Tall Grass Prairie Flower Pics

[ToddsPoint]

#45. This one is called Tall Boneset. No idea how the early pioneers came up with that name. Another member of the aster family.

 

[ToddsPoint]

The prairie is starting to wind down. Still have two goldenrods and Maximilian sunflowers, one more aster and one more grass. Hoping to hit 50.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#46. This is a Field Thistle. A member of the aster family. This plant is poisonous to cattle but they rarely touch it. Flowers are loaded with nectar and a favorite with hummingbirds and insects. I had to shake the bugs off of it to get a pic. It’s not really a plant you’d want in your flower garden.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#47. This is Prairie Dropseed. A member of the grass family. It’s easy to identify by its very narrow leaves, about 1/8” wide and the narrowest of any prairie grass. The Indians supposedly made flour from the seeds but I don’t see how. Seeds are tiny and there’s not that many on each plant. Plants pictured in books have way more seeds for some reason. It provides good cover. It sprawls out and nothing grows under it providing a good hiding place for birds and rabbits. Especially when there is heavy snow. The seeds fall beneath the plant providing them with food as well as cover.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#48. This one is called American Burnweed. Another member of the aster family. It’s a native that just popped up from nowhere. It’s called Burnweed because it likes growing in areas that have been burned. No surprise it grows in prairies where fire is common. I missed it flowering somehow but I think it must have had small yellow flowers. Its seeds are carried aloft on down similar to the way dandelions propagate.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#49. This is Canada Goldenrod. A member of the aster family. I have at least two types of goldenrod and maybe three. I still get them confused as they’re very similar. When I started my prairie restoration 25 yrs ago this 2 acre pasture was about 100% goldenrod. The whole thing was bright yellow at this time of year and was also filled with large black and yellow garden spiders and praying mantis. Since I’ve got a lot of grasses and other plants now the goldenrod has really been knocked back. With enough of the original species I think the prairie would balance itself out nicely with a niche for most. I’m right at 50 species. The original prairie in this area had at least 250 so I’m at 20% after 25 yrs.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#50. This is Little Bluestem, a member of the grass family. It’s very similar to Big Bluestem. Slightly smaller with seed heads that extend down the stalks. This is one of the most common prairie grass and has filled a lot of spaces in my prairie.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#51. These are Maximilien Sunflowers. A member of the aster family. These flowers are native to the western part of the Tall Grass Prairie and probably didn’t grow here in the past. They bloom late when most of the prairie flowers are already finished up so provide some extra pollen and nectar to the dwindling supply.

 

[glass half fool]

There are many interesting facts relating to Tall Grass Prairies and how important they are to the environment The warm season grasses such as switchgrass are very valuable in the use of erosion control The bluestems are excellent as a forage crop for livestock and wildlife . Bothas as far as nutritarianal and yield/tonnage . Ground nesting song birds are among the most rapidly disappearing songbirds in the North American continent due to a lack of nesting habitat Many of the flowers ere used by insects and other pollinators to provide food for wlidlife and humans ..It is another example of how we think of our selves as so educated but some how need to continue to relearn the most basis ideas ids of how nature works together for the good of all wildlife Wildlife and the natura world are the greatest treasure we have Toods point I really like this post Thanks again for all the work in building you pollinator /food plot And thanks for the great write up and picture taking effort It really is a banner post as far as I am concerned

 

[ToddsPoint]

#52. This is Tall Goldenrod. Another from the aster family. It’s not as showy as the Canadian but is a lot more common. It’s also surprising to me that so many people get goldenrod confused with Ragweed. They are not even close in their appearance.

 

[ToddsPoint]

#53. Hairy Aster. Aster family. These small plants have leaves that look like they have frost on them. They are sometimes called frost asters.

 

[ToddsPoint]

The prairie grass is peaking and is 6-7’ tall. I doubt if any more species will make an appearance at this point. The original prairie would have been difficult to travel through on foot at this time of year. People on horseback would have had to avoid patches of slough grass, also called rip gut. Its sharp serrated edges would cut up a horse walking through it. Also, there are no shortage of chiggers out there. I don’t go into the grass without clothes treated with permethrin. Once winter starts setting in it dies down and is perfect for bird hunting with a dog. Unfortunately all the pheasants live down the road where there is 50 acres of prairie grass so I rarely see them. I’ll post more pics here, especially this spring when we burn it off. Hope you enjoyed the pics.

 

[newnan man]

Those "Hairy Asters" sound familiar, hmmm.

 

[glass half fool]

The prairie grass is peaking and is 6-7’ tall. I doubt if any more species will make an appearance at this point. The original prairie would have been difficult to travel through on foot at this time of year. People on horseback would have had to avoid patches of slough grass, also called rip gut. Its sharp serrated edges would cut up a horse walking through it. Also, there are no shortage of chiggers out there. I don’t go into the grass without clothes treated with permethrin. Once winter starts setting in it dies down and is perfect for bird hunting with a dog. Unfortunately all the pheasants live down the road where there is 50 acres of prairie grass so I rarely see them. I’ll post more pics here, especially this spring when we burn it off. Hope you enjoyed the pics.View attachment 2105379

I know what you mean about the chiggers and other kinds of insects .Several years ago I located a very large dump in a fiield that was planted in Switchgrass The spot had been a farmstead many years ago The buildings where gone and one of the pits became a dump Than later it was covered over and crops where planted over it for many years .I locater it because I was working with the landowner /farmer and noticed numerous ground hog holes .At the surface everyone of those holes where Littered with broken pieces of old glass I got permission from the owner to dig And my thought that this was a really great spot to find old bottles was set in stone within about the first 30 minutes Much of what transpired over the next 2 years is in my many posts on Treasurer net IN THE GLASS FORUM The caption for the post was I think I finally found it And I began posing about it in Oct of of 2019 Anyway I time I was digging I was over run by deer ticks While digging I removed about 15 that where crawling on me On my drive home I found about and equal number that had ls decided to go for a ride with me .Another time I was digging early in the day and there where a number of small bumble bees busy getting dirt f where I had been digging at another time It was damp that day because of the morning dew After I was stung the second time Ieft for the day But they are pollinator plots for that very reason .