Schaefer Prairie - Minnesota

[RickR]

The 165 acres of Schaefer Prairie is in south central Minnesota, and was bought by the Nature Conservancy in 1967 to preserve its natural resources.  Although it was mowed for hay yearly in the first half of the century, it has never been plowed. It contains both wet and mesic habitat, making it a gem of diversity.  I visited on 15 August, although this is a prairie with great treasures throughout the season.  This area has been heavily drought stricken, as evidenced by the unusually low water table.  I could have walked in dry tenners where in a normal year, high rubber boots would be required.  Still, prairie plants in general have very deep root systems (2-20ft and deeper), and most species seem relatively unaffected.

Allium stellatum (Prairie onion) variations.
        

        

Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed) x3, Andropogon gerardii (Big Bluestem) in a sea of same, and Artemisia ludoviciana (white sage).
        

[RickR]

Brickellia (Kuhnia) eupatorioides (False boneset)
        

Bromus kalmii (Prairie Brome)


The invasive Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is present, but only at the edges of the prairie where it abuts with agricultural fields.  Native wetland thistles are tall and have beautiful flowers at eye level, enhanced greatly by their intricate involucres (floral bracts).  
Cirsium muticum (Swamp thistle) x3, another Cirsium sp.
        

        

[RickR]

Cypripedium candidum (Small White ladyslipper) was one that was severely hit by the drought and/or heat.
        

It was the very end of the Prairie clover season.  Both the purple (Dalea purpurea) and whte (Dalea candida) forms are here, but I don't know them well enough to tell them apart without the flowers.  I only found a few Purple Prairie clover still blooming.  In the second pic, the little black upright "sausages" are the  Prairie clover seedheads among Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii).
        

I usually find Desmodium canadensis (Canada Tick trefoil) with multiple stems, giving more of a shrub look to the species.  Again at the tail end of bloom, here is a single stem plant.  I have plenty of seed, if anyone would like any...
        

              

Dyssodia papposa (Dogweed) isn't that pretty and the flower is less than a half inch tall, but I'm always wondering what these are, so I did some research.  Insects seem to love them.
        

[RickR]

Elymus canadensis (Canada Wild rye)
        

Gentiana andrewsii (Bottle gentian) is fairly common throughout Minnesota, but never in abundance.


Helenium autumnale (Sneezeweed) is a single to few stemmed plant in the wild.
        

        

[cohan]

Great views and great set of plants, Rick! I love the open spaces of natural prairie.. We get some prairie edge plants here in roadsides and pastures, but open grassland is not something that survives here without intervention, so any plants that take longer to establish do not make it this far ..

[Booker]

Brilliant trip report and images, Rick ... many thanks for posting.

[Lori S.]

Really interesting, Rick!  Neat to see Helenium autumnale in its natural habitat.  The variation among Allium stellatum is quite amazing.  Thanks for taking us along!

[RickR]

Actually Cohan, in this area, land would be forested without periodic fires or some kind of human intervention.  The prairie is managed with fire, and it is bordered on three of four sides by gravel roads, so controlled burning is relatively easy.  I saw very little of the invasive sweetclover, and then only in its first year stage, so I think they have been doing a good job.

Thanks, Lori and Cliff.  I only got through to "H" before I ran out of time and am only getting to finish the post now...

[RickR]

I haven't really delved into identifying all the Helianthus spp. that are native in Minnesota, a project for some later date.  This is a "typical" one.
        

Lespedeza capitata (Round-headed Bushclover) makes a nice addition to dried "floral" arrangements.  Weathered seedheads from the previous yeaar are shown in the last photo.
        

        

All the native Liatris spp. I have not yet mastered, either.  They are often misidentified due to variation within the each species and the relative difficulty of ascertaining the differentiating features.  But these I can be quite sure of:
Liatris aspera (Rough Blazing Star) with Dalea sp. seedheads.  Flowers are pink-lavender, and the white bracts will darken a bit with age.  Pics 2 and 3 are Liatris pychnostachya (Prairie Blazing Star).  It has one of the hairiest stems of all the liatris species.  
   

[RickR]

More liatris pics.  These are probably Liatris ligulistylis (Showy Blazing Star).
   

A trick I "invented" to highlight a plant where it would otherwise be lost in the surroundings: when the conditions are right, sometimes you can get your shadow to fall on only the subject. One pic with, one pic without.
              

Not sure about this one, but I like it.
        

This one is probably Liatris punctata (Dotted Blazing Star).
   

[RickR]

Great Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) is only invasive in a garden setting.
              

Lysimachia quadrifolia (Prairie Loosetrife) is abundant here, although fairly rare in the state.  The last pic with the rounded seedpods.
        

                 

Purple Loostrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a terrible European invasive in wetlands all over the eastern US.  Sweetclover in the upland prairie habitat can be bad, but not nearly as much, at least partly because it is a biennial.  L. salicaria almost automatically displaces all the natives where ever it invades.  We are extremely lucky it has not found Schaefer prairie... yet.  Our native Lytrum species, Lytrum alatum (Winged Loostrife) has fewer, but larger flowers on shorter stalks.
        

              

[RickR]

The only flower I found still blooming of our native Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa).  Not as full as usual, but shows the true light lavender color that I find more pleasing than the bright colors of the garden cultivars of M. didyma.  Most plants at this time of year look like the second pic, a little tired and lots of seed heads.
          

Pedicularis lanceolata (Swamp betony) is an interesting plant.  The flowers tilt to one side and give a spiraling effect to the floral spike when viewed from above, even though the flowers point straight out from the stem.
        

        

Silver Scurf pea (Pediomelum argophyllum) is way past bloom (see flowers here: http://nargs.org/smf/index.php?topic=455.msg18808#msg18808), but the leaves, heavily clothed with white hairs, make it a pleasant sight.  A few Phlox pillosa var. fulgida (Downy phlox) still blooming.
        

Rosa arkansana (Prairie rose) is always an unassuming plant in the prairie, an so is a joy to come across.  The silver-gray Amorpha canescens (Leadplant) is also past bloom, but remains an integral part of prairie views.
        

[RickR]

This should be Pycnanthemum virginianum (Virginia Mountain mint), although I detect no mint odor at all.  But the characteristics fit more with it than P. tenuifolium.  
        

Prairie Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) can grow almost as a monoculture, and in such a case can be a little dangerous to walk through since he leaves have sharp edges.  But here it is quite benign.  Big Bluestem is in the foreground of the second photo.
        

Scutellaria galericulata (Marsh skullcap) grows in the very wet parts with tufted sedges.
        

Several goldenrods grow here.  These are the easy ones to identify, as the foliage is quite different from most goldenrods.
Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) - second pic non-flowering stage, and the swamp loving Riddell's goldenrod (Solidago riddellii).  Both are just beginning to bloom.
                 

            

[cohan]

More great plants! Interesting to see which plants are similar to here, and which very different... I like the Pedicularis, simply because my only  local species (that I've seen, at least) is pink..
So, several Liatris species all grow in close proximity? Interesting.. none in my immediate area, though I guess we have that situation with numerous Asters...
Goldenrods are mostly done here, at the least past their prime-- but of course we are much nearer to frost (any day, potentially) than you are, so while things continue to flower past frost, very few species trust all their seed potential to late good weather!

Interested in seeing your last post, which oddly shows in the summary when I'm replying, but did not come out properly and does not show in the thread apart from the first line...

[RickR]

Yes, the different Liatris species grow amongst each other, although there seems to be some preference for moist to dry. None grow in the wet parts, of course,  but L. pychnostachya grows in the more moist areas, then L. ligulistylis, then L. aspera, and L. punctata in the driest part.

I think you were reading my last post while I was in the midst of building it.  At the most, I can post seven pics at a time, so I have to go back and add the rest via the modification button.