Download Wildflowers in Kansas

Unit IV Kansas Plants:
Wildflowers and Grasses
Information
Introduction to Wildflowers
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There are literally hundreds of species of wildflowers
occurring in Kansas.
I will only attempt here to cover a very few of the most
common, showy wildflowers that people notice and that
are found throughout most of the state.
In some cases, we will look at the family as a whole,
rather than one species.
Kansas has a wide variety of habitats, and many species
of wildflowers are somewhat particular in their habitat
needs.
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Eastern Kansas has much more precipitation than western
Kansas, and therefore has different plant communities.
Intro, cont.
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Kansas has three general types of habitat:
Tallgrass prairie, eastern/central region that gets the
most rainfall.
 Mixed-grass prairie, central/western region that gets
less rainfall than tallgrass.
 Shortgrass prairie, western 1/5 of Kansas, gets the
least amount of rainfall.
Within each of these regions, there are even more
specific habitat types, like riparian woodlands (along
streams), sand-sage prairie, wet and dry conditions in
all of the habitats above.
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Intro, cont.
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The growing season in most of Kansas is from
about mid-April until about mid-late October
(from the last freeze until the first freeze).
A great many species of wildflowers have been
used as food or medicines by Native Americans.
Wherever you see a name on a slide, followed
by “sp.”, that means we are looking at a group
of species in that family.
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Example: Sunflower sp. Means we are learning
generic information about all the sunflower species,
not one species in particular.
Intro, cont.
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When identifying flowers in the wild, you should
look for:
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Color of flower. Most field guides are arranged by
color.
Type of flower. There is usually a guide to the types
of flowers at the beginning of the field guides.
Shape and arrangement of leaves on plant. There
are also descriptions of these at the beginning of
most field guides.
Common
Milkweed
Common
Milkweed
Common Milkweed
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Asclepiadaceae, milkweed family
3-4’ tall.
Usually has pinkish veins filled with a milky sap that is
white.
This is the main host plant for Monarch butterflies. The
larvae feed on the milkweed leaves, ingest the toxic sap,
and become poisonous themselves.
Abundant in open, disturbed areas throughout the
tallgrass region.
There are at least fourteen different species of
milkweeds found in Kansas.
Butterfly Milkweed
Butterfly Milkweed
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Asclepiadaceae, milkweed family
About 3’ tall, somewhat sprawling or
bushy.
Clear sap (not milky)
Flower clusters are a brilliant orange
typically.
Common in well-drained prairies.
Purple Coneflower sp.
Purple Coneflower sp.
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
3-5’ tall, depending on the species
Several species of purple coneflowers occur in
Kansas.
The purple coneflowers are in the genus
Echinacea (pronounced: EK-in-AY-shuh), and all
of these species are used and currently sold as
an herbal medicine thought to boost the immune
system. Illegal digging of the roots poses a
major threat to this plant in some areas.
Black-eyed Susan
Black-eyed Susan
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
1-2’ tall, but can be 3.5’ tall.
Has bristly-hairy stems, leaves with
parallel veins.
Flowers 2-3” wide with yellow petals and a
brown center.
Widely distributed.
Common garden plant, spreads actively.
Daisy Fleabane
Daisy Fleabane
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
Grows about 2 ½ feet tall, with flowers
that are about ½ inch across.
Very common throughout the tallgrass
region: prairies, roadsides, pastures.
People use to plant this around barns
thinking that it kept fleas away from the
animals. I don’t know if it does or not.
Chicory
Chicory commonly grows
along the roadsides as
seen here.
Chicory
Chicory
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
Showy blue flowers.
Found along the roadsides and in waste
places.
Non-native plant. Sometimes a pest plant
in places, also sought after for food uses:
can be roasted and ground as a coffee
substitute or additive.
Yarrow
Soft, fern-like
leaves
Yarrow
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Asteraceae, the sunflower family.
Plants typically 1-2’ tall.
Leaves are fern like and feathery.
Abundant and widespread in fields,
pastures, disturbed sites, roadsides and
prairies.
Used for a variety of medicinal purposes.
Gayfeather (a.k.a. Blazing Star)
Gayfeather (a.k.a. Blazing Star)
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
Several species in Kansas, including
Narrow-leaf Gayfeather and Prairie Blazing
star.
Slender, spike-like plants up to 5’ tall.
Common throughout tallgrass region.
Sunflower sp.
Sunflower sp.
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Asteraceae, the sunflower family, genus is Helianthus
Sunflowers (of different species) range from 2’ tall in
Western Kansas to over 9’ tall in Eastern Kansas.
There are at least 9 species of sunflowers in the tallgrass
region.
Common Sunflower is the State Flower. It has broad,
triangular shaped leaves and a reddish brown central
disk.
Very valuable plant to humans and wildlife for the edible
seeds it produces.
Goldenrod sp.
Goldenrod sp.
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
There are at least 9 different species in the tallgrass
region.
Tall Goldenrod is pictured here, and this is the
“weediest” goldenrod. It grows very commonly in open
areas especially if the area has had a history of
disturbance (plowing, mowing, heavy grazing, roadsides,
etc).
Sometimes is blamed for allergies, but I have heard this
is incorrect—it happens to grow in the same areas and
bloom at the same time as ragweed (midsummer-fall).
Giant
Ragweed
Giant Ragweed
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
Several species of ragweed occur in Kansas.
They are notorious for the allergies and hay fever they
cause from their airborne pollen.
Can grow up to 3’ tall, but usually about 1’ tall.
Grows in dry areas, especially disturbed sites such as
roadsides and new housing developments where there is
bare ground.
Has tiny, drab flowers that most people don’t notice.
They hang downward and are greenish in color.
Flowers midsummer-fall.
Aster sp.
Aster sp.
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
There are at least 16 species of asters in the tallgrass
region.
Plants can be 2’-5’ tall, with very thin long leaves.
Flower heads are about 1” across.
Most species have a yellow disk surrounded by up to 40
thin petals ranging in color from white to light purple to
dark purple.
One of the last plants to still have flowers on it until the
first freeze.
Thistle sp.
Thistle sp.
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Asteraceae, sunflower family.
Several species of thistles grow in Kansas.
Most are spiny plants that can grow up to
8’ tall.
Flowers are 2-2.5” wide, with purple
thread-like “petals”.
Common in areas of disturbance.
Spiderwort
Spiderwort
Spiderwort
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Commelinaceae, Spiderwort family
Spindly plants up to 3’ tall with long,
pointed leaves.
Each stem has clusters of individually
stalked flowers about 1” wide.
Flowers have three purple petals with
yellow stamens (where the yellow pollen
is).
Wild Garlic
Wild Garlic
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Liliaceae, the Lily family
8-24” tall
Slender, grass-like leaves
Pink or whitish flowers are replaced by
very small bulbs.
Has a very strong garlic taste, and is
edible.
Prickly-Pear Cactus
Prickly-Pear Cactus
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Cactaceae, the cactus family.
A low, spreading, spiny cactus, usually less
than ½ foot tall.
Showy yellowish-reddish flowers that are
2-3” wide.
Grows in dry rocky prairies.
Fruits and de-spined pads are edible.
Queen Anne’s Lace
Queen Anne’s Lace
Queen Anne’s Lace
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Apiaceae, the parsley family.
Also called Wild Carrot, as it has a long taproot that is
edible and related to our cultivated carrots.
Found in tallgrass prairie, roadsides, pastures and
disturbed sites, in Eastern 1/3 of Kansas.
The seeds are about 1/8 inch long, and covered with
bristles that get stuck in socks and on clothes when you
walk through it. Hard to pick out of your clothes!
Has been used in dyes and for various medicinal
purposes.
Yellow Sweetclover
Yellow Sweetclover
Yellow Sweetclover
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Fabaceae, the Pea family.
Flowers are yellow or white, and are in long,
spike-like clusters
3-8’ tall
Found along roadsides and fields, mostly in
disturbed habitat.
An introduced species—it is not native to the
U.S.
Kansas also has a white variety called White
Sweetclover.
Introduction to Grasses
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Grasses are in the Grass family, Gramineae (or
Poaceae).
3 grasses provide a vast majority of the worlds
food: corn, rice and wheat. Barley and oats are
also grasses.
Prairie ecosystems are dominated by grasses.
Grasses are characterized by having long narrow
leaves with parallel veins and small,
inconspicuous flowers. Stems are mainly hollow
except where the leaf is attached (the node or
joint).
Cattails
Cattails
Cattails
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Grow in wet places, such as the shallow
edges of ponds and lakes, and very
common in wetlands.
Can grow up to 9’ tall.
Brown, cigar-shaped “flower”
Big Bluestem
Big Bluestem
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Also called “turkey foot” due to shape of
flower.
Grows in clumps
Can grow over 9’ tall in very wet places.
One of the main grass species found in
the tallgrass prairie.
Switch Grass
Switch Grass
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Grows in big, leafy clumps
Can be up to 7’ tall.
Seed heads (flowers) can be 20” long.
Another common grass of the tallgrass
prairie.
Prairie Cord Grass
Prairie Cord Grass
Prairie Cord Grass
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Sometimes called Spartina (the genus), or
commonly refered to as ripgut,
marshgrass or sloughgrass.
Occurs throughout Kansas in very wet
areas such as wetlands, ditches, soughs.
Leaf blade is extremely coarse, and if you
walk through it, it will cut exposed skin.
Side-oats Grama
Side-oats Grama
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Low (2-3 ft tall) grass
Grows in small clumps or as solitary stems
Common throughout tallgrass region on
dry hillsides and well-drained prairies
References
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Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers, A Falcon Guide, by
Ladd and Oberle
Roadside Wildflowers of the Southern Great
Plains, by Freeman and Schofield
The Audubon Society Field Guide to North
American Wildflowers, by Niering and Olmstead
Grasses, and Identification Guide, by Lauren
Brown.
Web site: http://www.lib.ksu.edu/wildflower/
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Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses