium
Order:Poales
Family:Poaceae
Genus:Schizachyrium

-Also known as Beard Grass, is an American prairie grass. Little bluestem is a perennial bunchgrass.
-The leaf sheaths are light green or light blue, hairless or slightly pubescent, and finely ribbed. Each culm terminates in several ascending racemes of spikelets.
-Little Bluestem grows to a typical height of 3 feet. Although it has a blue tint in the spring, in fall its predominant color is more red, which color it may retain throughout winter into spring. The culms and leaves become various shades of tan, brown, or wine-red during the fall and winter.



Big bluestem /A. gerardii /"turkey foot"

Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Andropogon

-Big bluestem, is a perennial bunch grass tolerant of a wide range of soils and moisture. Depending on soil and moisture conditions, it grows to a height of 1 – 3m (3 – 10 ft).
- The stem base turns to a blue-purple as it matures. The seed heads have three spike-like projections, resulting in another common name for big bluestem — "turkey foot."
-Each culm terminates in 2-6 narrow racemes of spikelets. These racemes originate near the base of the inflorescence and spread outward, forming a claw-like V-shape. Each raceme is up to 6" long.
-The spikelets are dull greyish green to purplish red in color; their anthers are yellow to dull red. The blooming period occurs during late summer or early fall. Pollination is by wind. Each spikelet produces a single grain.
-The root system is fibrous and produces short rhizomes.
-Big Bluestem is an important food plant of many grasshoppers

Rosinweed / Silphium integrifolium
Aster family (Asteraceae)



-This native perennial plant is 3-5' tall and unbranched, except near the inflorescence. The stout central stem is usually covered with stiff short hairs, but sometimes becomes glabrous with age.

-The opposite leaves are up to 5" long and 2½" wide. They are broadly lanceolate to ovate, and have stiff small hairs on both the upper and lower sides, providing a sandpapery texture. The margins of these leaves are usually smooth, or they may have tiny teeth. As they ascend the stem, the opposite leaves rotate their direction by 90°.

-composite yellow flowers appear at the top of the plant, resembling small sunflowers. Each flower is about 2–3" across, consisting of numerous disk florets surrounded by 12-25 ray florets. Only the ray florets are fertile. There is no noticeable floral scent. Often, there are side stems that bear smaller panicles of flowers.

Indian grass /Sorghastrum nutans
Grass family (Poaceae)

-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 floret of each spikelet has 3 stamens with yellow to brown anthers and 2 stigmas that are white and plumose. The blooming period occurs during late summer to early fall. At this time, the branchlets of the panicle spread outward slightly; afterwards, they become more appressed and ascending.

-Various kinds of soil are tolerated, including those that can loam, clay-loam, sand, and gravel.

Cottontail rabbit
Order: Lagomorpha
Family: Leporidae
Genus: Sylvilagus

-Apple, willow, dogwood, hickory, rose, sumac, clover, corn, soybean - you name it, and the rabbit will probably eat it. Although some plants are favored foods, almost any plant, if it’s tender, will be eaten. In the spring, the rabbits feed on the new tender shoots of grass and clover. The young leaving the nest eat their first meal away from the doe by nibbling on the leaves of clover, grass and plantin. In the late fall and winter, when grasses have dried up or been covered with snow, the main diet is the bark of sprouts and seedlings grown the previous summer.
-At birth, the young are furless, blind and weigh less than one ounce. Each usually has the white blaze on the forehead, characteristic of the cottontail. They are nursed each night soon after dark and again before dawn, with an occasional nip between these times.
-The only other rabbit native to Indiana is the swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) found only in the swamp lowlands along the Ohio and Wabash rivers. It spends much of its time up on stumps and logs, and swims readily when pursued. The swamp rabbit is larger then the cottontail, reaching almost six pounds. It is currently protected in its historical range in southwestern Indiana.


Woodchucks / groundhogs

Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Marmota
Species: M. monax

-Active above ground for only a few hours each day, they have an elaborate system of burrows that are constantly changing. Groundhogs are herbivores (vegetarians).

-They eat alfalfa, clover, and dandelions, They begin accumulating fat in July and early fall they have half inch of fat over all of their body They hibernate through the winter in the main chamber of their burrow that has been lined with grasses and leaves and is closed off with soil. When hibernating they curl up in a ball, their body temperature lowers and they breath about once every six minutes. They come out of hibernation in February or March.


White-tailed Deer /O. virginianus
Order:Artiodactyla Family:Cervidae Genus:Odocoileus


Characteristics:
-the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States (all but five of the states), Canada, Mexico, Central America, and in South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland and the Czech Republic.
Fossil records indicate that its basic structure has not changed in four million years

Meadow

1. Cockspur thorn /C. crus-galli
Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Genus: Crataegus

-small tree growing up to about 10 meters tall and 8 meters wide, rounded in form when young and spreading and flattening as it matures.

-Leaves are 5 to 6 centimeters long, glossy dark green in color and turning gold to red in the fall.
-Flowers are white and have a scent generally considered unpleasant.
-Fruits are bright red pomes each about a centimeter wide.
-It is native to eastern North America from Ontario to Texas to Florida, and it is widely used in horticulture.

2.New England aster / Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (L.) Nesom
Order: Asterales
Asteraceae (Aster Family)

- leaves: hairy, clasping,are arranged densely on its stout stems.
- Flower size: flowerheads around 1-1/2 inches across
Flower color: purple rays around a yellow disk
Flowering time: August to October
Compared to other native asters, New England aster flowers have more rays (around 40) and, usually, more intense purple color.

-Habitat: damp thickets and meadows
-Height: 3-7 feet

3.Closed Gentian /Gentiana clausa...also known as Bottle Gentian


Leaves: The leaf arrangement is opposite. Leaves can reach 10cm in length (4inches). Each leaf is lanceolate entire and stemless.

Flowers: The flowers have 5 Regular Parts and are up to 3.5cm long (1.5 inches). They are blue sometimes violet. Blooms first appear in mid summer and continue into mid fall. The corolla appears completely closed but can be opened at the top.

Habitat: Moist fields or open woods.

4.Tall Sunflower /Helianthus giganteus
Order: Asterales Family:Asteraceae Genus: Helianthus

Stem: 3 to 12 ft. tall, bristly-hairy, usually branching above, often reddish
Stems tall and rather stiff, hairy and rough to the touch,often purplish.
Ray flowers: ten to twenty in number, surrounding the yellow or yellowish brown disk. Bracts of the involucres lanceolate, ciliate, with slender, spreading tips. Receptacle chaffy, the chaff oblong-linear and pointed.
Leaves : Rough, firm, lance-shaped, saw-toothed, sessile, very rough above, margins serrate, long pointed at the apex, narrowed at the base, opposite or alternate, 2 to 6 inches long, one-half to 1 inch wide.

5.Daisy Fleabane /Erigeron strigosus
Order: Asterales Aster family: (Asteraceae)

-The upper stems terminate in small clusters of daisy-like compound flowers and their buds. The compound flowers are about ½" across, consisting of about 40-100 ray florets that surround numerous disk florets. The tiny disk florets are yellow, while the ray florets are usually white (sometimes light violet or pink).

- The root system consists of a taproot. This plant spreads by re-seeding itself, and often forms loose colonies.
-The alternate leaves are up to 4" long and 2/3" across, becoming smaller and more sparsely distributed as they ascend the stems. They are usually oblanceolate (shaped like a narrow spoon), narrowly ovate, or linear. Some of the larger leaves may have a few coarse teeth toward their outer tips. The base of each leaf narrows gradually to a slender petiole-like base.

Special Adaptations:
-The blooming period occurs primarily from late spring to mid-summer, and lasts about 1-2 months. Both the ray and disk florets can set fertile seed without cross-pollination. The small achenes enclosing the seeds have small bristles or white hairs that promote distribution of the seeds by wind.

-Primarily small bees and flies visit the flowers for nectar or pollen. Among the bees, are such visitors as Little Carpenter bees, Nomadine bees, Carder bees, Green Metallic bees, and Plasterer bees. An exceptional variety of flies also visit the flowers, while less common visitors include small butterflies, wasps, and beetles. The caterpillars of Schinia lynx (Lynx Flower Moth) eat the buds and flowerheads. Mammalian herbivores occasionally feed on the foliage and flowers, including livestock, deer, rabbits, and groundhogs

6.Autumn Olive /E. umbellata
Order: Rosales Family: Elaeagnaceae Genus:Elaeagnus



-native to eastern Asia from the Himalayas east to Japan. Because airborne nitrogen can be fixed in its roots, it has the capability to grow in infertile habitats.
-deciduous shrub growing to 4-10 m tall, with a dense, thorny crown
-leaves are alternate, 4-10 cm long and 2-4 cm wide, entire but with a waved margin they are silvery when they leaf out early in spring due to numerous tiny, scales, but turning greener above as the silvery scales wear off through the summer (unlike the related E. angustifolia, which remains silvery to leaf fall).
-flowers are clustered 1-7 together in the leaf axils, fragrant.
-fruit is round to oval drupe 1 cm long, silvery-scaled orange ripening red dotted with silver or brown. When ripe, the fruit is juicy and edible, and works well as a dried fruit. It is small, extremely numerous, tart-tasting, and it has a chewable seed. It has been shown to have from 7 to 17 times the amount of the antioxidant lycopene that tomatoes have.


7.Slender Fragrant Goldenrod /Euthamia tenuifolia (Solidago tenuifolia)


-Slender fragrant goldenrod looks quite similar to lance-leaved goldenrod. Slender fragrant goldenrod has narrower leaves -- around 1/8 inch wide, generally with only a single vein running down the leaf.

-Habitat: dry, sandy soil
-Height: 1-2 feet
-Flower size: 1/4 inch long
-Flower color: yellow


8.
Sweet /Anisescented Goldenrod /Solidago odora

Leaves: The leaves are alternate, toothless & when held up to light, there are tiny transparent dots. The leaves are entire, narrow, have only one main vein and have no petiole but instead merge smoothly with the stem. The leaves become small near the top. They have small glands appearing as dots.

Flowers: The flowers have numerous parts. They are yellow. The flowers are on the upper side of arching branches. The flowers are unusual because they grow only on the top side of the stems. When the Goldenrod gets taller, it typically droops over or lays on the ground due to the weight of its flowers and leaves.

Use: Fresh and dried leaves and flowers are highly recommended for a brewed tea. Leave in hot water for 10 minutes, and you'll get an "anise-flavored" tea.

Orange Fairy Cup -BOG

Orange Fairy Cup/Orange Peel Fungus A. aurantia

Order: Pezizales Family: Pyronemataceae Genus: Aleuria

Characteristics:
-Often called the "Orange Peel Fungus," this attractive cup fungus is bright orange, with a fuzzy whitish underside (at least when young).
Aleuria aurantia occasionally develops a slit down one side, reminiscent of species of Otidea (see Otidea onotica for an example), but it does not consistently do so, and it is more brightly colored than most Otidea species. Under the microscope, Aleuria aurantia has spores that become marvelously reticulate, clearly separating it from species of Otidea.
-Cup-shaped, often becoming flattened or irregularly shaped as a result of the clustered growth habit; reaching widths of 10 cm, but often smaller; bright orange and smooth above; undersurface usually whitish-fuzzy, at least when young, but often orange and more or less smooth; without a stem. Odor none. Flesh orangish; brittle.
-Saprobic, usually growing in clusters on the ground, often in clayey soil or disturbed ground (roadbanks, landscaping areas, and so on); summer and fall (fall and winter in California); widely distributed in North America.

Common Earthball-BOG

Common Earthball/ Scleroderma citrinum
Class: Agaricomycetes Order: Boletales Family: Sclerodermataceae
Genus: Scleroderma


Characteristics:
-Earthballs are superficially similar to, and considered look-alikes of the edible puffball, but whereas the Puffball has a single opening on top through which the spores are dispersed, the earthball just breaks up to release the spores.
- Scleroderma citrinum has much firmer flesh and a dark gleba (interior) much earlier in development than puffballs. Scleroderma citrinum has no stem but is attached to the soil by mycelial cords. The peridium, or outer wall, is thick and firm, usually ochre yellow externally with irregular warts.

Whitewash Lichen -BOG

Whitewash Lichen/ Phlyctis argena (Spreng.) Flotow
Class: Ascomycetes Family:Phlyctidaceae

-The name “whitewash lichen” is certainly fitting—this looks like dull white paint. It occurs in a thin layer (crustose) on tree bark (corticolous), on many different deciduous and some cone-bearing trees, in both open and sheltered conditions. It is found on red maple and cedar, for example. It does not have any apothecia (fancy lichen talk for fruiting bodies).
-Thallus a white to grey crust, reacting yellow to slowly red with KOH, with diffuse, extensive, pale greenish soralia that erode leaving raised lines. Widespread and common on bark, sometimes on walls.

Spring Peeper -BOG

Spring Peeper / P. crucifer

Order:Anura Family:Hylidae Genus:Pseudacris

General Characteristics:

-This is a very small, delicate treefrog, measuring only about 2.5 cm. (1 in.) in length. It is easily identified by the presence of an "X" on the dorsum.
-The ground color can vary from dull gray or tan to bright brick red or pink. The southern subspecies can be distinguished from the northern species by virtue of its darkly speckled venter.

-In the northern reaches of their range Spring Peepers must frequently endure occasional periods of subfreezing temperatures during the breeding season, and this species is tolerant of freezing of some of its body fluids. This treefrog frequently occurs in breeding aggregations of several hundred individuals, and commonly breeds in many small wetlands, including swamps, temporary pools and disturbed habitats such as farm ponds and borrow pits.

Hairy Woodpecker -BOG

Hairy Woodpecker / P. villosus

Order:Piciformes Family:Picidae Genus:Picoides

General Characteristics:
-The plumage of Hairy Woodpeckers is a mix of black and white.
Its wings, lower back, and tail are black with white spots; its upper back and outer tail feathers are white. Its underside is white, and its head is marked with wide alternating black and white stripes. Males have a red spot at the backs of their heads which females lack.
-
-Hairy Woodpeckers forage primarily on the trunks or main limbs of trees, where they probe into crevices and scale off bark searching for prey. They drum frequently in spring.
-They feed on bark-boring and wood-boring beetle larvae in dead and dying trees are the main food of Hairy Woodpeckers. They also feed on sap from sapsucker holes, berries, nuts, seeds, and suet.

Special Adaptations:
-While Hairy Woodpeckers are still widespread and common throughout their range, their populations in many areas have probably declined from historic levels. Forestry practices that remove snags and large trees have reduced nesting and roosting areas, and the introduced European Starlings and House Sparrows compete for nesting and roosting sites.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers -BOG

Red-bellied Woodpecker /M. carolinus

Order:Piciformes Family:Picidae Genus:Melanerpes



General Characteristics:
-Light cream to pink chest and belly, barred black and white wings and back, reddish markings around its bill and a red crown. The male has red on the crown and on the nape of his neck. The female has red just on the nape of her neck.

-Red-bellied woodpeckers tap their bills together when they are courting.
The nest cavity is built by both the male and the female. The cavity is lined with wood chips and is about a foot deep. It is usually built in a dead or dying tree.
The female lays three to eight eggs and both the male and female incubate the eggs and care for the young. The male incubates at night. The chicks hatch in about three weeks and they fledge in about a month. The chicks usually stay with their parents until the fall.

Special Adaptations:

The red-bellied woodpecker eats beetles, grasshoppers, ants and other insects. It also eats acorns, beechnuts and fruits. It uses its bill to probe for insects in trees and tree stumps. The red-bellied woodpecker sometimes stores food in a tree cavity. In the winter, the red-bellied woodpecker's diet is mostly seeds and it can often be found at birdfeeders.

Evergreen Wood Fern -BOG

Evergreen Wood Fern /D. intermedia

Order:Polypodiales Family:Dryopteridaceae Genus:Dryopteris


General Characteristics:
-A large, lacy, woodland fern; identifiable by its larger size, thrice-cut fronds. Petiole (leaf stalk) 1/3 length of leaf, scaly at least at base; scales scattered, brown with dark brown stripe.
-Blade green, deltate-ovate, thrice-cut and lacy. Pinnae (primary leaflets) more-or-less in plane of blade, lanceolate-oblong; basal pinnae triangular and slightly reduced in size.
-Rootstalk erect or ascending, producing offshoots.
-Sori midway between midvein and margin of segments.

special adaptations:
Each sorus consists of clusters of spore cases called sporangia that are shielded by a flap structure called an indusium. The asexual spores are released according to environmental conditions to enhance survival. Spores that land in favorable growing areas develop into an intermediate sexual structures called prothallia, which subsequently produce male and female organs known respectively as the sperm producing antherium and the egg bearing archegonium (in most cases on the same prothallium). The preference of ferns for boggy areas is due to the need for a film of moisture so that the sperm can swim to the eggs. The motile sperm is believed to be due to the retention of the processes of their aquatic ancestors. The fern frond grows from the resultant zygote.

MARSH FERN -BOG

Marsh Fern T. palustris

Order: Polypodiales Family: Thelypteridaceae Genus: Thelypteris

General Characteristics:

-A common wetland fern; each frond arising individually from a creeping rhizome without forming clumps.Fronds monomorphic or slightly dimorphic, deciduous.
-Fertile leaves more erect, narrower, with leaf edges slightly rolled over spore-bearing sori, 9"-36" tall.
-Petiole (leaf stalk) smooth and pale green above, black at base, sparsely set with smooth, tan, ovate scales, 3½"-18". Petioles of fertile fronds much longer than those of sterile.
-Leaflets deeply cut to within 1mm of rib; lobes oblong, with smooth edge. About a dozen per frond, they are all perpendicular to the stem.

-Sori round, on underside of fronds near the midvein, tan & often hairy

-Distinguished from the closely related Long Beech Fern (Phegopteris connectilis), by its lowest leaflets growing perpendicular to the stem.

Whorled Milkweed -SAVANNA

Whorled Milkweed / A. verticillata

Order: Gentianales Family: Asclepiadaceae Genus: Asclepias


-Greenish-white flowers, 1/4 inch long, in round clusters 1-2 inches across on the upper part of the stem.
-Whorled milkweed is a single-stemmed, unbranched perennial, 1-3 ft. tall.
-narrow, linear leaves are whorled along the stem.

Special Adaptations:

- nectar source for butterflies

Buckeye Butterfly -SAVANNA

Buckeye Butterfly / Junonia coenia

Order: Lepidoptera Family: Nymphalidae Genus: Junonia

-The caterpillar is dark and has yellow stripes and dark spines.

-The hindwing also has 2 eyespots; the upper one is largest and contains a magenta crescent. The underside of the hindwing is brown or tan in the wet season (summer) form and rose-red in the dry season (fall) form.


Special Adaptations:
-The Buckeye Butterfly widespread and easily recognized by its prominent eyespots that probably help protect them against inexperience birds
Adult males patrol a territory and wait for females to fly overhead.

-Because adults can’t over winter in cold climates, large scale southern migrations of Buckeye butterflies can be found along the East coast of America in the Autumn. Adults live for a little over a week. Dark green eggs are laid on figwort and plantain plants.

Lipstick Powderhorn Lichen -SAVANNA

Lipstick Powderhorn /Cladonia macilenta

Order: Lecanorales Family: Cladoniaceae Genus: Cladonia


-Fruticose lichens are characterized by their erect stalks which have no distinguishable upper and lower surfaces. They are typically highly branched and shrubby (these are the types often used for "shrubbery" in model train displays).
-Tall, slender, podetia topped with small, bright red, apothecia. Podetia often thicker at the top.

Praying Mantis -SAVANNA

Praying Mantis/ T. aridifolia sinensis

Order: Mantodea Family: Mantidae Genus: Tenodera

-Three distinct body regions: head, thorax (where the legs and wings are attached), abdomen.
-Part of the thorax is elongated to create a distinctive 'neck'.
-Front legs modified as raptorial graspers with strong spikes for grabbing and holding prey.
-Large compound eyes on the head which moves freely around (up to 180°) and three simple eyes between the compound eyes.
-Incomplete or simple metamorphosis


Special Adaptations:

-Praying mantids are often protectively colored to the plants they live on. This camouflage facilitates their predaceous behavior. Mantids are usually found on plants that have other insects around. Some mantids live in grass. Winged adults may be attracted to black lights in late summer and early fall.

-Predators: Many fish and predatory aquatic insects eat larvae and pupae. Bats, birds and spiders eat flying adults.

-The mantis is not only a study in patience but also speed. They lie in wait with the front legs in an upraised position. They intently watch and stalk their prey. It can grab its prey – like birds, snakes, small lizards and even rodents – in one swift move. They will eat each other. The adult female usually eats the male after or during mating

Flower Fly /Hoverfly -SAVANNA

Flower Fly /Hoverfly

Order: Diptera Family: Syrphidae

-Hover flies are a diverse family and are found in many habitats.
Many people recognize the familiar "flower fly" that pollinates flowering plants and whose pointy-headed offspring (maggots) blindly tap their way through the foliage searching for juicy aphids and other small, soft-bodied insects.

-The adult "flower fly" and many other syrphids are bee/wasp mimics, sporting the typical yellow and black warning markings common to bees and wasps (order Hymenoptera). Of course, syrphids are just bluffing with these show-off colors and can not bite or sting in any way.
One can easily separate the syrphid flies from bees/ wasps by 1) the typical "hovering" flight common to hover flies (they can hold absolutely still in flight - except for their wings, of course), and 2) all flies have only two wings; all flying hymenopterans have four.

Wild Indigo -SAVANNA

Wild White Indigo/ Baptisia alba macrophylla

Order: Hemiptera Family: Fabaceae Bean family Genus: Baptisia



-Tall upright inflorescence of pure white flowers. Rounded blue–green pea–like compound leaves grow on several stalks.
-These perennial, plants are up to 4 feet tall, with leaves made up of 3 leaflets. The stems are smooth.

Special Adaptations:

-This plant is not fussy about growing conditions, and is easy to grow. However, it dislikes alkaline soil and may fail to bloom in shady conditions. Like other wild indigos, this plant may take several years to reach blooming size, but it is long-lived. The roots increase nitrogen levels in the soil.

-The adult weevils eat both the leaves and flowers, while their grubs stay in the pods and eat the seeds. Because White Wild Indigo is poisonous, it is not much bothered by mammalian herbivores. If cattle, horses, or other kinds of livestock consume sufficient quantities of this plant, they can be seriously poisoned.

Stink Bug -SAVANNA

Brown Stink Bug /E. servus

Order: Hemiptera

Family: Pentatomidae

Genus: Euschistus

-broad, shield-shaped bugs
-5 segmented antennae
-5-18 mm
-produce odors from thoracic glands for self-defense

Special Adaptations:

-Brown and green stink bugs have been reported as far north as Quebec. In the United States, however, they are more often injurious in the South. Both adults and nymphs of plant-feeding species may damage plants, mostly by piercing the plant tissues and thus opening a path for pathogens to enter the plant.

-Each female deposits up to several hundred eggs, usually in mid- or late June. These eggs are laid in clusters (averaging 36 eggs) primarily on leaves and stems but also on pods. Nymphs hatch from these eggs and pass through five instars before becoming adults. Approximately 5 weeks elapse between hatching and adult emergence.
Stink bugs inflict mechanical injury to the seed as well as transmit the yeast-spot disease organism. The degree of damage caused by this pest depends to some extent on the developmental stage of the seed when it is pierced by the stink bug's needlelike mouthparts. The younger the seed when damaged, the greater the yield reduction. Although late season infestations may not affect yield, bean oil content and germination will be reduced.

Mullein -SAVANNA

Mullein /Verbascum Thapusus

Order: Lamiales Family: Scrophulariaceae Genus: Verbascum

-Soft, fuzzy, strikingly large, flannel-like, velvety-woolly, long-oval, gray-green, leaves nearly two feet long (leaves make up the first year basal rosette).

-First leaves spread into a circle along the ground, sheltering the plant and maximizing the sunlight. The second year, the basal leaves precede a stout, erect flowerstalk that may reach six feet in height.
-The flowers bloom sequentially from late spring to early fall, growing in long, tight, spikes. They're yellow, with five radially-symmetrical petals, about 1-1/2" across.

Special Adapatations:

-Mullein grows in old fields, roadsides, and disturbed habitats throughout the United States It does well in dry, sandy conditions, especially in alkaline soil, so itís especially common near the seashore.

-Mullein tea provides vitamins B-2, B-5, B-12, and D, choline, hesperidin, PABA, sulfur, magnesium, mucilage, saponins, and other active substances.
People use the tea as a beverage, but it's best known as one of the safest, most effective herbal cough remedies. Mullein is an expectorant, and a tonic for the lungs, mucus membranes, and glands.

Bitter nightshade

Bitter nightshade / climbing nightshade (Solanum dulcamara)
Order: Solanales
Family: Solanaceae
Genus: Solanum


- a perennial woody vine with little star-shaped purple flowers and green berries that turn red when ripe.
-Bitter night-shade spreads by seed, but its stem can also root as it creeps along the ground.
-It is mildly poisonous, however; the toxic substance, solanine, is most concentrated in the unripe berries.

Arrowwood Viburnum

Soft Arrowwood Viburnum dentatum
Caprifoliaceae (honeysuckle Family)

-a dense, multistemmed shrub, typically 5' to 9' tall and wide,
deciduous native plants can be as tall as 15'
-oppositely arranged simple leaves, either a shiny or flat dark green
-leaf margins coarsely toothed, leaf bases are shallowly heart-shaped
-veins are prominent, with the leaf puckering between veins
-branching is upright and spreading, eventually arching over at the tips
-overall shape is rounded
-blue-black fruits in flat clusters
-dense, twiggy, suckering habit
-flat clusters of small creamy white flowers

Special Adaptations:
Viburnum flowers always have five petals and dogwood flowers always have four. And if you carefully pull a dogwood leaf in two lengthwise, the two parts will tend to stay connected by the threadlike strands of the leaf veins. Viburnums don't do this.

Red Osier Dogwood

Order: Cornales, Family: Cornaceae, Genus: Cornus,

-Two main groups of Cornus are "red line" dogwoods, with showy bracts below the flowers and red fruit, and "blue line" dogwoods, without bracts and blue or white fruit.
-Red Osier Dogwood is widespread and variable; similar populations have been considered variously as separate but interbreeding species, subspecies, and varieties.

-Leaves opposite with prominent lateral veins that curve toward the tip and smooth edges.
-Stems and twigs dark red when young, gradually fading to grey-green, becoming red again in the fall and winter.

-Flowers small and white, borne in a flat-topped cluster and, unlike many dogwoods, there are no large, showy bracts.
-Fruit berrylike, white or lead colored at maturity.

Food and cover for white-tailed deer, moose, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hares, and numerous birds, including grouse. Fruit also eaten by mice and other mammals. Deer mice, meadow voles, and other small rodents feed on the young stems and bark. Beavers use it for food and to build dams and lodges. Particularly important to moose in the winter; it is also used in the summer and in the fall when leaves that have escaped and May. Provides valuable cover for birds and other small animals, especially where it grows in thickets.
Fruit is low in sugar so it is initially less attractive to wildlife and less inclined to rot than other fruits, staying on the plant through the winter and availabile when other fruits are gone. Eaten by songbirds, grouse, quail, partridge, ducks, crows, and other birds.

Crane Fly & Raccoon -Shrub Carr

Raccoon / P. lotor

Order: Carnivora Family: Procyonidae Genus: Procyon
-omnivorous and opportunistic.
- mostly nocturnal. It is also solitary, except for mothers and their young. In the winter the raccoon may sleep in its den for a few weeks but it does not hibernate.
-has gray to brown fur. It has a black mask around its eyes with white fur around the mask. It has a stripe that runs from its forehead to its nose and white fur around its nose. It has a bushy, ringed tail and black paws with five toes. The raccoon's paws look a little like human hands. The raccoon's toes are flexible and it is very good at grabbing, pulling things apart and holding things. The raccoon is a very good climber and can go down a tree backwards or face first!


Crane Fly

Order: Diptera
Family: Tipulidae

-Crane fly adults only live for a couple of days and do not usually feed.
-Their larval stages are usually aquatic.
-These flies easily loose their long spindly legs if handled. Because of their size, you can study the “halteres” organs. Halteres function as balancing gyroscopes and are located just behind the first set of wings on the thorax.
-This large crane fly is sometimes mistaken for a giant mosquito due to conspicuous mouthparts. In England, they carry the common name of “daddy-long_legs”, not to be confused with Phalangida group of arachnids which also carry this common name. The French call these insects “cousins”.

Longhair Sedge & Grape Vine - Shrub Carr

Longhair Sedge / C. comosa

Order: Cyperales Family: Cyperaceae Genus: Carex

-Flowering: July-August.
-Field Marks: This Carex is recognized by the male and female flowers in separate spikes, the perigynia less than 1/2 inch long and with a prominent beak with 2 teeth, and the lowermost perigynia in a spike pointing downward.
-Habitat: Swamps, around lakes.
- Habit: Perennial herb with slender rhizomes.
-Stems: Erect, smooth, up to 5 feet tall.
- Leaves: Long, narrow, rough along the edges, up to 1/3 inch broad.
-Flowers: Many in spikelets, each flower subtended by a scale; the male flowers in separate spikes from the female flowers, only 1 male spike per stem, long and slender; the female spikes usually 2-6 per stem, up to 3 inches long, up to 1/3 inch across, on slender stalks that droop at maturity.



order Vitales
Family Vitaceae – Grape family
Genus Vitis L. – grape
Species Vitis vinifera L. – wine grape

Grape-vine is a perennial plant.
It is a deciduous woody vine (30-40 m tall) with long (3-5 cm), thin annual shoots and a powerful root system that penetrates the soil to a depth of 7 m or more. Grape-vine's trunk is coarse and barbate.
Its crust peels off in strips. Grape-vine leaves are alternate, from full, rounded or angular to very much divided into lobes. They may be glabrous or pubescent.
Grape-vine plants cling to their supports with tendrils. Grape-vine flowers are very fragrant and polygamous: they are functionally female (with short, distant and bent sterile stamens) or bisexual.

Special Adaptations: Vitis vinifera (grapevine) is native to Europe as well as East and Central Asia and is suggested to have first appeared ~65 million years ago.
Grapevine has been planted all over the world for the wine, raisin, and table berries production and is the most economically important fruit crop in the world. The earliest evidence of wine production was found in Iran at the Hajji Firuz Tepe site about 7,400-7,000 years ago. Seeds of domesticated grapes dated from ~8,000 years ago were found in Georgia and in Turkey. Remains of wild grape seeds at various archeological sites suggest that the grape berries were collected and used since Neolithic period. Grapevines were introduced in New World in 16th century and to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in the 19th century.

Eastern Wood Peewee -Shrub Carr

Eastern Wood Peewee Species: Contopus virens/Pibí oriental, pioui de l'est
Order Passeriformes -- passereaux, Perching Birds
Family Tyrannidae -- tyrans gobe-mouches, Tyrant Flycatchers
Genus Contopus

* Length: 5.25 inches
* Triangular head
* Grayish-olive upperparts
* Dark bill is yellow at base of lower mandible
* Breast has olive wash
* Whitish throat, belly and undertail coverts
* Wing bars
* Commonly feeds high in the canopy by flying out to catch insects and returning to same perch

Swamp...

1. Eastern American Toad

Order:Anura
Family:Bufonidae
Genus:Bufo
Species:Bufo americanus americanus

The skin color of American toads is normally a shade of brown, but it can also be red with light patches, olive, or gray. The bellies are a white or yellow color. Toad skin color changes depending on temperature, humidity, and stress. The color change ranges from yellow to brown to black. American toads have four toes on each front leg and five toes connected together by a webbing on each hind leg. The pupils of American toads are oval and black with a circle of gold around them. The sexes can be distinguished in two ways. Males have dark colored throats, of black or brown, while females have white throats and are lighter overall.





2. Black Willow Salix Nigra
Order: Salicales
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix

Leaves: Alternate, long narrow lance-shaped, finely toothed on edges;
Very slender, brittle twigs, "whip-like". They are shiny green on top, and pale green below. Leaves are three to five inches long

Habitat: Wet sites -lake borders, along stream banks, wet woods.

Bark: Dark brown or black with ridges; seen as a shrub and as a large tree, up to 100 feet tall. This tree often has multiple trunks, with many small drooping branches.

Flowers: Called catkins, they are yellow and one to three inches long. Fruit is a small capsule, turning reddish-brown. It contains tiny, hairy green seeds.

Special Adaptation:
-They are a food source for White-tailed Deer, rabbits, small rodents, and Beaver which eat the bark, stems and twigs. Black Willow nectar is consumed by bees, butterflies and other insects. Leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of many species of butterflies and moths.

-supplies cover for many birds and small mammals, and cavities for creatures such as woodpeckers, raccoons, and others.

-one of the first to take over a field.

-depend on bees, butterflies, and other insects to help pollinate them. Seeds are also spread by wind and water.


3. Zoned Cork Hydnum /Phellodon tomentosus
Genus: Phellodon

Thin, small to medium, brown cap; flat or shallowly depressed.
Surface velvety, cap is pale color, light to dark brown toward center.
Stalk: often flattened or irregular shape, expanding upward into cap. 2-5 cm long, less than 0.5 cm thick. Spores spherical or nearly so.

4. Slippery/ Red Elm


Slippery Elm / Red Elm ulmus rubra

Leaves: Alternate on twig from single buds, bases strongly asymmetrical, tips pointed;edges coarsely doubly saw-toothed. Dark green above and very rough to the touch. Note how the broad leaves abruptly narrow to a long, thin point. The leaves of Slippery Elm tend to be a little more coarsely toothed.

Bark: Gray-Brown to reddish-brown with shallow furrows and flattened ridges; outer bark uniformly reddish-tan to light brown in cross-section, where as in American Elm, it is more distinct dark layers/ridges running through the inner bark.

Flowers: greenish to reddish cluster on very short stalks before leaves emerge.

Habitat: Floodplain forests

5. Clearweed /Pilea pumila
Order:Urticales Family:Urticaceae Genus:Pilea


-The stems are smooth, round, hairless, and translucent. They are light green, greyish green, or reddish green in appearance; some of the large stems may be slightly ribbed.

-The opposite leaves are 1-5' long and half as much across. They are ovate, hairless, and coarsely serrated. Each leaf has a thin membranous texture with a prominent central vein and two conspicuous side veins. The upper surface is green or dark green, while the lower surface is light green or nearly white.


Special Adaptations:
The flowers are wind-pollinated, therefore they don't attract many insects. The caterpillars of the following butterflies feed on the foliage: Nymphalis milberti (Milbert's Tortoiseshell), Polygonia comma (Comma), Polygonia interrogationis (Question Mark), and Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral). These caterpillars feed on other members of the Nettle family as well.

6. Jewelweed /impatiens
Order: Ericales Family: Balsaminaceae Genus: Impatiens L.

-smooth annual; 3-5 ft. Leaves oval, round- toothed; lower ones opposite, upper ones alternate.
-A bit trumpet shaped, the flowers hang from the plant much as a jewel from a necklace, Pale Jewelweed has yellow flowers, Spotted Touch-Me-Nots have orange flowers with dark red dots.
-Particularly on the underside of the leaves, tiny air bubbles are trapped under the leaf surface, giving them a silvery sheen that becomes pronounced when held under water. The name "jewelweed" possibly refers to these shiny leaves, particularly obvious after rains when water drops reflect the sunlight like a prism.

7. Black Ash /F. nigra

Order: Lamiales Family: Oleaceae Genus: Fraxinus

Leaves: broad, flat, compound, pinnately compound, margins toothed. Leaflets similar in size and shape -leaves opposite
-The Black Ash has a tall trunk with a fairly uniform diameter up to the branches. The soft, ash-gray bark is fissured into scaly plates, which easily can be reduced to powder by rubbing.
-It favors the wet soils of cold swamps, peat bogs, and stream bottoms that periodically are flooded. This is the most northern of the ash trees.

8. Swamp Smartweed /P. hydropiperoides



Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Polygonum

-A native of North America, swamp smartweed is a highly variable perennial. It exhibits two forms, terrestrial and aquatic. For this reason, the plant will invade shores, wet prairies, swamps, ponds, ditches, and quiet streams.
-Swamp smartweed may also exhibit a red-striped stem. The leaves of the plants are alternate, oblong, and tapering at both ends. They are usually pointed at the tip and exhibit smooth margins.
- The leaves of the land plants are generally more oval than those of aquatic plants, which exhibits floating, arrow-shaped leaves. The leaf stalks of both plant forms encircle the stem to form nodes.
-The plants display extensive root systems. They are known to grow roots at the nodes of the stem. Swamp smartweeds exhibit tall, slender, and erect flower clusters.