-
Identification
- University of Iowa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
5 What does today’s tallgrass prairie look like? Where can you find one? What plants does it contain throughout the season? In order to understand what a prairie is, we first need to define it. The word “prairie ” has many meanings. Some consider it an open landscape where the horizon is generally visible in all directions. Whether this landscape is planted to grass, grain, or indigenous vegetation is of little consequence. The word “prairie” may still have other meanings, but for the purpose of this guide, let us consider the definition of tallgrass prairie as follows. identification c h a p t e r t wo An example of a virgin prairie. Doolittle pothole prairie with prairie blazing star, gray-headed coneflower, and compass plant. 6 The best examples of remaining tallgrass prairie today are generally referred to as virgin prairie. From a botanical perspective, virgin prairie is a complex plant association that has not been plowed to raise cultivated crops or overgrazed to eliminate most native species. The plant community in this type of prairie developed over several thousands of years and was generally devoid of trees except where there were natural barriers such as rivers, streams, and marshes. Mixed- and shortgrass prairies grew in response to decreased annual rainfall and begin somewhat west of the Missouri River, or the 100th meridian, and extend to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Virgin prairies differ from planted grasslands and open-country pastures because they possess a wide diversity of native grasses, sedges, and forbs. Most plants are perennials: they come up from the same root system year after year using energy reserves stored from the year before. Roots vary in depth and size from species like prairie violets, which may be only a few inches in depth, to compass plants that may be a foot across at the crown and more than ten feet in length. Unlike planted grasslands and pastures, which may contain up to thirty species (but usually have far fewer), most virgin prairies have two to three hundred species in a complex association. The actual number of species depends on slope, soil type, and available moisture. Virgin prairies often possess a wide array of animals adapted to open areas. The meadowlark and bobolink are typical prairie birds. Bison and elk are typical prairie mammals displaced by settlement. Keep in mind that this definition of prairie is only to facilitate your understanding of tallgrass prairie reconstruction. In order to reconstruct tallgrass prairie, you should become familiar with the grasses and forbs in a tallgrass remnant. Start by visiting a selected site at least once a month from April through November. If you are unfamiliar with a virgin prairie site in your area, contact your local county conservation board, state conservation officer, garden club, your state chapter of The Nature Conservancy, or the Audubon Society. The plants of spring are usually short; as the season progresses, later-blooming forbs and grasses are taller. In spring a tallgrass prairie may be only six inches to one foot high. By midsummer it will likely be between three and four feet high, and by late summer some grasses and flowers will be seven feet high or greater. Exceptions 7 to this are species like bottle gentians and ladies’-tresses, which flower during early September at a height of six to eighteen inches, respectively. Early in the season, there is little color in the dried brown grasses remaining on a prairie landscape. Pasque flowers can be found in the northern half of Iowa and begin to bloom in early April. In late April or early May, you can find a miniature sunflower called golden ragwort, the demure blossoms of blue-eyed grass, and yellow stargrass. The latter two are members of the iris and daffodil families, respectively. Also seen at this time of year is wood betony, which has a twisted head of yellow tubular flowers and soft, fernlike leaves. The flowers of prairie violets are similar in size and shape to those of common blue violets; however, prairie violet leaves are deeply dissected. Later in May, shooting stars can be found. In late spring, the orange phloxlike blossoms of hoary puccoon and prairie phlox grow among the slender stems of porcupine grass. Porcupine grass, a cool-season species, is also known as needle grass. Its needle-tipped seeds have a long awn that corkscrews as it dries, planting the seed. Canada wild rye is also a cool-season grass that flowers...