Visit the latest Berry Go Round

The latest edition of the famed Berry Go Round is blooming across the internet. Click here and read about Orchids, Trillies and many other spring time goodies!

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A Spring Prairie Tour

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A Spring Prairie Tour (May 1, 2020) by Justin Thomas Director of Science NatureCITE The following photos have been posted for folks listening to the NatureCITE podcast #5 (link  here ) to follow along with. For more about ecological emergence, ascendance and autocatalysis see NatureCITE podcast #3 and stay tuned. The photos aren't great, but by using the captions of each photo while listening to the descriptions on the podcast one should be able to better understand of the phenomena and lifeforms explained in the podcast.  Castilleja coccinea (Indian Paintbrush). This was the only population seen on the property, though it used to be common. Growing season fire (that which occurs from mid-February through late September), especially in the spring, burns up the rosettes of this species before they can grow and flower. The fruiting bodies of Carex abdita (Hidden Sedge) in the unburned portion of the site. Oxalis violacea (Wood Sorrel). A common prairi...
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Strolling the Remnants: Sand Prairie Conservation Area

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My work through the Institute of Botanical Training takes me all over the Midwest. In 2009, I was working on a contract in southeastern Missouri that was about an hour from Sand Prairie Conservation Area. An admirer of prairies of all kinds, I visited the site twice over the season and would like to share my observations below. Visit One: April 17: A chilling spring breeze blows across the sand prairie. Sun-warmed sand dislodges, rolls and re-accumulates as it gradually exposes and conceals scattered pebbles in this sandy scene. Small dune-like hills stabilized by vegetation subtly gradate into expansive flats. The surrounding landscape speaks of the early Holocene winds and braided waters of glacial outwash that are responsible for the sandy deposition. A sprinkling of sand islands scattered within a matrix of wet forests of the Mississippi floodplain. Here, inches in elevation separate desert from swamp. Weathered gray stems spinning in the wind draw solar systems in the sand. The...
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A Quick Guide to Midwestern Andropogon

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Whenever one thinks of Tallgrass Prairie grasses, the “big four” often come to mind. The “big four” being Big Bluestem ( Andropogon gerardii ), Little Bluestem ( A. scoparius ), Switch Grass ( Panicum virgatum ) and Indian Grass ( Sorghastrum nutans ). Though they represent only a fraction of the grass diversity that prairie is capable of expressing, they often make up a significant portion of the vegetative biomass. All four of these species are easy to identify by their flowering structures and many folks working in prairies can distinguish these species by vegetative (non-floral) means. It is really just a matter of stem bases; Panicum virgatum is the only one with a circular cross section, both A. gerardii and S. nutans have an oval cross section and A. scoparius has a very flat base. Andropogon gerardii and S. nutans can then be separated by ligule length where S. nutans has a prominent and cartilaginous ligule compared to the shorter membranaceous ligule of A. gerardii . Y...
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