Illinois Prairie Characteristics Flower Parts &

Species

Simple Flower = ex.Common Lilly = one single flower from a receptacle one set of anthers and one stigma

Composite or Disc Flower – many little flowers from one or many receptacles many stigma and anthers

seed

(Draw one disc and one disc floret)

Angiosperm-

The flowering plants (angiosperms) are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approximately 13,164 known genera and a total of 295,383 known species.

Angiosperm -a plant that flowers & produces seeds, in other words, a fruiting plant.

The term "angiosperm" comes from the Greek composite word (angeion, "case" or "casing", and sperma, "seed") meaning "enclosed seeds", after the enclosed condition of the seeds.

The ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago (mya).

Angiosperm Life Cycle

SEEDS from cone

http://www.life.illinois.edu/help/digitalflowers/Asteraceae/5.htm

Asteraceae (or Compositae). There are two basic kinds of flowers in the Asteraceae— disk flowers (=disk florets) are actinomorphic while ray flowers (=ray florets) are zygomorphic. The calyx is represented by pappus. The stamens are epipetalous, but the filaments are free above the corolla tube while the anthers are connate into a tube,

http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/Midewin Visitor Welcome Center

Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie Ecosystem nature

preserve in Joliet

Midewin – Grand Medicine society of the Indians of the Great Lakes Region the process

of healing

Midewin National Tall Grass Prairie• Less than 1 % of prairie remains in illinois

• The only prairie Nationally Protected and maintained by the federal gov. U.S. Forest Service

• Restoration of Military Armory back to native Illinois prairie habitat

• 8/25/2011 pictures at Dusk in medium quality prairie restoration area during Plant Identification class

• United States National Arboretum http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/glossary.html

• vPlants http://www.vplants.org/plants/glossary/

• Eric F. Ulaszek, Horticultural SpecialistUSDA Forest ServiceMidewin National Tallgrass Prairie

• http://exhibits.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/midewin/meaning.html

Illinois Prairie EcosystemsAbiotic factors * fire and drought• 4 seasons, Hot, cold, wet, and dry• Carbon and Nutrient Fertile soils from growth,

death, and re-growth of perennial plants• Sequesters CO2 from air & puts into soil

Prairie •Deep rooted Plants mostly grasses, flowers,and small shrubs; very few trees

•High species diversity of plants , animals, fungi, bacteria

Prairie plant adaptations• adapted over thousands of years to 4 seasons,

droughts, fire, and grazing animals (mainly bison).

• There are three main types of pollination and seed dispersal mechanisms

• (1) Hitchhiking on animals (symbiotic relationships) , (2) Drifting in ocean or fresh water, and (3) Floating in the wind.

What is a Weed?• A prairie is often confused as bunch of weeds

• A weed is an opinion any plant you don’t want

• a field or side of road may contain native species

• These prairies (not weeds) contain the food and Biodiversity that cleans water, air, and restores soil

• Which are the prairies and which is a weed patch?

• Remove and Prevent non natives or invasive species -usually brought over by human activity

• Protect or plant native species that are part of the ancient history of Illinois Prairie ecosystem a key to understanding our past.

• Ex. back yard habitat

How we can help!

What native prairie plants provide

• habitat, food, protection for countless species of bugs and other animals which feed the larger consumers all the way up the food chain.

• photosynthesizes sequesters carbondioxide out of the atmosphere into the soil

• Filters water & provides soil nutrients that feeds clothes and shelters our entire species and native ecosystems.

• Costs less to maintain requires less water and less replanting

Learn or connect with these species and you wont see a weed patch as a bunch of overgrown plants but as a

group of interconnected populations, each with a name, a story connecting

to our evolutionary history, and individual niches working together for

our future … survival!Embrace Biodiversity

Deadheading

• Removing the old wilted flowerheads containing developing seeds – For seed collecting

– Promotes new flower growth

• Seeds are baby plants or embryos

Observe the different dead heads- Sketch label and note any identifiable characteristics of stalk/stem, leaves, seed pods and individual seeds

Know: All common names and only two scientific names

Asteracaea (Aster) Family AsterPurple coneflower Echinacea purpurea

Composite Flowers (disk flowers) – multiple little flowers in one

Yellow ConeflowerRatibida pinnata

Aster family (Asteraceae)

Aster family(Asteraceae)

Prairie SunflowerHelianthus pauciflorus

Aster family (Asteraceae)

Golden Rod Oligoneuron rigidumAster family(Asteraceae)

Compass PlantSilphium laciniatumAster family (Asteraceae)

Prairie DockSilphium terebinthinaceum

Aster family (Asteraceae)

American Aromatic Aster Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Aster family(Asteraceae)

Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve

Aster family (Asteraceae)

New England Aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Prairie Blazing Star Liatris pycnostachyaAster family(Asteraceae)

Rough Blazing Star: Liatris aspera

Aster family(Asteraceae)

Mint family (Lamiaceae)

Wild Bergamot or bee balm (Monarda fistulosa)

Mint family (Lamiaceae)

Mint family (Lamiaceae)

Family Amaryllidaceae

Common MilkweedAsclepias syriacus

• Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)

• Predated by aphids, monarch caterpillars etc…

Insects that are often orange because of chemicals in plant milk/sap

• Strong Pollinators by beetles, sphinx months, some bees, but not honey bees

• Native to Illinois threatened and important for keeping endangered monarch populations alive

Common MilkweedAsclepias syriacus

Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)

Swamp Milk WeedAsclepias incarnata

Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)

Can see flowers comes out from sides not tip called axial in most plants some are terminal

Asclepias sullivanti

Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)

Butterfly Weed or Butterfly MilkweedAsclepias tuberosa

Milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae)