Plant Identification

1. Plant Identification Reviewing Some of the Common Plants Found on the SMESL - SM South HS Environmental Education 1

2. The Grasses From http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredks/86565746/

3. Foxtail (Setaria sp.) • Flower head a series of dense spikes. • Head floppy, drupes easily like a “fox tail”.

4. From http://www.backyardnature.net/fl_foxtl.htm From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/giantfoxtail.html

5. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/giantfoxtail.html

6. Side Oats Grama (Boutelouacurtipendula) • Its spikelets have an oat-like resemblance • Spikelets Appear to come off one side of the panicle branch. • 10 - 40 inches tall. From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

7. Spikelets From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

8. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/sideoats.html

9. Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii ) • Can be quite tall. (2 to 6 feet) • One of the big grasses on the prairie. • Inflorescence often resembles a turkey foot. • The base of the plant is typically hairy From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

10. Turkey Foot From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

11. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/bigbluestem.html

12. Indian Grass (Sorghastrumnutans) • Inflorescence looks like a big paint brush. • The leaves are broad with a blue-green color. • One of the big grasses on the prairie. From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

13. The ligules/auricles take on the appearance of rabbit ears, Paint Brush From http://www.noble.org/webapps/plantimagegallery/

14. Little Bluestem (Schizachyriumscoparium) • 20 to 60 inches tall. • Greenish-blue to purplish. • Branching above, leafy base. • Inflorescence form wind blown seed tufts. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/littlebluestem.html

15. Inflorescence Spikelets From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/littlebluestem.html

16. Switch Grass (Panicum)

17. Broadleaf & Herbaceous Plants

18. Mullien (Verbascumthapsus) • 3 - 10 feet tall. • Single erect stem • Leaves large and covered by fine soft hairs. Wooly • Leaves form rosette at base and up stem • Long flower spike at top of stem • Yellow flowers

20. Wing Stem • Wings on sides of stems. • Yellow flowers. • Tall plants. • One stalk that branches at top. • Narrow, rough leaves up to 6 inches long.

22. Golden Rod (Solidago sp.) • Flowers yellow • Inflorescence usually wider than it is tall, with numerous tiny flowering heads on the upper side of curving branches. • Stem is green toReddish-green, single or clustered, usually erect. • Leaves lanceolate, 2 to 5 inches long From http://www.missouriwildflowerguide.com/default.asp

23. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/missourigold.html From epod.usra.edu

24. Poison Ivy (Toxicodendronradicans ) • 3-leaflets. • Petiole often reddish. • Leaflets kind of triangular with side notch. • “If it’s 3 let it be”

26. Note the Red Petiole White Berries

27. Milkweed (Asclepiassyriaca) • Grows up to six feet tall. • Has large, broad leaves, usually four to ten inches long. • Flowers are pinkish-purple clusters which often droop. • Fruits are large green pods which turn brown before bursting open to let out fluffy seeds. • Sap is milky white. From http://biology.missouristate.edu/Herbarium/default.htm

28. Flowers in the spring From http://biology.missouristate.edu/Herbarium/default.htm

29. Thistle • Leaves with sharp spines or prickles on the margins. • Their prickles often occur all over the plant, including on the stem and flat parts of the leaf. • Purple flowers. From http://weeds.hotmeal.net/weeds/List_B_Part2.html

30. Butterflies love thistle.

31. Horse Nettle (Solanumcarolinense) • Prickly stems and leaves. • Yellow fruit that resembles little tomatoes. But poisonous. • White flowers with yellow stamens. From http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/poison/plants/slides/2101lg.jpg

32. From www.esc.rutgers.edu/.../Poisonous_Plants.htm From www.esc.rutgers.edu/.../Poisonous_Plants.htm

33. Joe-pye Weed (Eupatorium altissimum) • Also known as Tall Boneset. • 2 - 6 feet tall. • Flowers white. • Leaves attach to stem oppositely. • The plant has a gray-green coloration due to the fine hairs on the stem and leaves. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/joepye.html

34. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/joepye.html

35. Compass Plant

36. Rattlesnake Master

37. Forest Dwelling Woody Plants

38. Buck Brush • Thin branches • Leaves in Opposite pairs. • Little bunches of berries at base of leaves in the fall.

40. Goose Berry (Ribes sp.) • Leaves look like little maple leaves but more divided • Branches covered with sharp spines. • Green fruits form on underside of branches.

41. From http://mnhc.ucsc.edu/gooseberry.html From http://mnhc.ucsc.edu/gooseberry.html

42. Bush Honeysuckle -not native, example of an invasive species in the SMESL

43. Vines

44. Grape (Vinca sp.) • Leaves large and heart shaped with three points. • Often growing high in trees and over shrubs. • Green fruits in late summer and fall, turning purple as ripen. From http://homepage.mac.com/cohora/plants/grape.html

45. Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissusquinquefolia) • 5-leaflets per leaflets instead of three. • Toothy edges to leaflets. • Bottom of each leaflet is often wedge-shaped. • Leaflets may taper abruptly into a short blunt tip,

46. Which is which?

47. Trumpet Creeper (Campsisradicans) • Large leaves with toothy leaflets 3–10 cm long. • Emerald green when new, maturing into a dark green. • The flowers orange to red in color, trumpet shaped. • The plant as a whole may grow to 10 meters in height. • The flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds. From http://www.hramornursery.com/images/TrumpetVine.jpg

48. From http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/trumpetvine.html

49. Green Briar (aka Cat Briar)

50. Some useful websites • KSU Wildflower Visual Collection http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/ • Missouri Wildflower Guide http://www.missouriwildflowerguide.com/default.asp