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.