Meeting a Rare Ecosystem: A Walk at Prairie Creek Barrens

Meeting a Rare Ecosystem:  A Walk at Prairie Creek Barrens

Daviess County, Indiana

July 27, 2013

(Note:  I am polishing up and publishing this blog entry during the cool days of early spring, 2014, though the walk took place during the heat of July, 2013.  Finishing this article had been delayed for a long time, due to the number and difficulty of details I needed to research and verify, but the walk and what was learned from it were so valuable that I was determined to publish it, no matter how long after the event.  I learned a great deal that day, and through the time spent working on the fine-tuning.  There are some details I am still not 100% certain about. On those, I placed an asterisk (*).  I would be very pleased to have more knowledgeable people send me corrections and enhance my knowledge, and then I will edit those particular spots in the text.)

**************

It was late July in southern Indiana, and I was going to spend some hours walking in an open, sunny, hot, prickly prairie.  I must admit that if it were a normal southern Indiana late July, I would not have gone, because I know that my prefer-the-cold constitution would not have tolerated it.  But, we were having an unusually cool summer, so far, and it was truly a nice day.  I am glad that happened, or I would have missed a great opportunity to walk Prairie Creek Barrens with some fellow INPAWS (Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society) members, led by two of Indiana's greatest living naturalists.

It was, certainly, a rare opportunity.  First of all, though the site is now a state nature preserve, access is through private property, so permission must be obtained.  Secondly, this type of ecosystem, a sand barren, has become rare in the state, though it used to occupy a healthy portion of southwest Indiana.  This sandy hill area, or barren, is described as a “natural grassland community with droughty conditions and sparse tree growth”.  They are all but gone.

Thank goodness our leaders, Michael Homoya and Harold Allison, had seen to it that this 85-acre spot near Washington, Indiana was bought and preserved in 1999, and that the altered section was restored.  Michael Homoya is a Botanist and Plant Ecologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Nature Preserves.  He has spent many years locating and identifying plants in the state's nature preserves, and is the author of Orchids of Indiana, as well as Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests: A Field Guide.  Harold Allison, a native of Daviess County, is a well-known and respected naturalist, historian and columnist.  He is also the author of The Tragic Saga of the Indiana Indians and Indiana’s Rare and Unusual Trees.  

We entered the site via private property (unfortunately, I arrived just a little too late for the meeting with the landowner, and so I missed hearing the family history of the property).

We then walked through woodland, arriving in the lower, wet portion of the site, which had been preserved but not replanted.  After we explored this area, we went to the sand hills in the upper portion, which is under restoration.  Previous to purchase, the upper portion had been planted in row crops.

We headed down into the lower area.   

Homoya explained that when they first came to the site, there were a lot of River Birch trees, which caused much shade.  They hired a bulldozer to get rid of them.

 Michael Homoya showing a Winged Loosestrife (Lythrum alatum)

There was concern, of course, about whether or not native plants would appear and remain at the site.  But, as Homoya explained, “sand is very forgiving.”  Sand holds a seed bank, so the seed persists, and then is exposed to light.  They found that the older native species did germinate, and that the site contained at least ten species listed as state-rare.  There were two species that had never been seen in Indiana before.

 Creeping St. John's Wort (Hypericum adpressum)

This plant, listed as Endangered in Indiana, was found in Prairie Creek Barrens at the southern tip of its range.  Charles Deam, an early Indiana botanist and author of The Flora of Indiana, found it at Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife area in northern Indiana.  It is mostly a coastal southern species, but is very common in Prairie Creek Barrens, due to the sand.

(notice that, on the notebook page, I had written “6/27/13” - indeed, the weather was much more like a June day than late July!)

 Seedbox –Ludwigia alternifolia* in bloom

 Seedbox in bloom, among other plants.  Some may be going to seed.

 A view in the lower area:  great diversity on the prairie.

 Soft-Stemmed Bulrush – Scirpus validus*

The same plant, in unripe, green stage*.

 Maryland Meadow-Beauty (Rhexia mariana)

Maryland Meadow-Beauty is a rare species.  Kay Yatskievych, author of Wildflowers of Indiana, lists R. mariana as an Endangered varietal (she also lists the varietal interior as one on the Watch List.)

I learned about a different kind of pollination at the same time that I learned about this plant.  Homoya explained that the stamens, though yellow, look very smooth, as if they have no pollen.  But, a bumblebee causes pollination by its vibration when it visits the plant for nectar.  This method is called “buzz sonication”.

 A photographer stalks some native prairie plants.  Or is he stalking pollinators?

 Small-Flowered Agrimony (Agrimonia parsiflora)

Homoya holds up a specimen of False Hop Sedge (Carex lupuliformis), which is rare in Indiana.  In fact, it is rare and local where it occurs.  It has longer spikes than other sedges.

I know next to nothing about sedges (or rushes, or grasses).  I do know that “sedges have edges”.  Obviously, I have a great deal more to learn!

Homoya removes a seed from False Hop Sedge (Carex lupuliformis)

The seed of False Hop Sedge (Carex lupuliformis).  Notice the triangular shape.

The little item on top of the leaf is the achene of Ravenfoot or Crowfoot Fox Sedge (Carex crus-corvi)*. It is sitting on top of a Buttonbush leaf that is full of insect galls.

“There are over 130 species of Carex in Indiana, from lots of habitats”, Homoya explained (uh-oh – I have a lot to learn!).  “Learn the sedges to learn the communities”.

Okay, that's my assignment – I'm going to tackle this thing.  But, the only book I find about sedges in Indiana is Sedges of Indiana and the Adjacent States: the Non-Carex Species by Paul Rothrock, the sedge expert in Indiana.  Read that again: “The Non-Carex Species”!  More searching is in order.

This is Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) as it is going to seed.  It likes “wet feet” and full sun.

This beauty is Crimson-Eyed Swamp Rose-Mallow (Hibiscus palastris, forma peckii).  The Swamp Rose-Mallow is pink or white, but this variation is white with a red center.  Kay Yatskiewicz calls it simply Rose-Mallow:  Hibiscus moscheutos, subspecies lasiocarpus and subspecies moscheutos (also called Hibiscus palustris).  Yes, I know, it sounds confusing!  Such is botanical nomenclature.  If this plant is subspecies lasiocarpus, then it is an endangered species, but I'm thinking this one is subspecies moscheutos.  I hope someone clarifies this for me.

Whatever it is really called, it is a stunning plant in bloom on the prairie.

Rough Buttonweed (Diodia teres). 

 This is in the family Rubiaceae, which is the family that also contains the Coffee tree.

 Some late-comers arrive.  How did they find the group?

 

 

Power lines line the site. Homoya explained that the power lines were there before they found the site.  Unfortunately, herbicides were used under them to control “weeds”, and some rare plants were lost.  But, some individuals reappeared after the use of herbicides ended.  There is an agreement to not use herbicides there, but to control the area under the power lines with mowing (fire under power lines is not allowed). 

Here, you can see the orange flowers of Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans), the fading purple of Ironweed (genus Vernonia) and the yellow of Goldenrod (genus Solidago).

 One INPAWS member gets camera help from another.

Next we moved to the upland (sand hill) area, which is the one undergoing restoration with several thousand plugs from plant nurseries.  Recall that this area previously was planted in row crops.

 Camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris)*

For the restoration, they first needed to determine what plants would have been native to this place.   

They did not know exactly what species had been in the hills, so they compiled a list of species for repopulation of the site.  Early 20^th century botanists Charles Deam, Dorothy Lawlis, Ray Friesner and Ralph Kriebel explored nearby sand barren remnants in the 1930's and 1940's.  They also collected specimens that are now available to see in herbariums.  Some species were found listed in Deam's collection from Herschel Green Woods*. 

Homoya and Allison were not going to purchase seed for the site.  “We wanted the genes that were here ... to ensure that the genetics are preserved in this area”, Homoya explained.  So, next they had to go searching for these plants and this seed, and for the remnants of land where they might find them, using the list of species compiled and information gathered from the writings of the early Indiana botanists.

Partridge-Pea (Chamaecrista foasciculata)

 "We focused on (finding) seed within five miles from this site”, Homoya explained.

And so it began.  So many remnants had been disappearing, and were continuing to disappear, so this was likely the last chance to find and obtain genetically and ecologically appropriate seed.  They searched “little scraps of land”; road cuts, ditch banks, cemeteries, abandoned rail lines and other bits of land where such plants could persist.

 Harold Allison

Allison added, “Landowners were very good about letting us come on their property to collect (seeds and plants)”.  In fact, they were told by some that they had better get in and collect soon, as the particular spots were going to be altered.

“Lots of places where we got seed for this are no longer in existence.  Our dream was to find another place like this (Prairie Creek Barrens), but we haven't found it.”

 Slender-Stalked Gaura (Gaura filipes)  - a state rare plant.

Next, they needed to plant the seeds and grow plants to restore the site.  Some seeds were direct-sown, but many were started in nurseries.  Homoya created a seed nursery in his “own back yard”, and some were grown by Spence Restoration Nursery of Muncie, Indiana.  The plants flourished in cultivation.

It was then time to add the nursery-grown plants to the restoration site, with the help of over 100 volunteers.  Homoya told that “we started planting the site ten years ago and planted gradually for five years.”

The first planting effort was “devastating” - when they returned to the site, they found that an animal had pulled up all of the specimens!

But, they persevered.  “Of the thirty to forty species we planted, some individuals are still here.  Hopefully we can get seed from them”.

 Clustered Poppy-Mallow (Callirhoe triangulata), protected by a chicken wire cage.

Homoya pointed out that this Clustered Poppy-Mallow is “at the eastern end of its range.”  It is the progeny of a single plant (the only known specimen, near Oaktown, Indiana).  From the writings of early botanists, it is known that the plant was plentiful in 1933.  It is self-compatible, meaning that a flower can pollinate another flower on the same plant.  The seed for this plant was germinated at Kankakee Sands Nature Preserve in northern Indiana.  Nineteen of them germinated and survived.

Homoya noted that the replanting project for the hills will be a “several human generations project”.

And, so, the project continues:  gathering seed, germinating seed and raising plants, replanting them in the hills, watching them and hoping for good survival rate, seed production and seed dispersal, and gathering more seed....

This is a project for those, such as Michael Homoya, Harold Allison and many volunteers, who are dedicated to seeing an almost-lost ecosystem in Indiana regenerated for future generations.

We continued up the hills...

 Green-Flowered Milkweed (Asclepias vividiflora)

Goats-Rue (Tephrosia virginiana), a legume, in flower 

 Goat's Rue seed pods

 

The seed for this plant was direct-sown into the site.  It is very local in Indiana, growing only in sandy or rocky areas.

There are a number of native grasses in the site, including Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Sideoats Grama (Boutelona curtipendula) and Sand Dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus).  The Sideoats Grama seed came from a tiny road cut and fencerow.

Allison noted that there are some very interesting animals here, too.  The Ornate Box Turtle, a sand barrens species, was found here in recent times, on the very eastern edge of its range.  It is very rare:  before this, the last specimen was found 60 years ago, killed on the road nearby.

Allison also mentioned that there are badger burrows in the nearby woods, and that there have been fifteen sightings of Bobcat at Prairie Creek Barrens.

 Purple Prairie-Clover (Dalea pupurea)

 White Prairie-Clover (Dalea candida)

Seed for the White Prairie-Clover was gotten from a railroad area south of Vincennes, Indiana, from only a couple of plants.

Narrow-Leaved Day-Flower (Commelina erecta) is a native Dayflower species. 

Most Dayflower species seen in Indiana are non-natives:  Common Dayflower (C. communis), which is the species most often seen, and Creeping Dayflower (C. diffusa).  There is one other native species besides C. erecta: Virginia Dayflower (C. virginica).

 Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

 Scaly Blazing-Star (Liatris squarrosa)

 Switchgrass, or Sand Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)*

 Entire-Leaved Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium)

 I am not sure if this is Hairy (Scutellaria elliptica) or Downy (S. incana) Skullcap, though I am leaning toward Hairy*.  The specimens in this photo were fading.  It is easy to confuse the two species, but a close look at the actual plants, especially the hairs on the stems and leaf veins, probably would have convinced me which one it was.

 Pale Indian Plantain (Arnoglossum atriplicifolium)

Young Sand Hickory trees (Carya pallida)

 Sally Weeks, in Native Trees of the Midwest, describes Sand Hickory as “extremely rare in the Midwest”.  A small hickory of sandy knolls, it is easily identifiable by the “sulfur-yellow cast” of its leaves, twigs and fruit.

 Blackjack Oak tree (Quercus marilandica)

Another small tree, the Blackjack Oak is a resident of very dry sites, common to barrens (and, recall that we have been losing sand barrens in Indiana).  It tends to become stunted and gnarled with “persistent lower limbs”, making things difficult for pioneers who were trying to cross the prairie.  A distinguishing feature is the very shiny leaf shaped like a duck's foot.

Post Oak tree (Quercus stellata)

The Post Oak is also called “iron oak” for its very tough, durable, knotty wood (used for fence posts and railroad cross ties).  This small- to medium-sized tree can be found on the poorest soils, often in barrens with Blackjack Oak.  It used to be the dominant tree at Prairie Creek Barrens.

 Blackjack Oak, Post Oak, and a mature Sand Hickory

These three trees, standing boldly like the Three Tenors, were all commonly seen at this site in former times.

Insects are numerous and diverse in prairies.  The Praying Mantis, an adept predator but also food for larger animals, is part of this ecosystem.

Two INPAWS walkers examine another prairie grass, a Big Bluestem plant (Andropogon gerardii).

Our leaders also mentioned Blue Joint Grass (Calamagrostis canadensis).  As Homoya said, this was “the only place we've seen it in southern Indiana.”

 We started heading back downhill.

 Hazelnut/American Hazelnut/Filbert  (Corylus americana)

This native shrub, according to Sally Weeks, “typically reaches 10-12 feet tall”, but they can develop a dense thicket “created by numerous root suckers”, as they seem to have done here.

Meadow Sweet/Meadow Spirea (Spireae alba)

 

This woody shrub of the Rose family, with pencil-thick stems, is listed as State-Endangered in Kentucky and Tennessee, according to Sally Weeks.  Allison said that this was “gotten from a site that is now destroyed”.  Homoya added that they got it “in the nick of time”.  

 We headed back toward the woods, at the end of our walk.

And so the INPAWS walk at Prairie Creek Barrens ended.  I did not end up with bug bites, Poison Ivy rash or a heat stroke.  But, I did end up with a new knowledge of a place called a “sand barren”, an increase in my store of plant knowledge, and also the knowledge that I had much to learn about grasses, sedges and rushes. 

What I also took along with me was a tremendous appreciation for the work, dedication and love-of-nature of these two individuals: Michael Homoya and Harold Allison.  I sincerely hope that future generations continue these efforts and that Prairie Creek Barrens continues to flourish.

***********************************************************************************

I saw this bumper sticker on the vehicle of one of the walkers, which attests to the breadth of interest, experience and involvement of INPAWS members. 

The organization is Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, with the lovely motto “Healing the Earth One Yard at a Time”.  They are dedicated to encouraging and helping people to transform their lawns to beautiful areas full of native plants that attract and help our native pollinators.

How many Monarch butterflies have you seen this year?

The web site address has changed since this bumper sticker.  The address is now:

http://www.wildones.org

Learn more about the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society and its activities and programs, as well as native and invasive plants, by exploring the web site:

www.inpaws.org

***********************************************************************************

**Plants mentioned on the walk that I am unsure about, or I don’t have photos of them:  Bouteloua curtipendula (Sideoats grama), Calamagrostis canadensis (Blue Joint Grass), Carex oklahomensis (Oklahoma Sedge – endangered in Indiana), Cyperus pseudovegetus (Marsh Flat Sedge), Juncus effusus (Soft Rush/Common Rush), Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem), Sporobolus crytandrus (Sand Dropseed).

**Plants mentioned in the INPAWS Journal article “Partial List of Species Introduced into Prairie Creek Barrens” that are not pictured or mentioned in my article:  Asclepias amplexicaulis (Sand Milkweed), Aster patens (Purple Daisy), Coreopsis tripteris (Tall Tickseed), Desmodium sessilifolium (Sessile-leaved Tick Trefoil), Galactia volubilis (Mississippi Milk Pea), Kuhnia eupatorioides (False Boneset), Lespedeza capitata (Round-headed Bush Clover), Monarda fistulosa (Wild Bergamot), Penstemon calycosus (Smooth Beard Tongue), Sorghastrum mutans (Indian Grass), Sporobolus clandestinus (Rough Rush Grass) and Ratibida pinnata (Yellow Coneflower).

Resources Used:

Ford, Wendy; “Hike Report:  Prairie Creek Barrens”:  http://www.inpaws.org/2013/hike-report-prairie-creek-barrens

“Hike Prairie Creek Barrens Restoration July 27” (information about upcoming INPAWS hike):  http://www.inpaws.org/2013/hike-prairie-creek-barrens-restoration-july-27/

Homoya, Michael; “Restoring Prairie Creek Barrens One Step at a Time”; INPAWS Journal; Vol. 12, #4, Winter 2005-06:  http://www.inpaws.org/images/resources/Journal/PDFs/Winter2005_06.pdf

Knobel, Edward; Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges and Rushes of the United States; Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1980.

Namestnik, Scott; “Southern Indiana Sedgin”; blog: Get Your Botany On; June 28, 2009:  http://www.getyourbotonyon.blogspot.com/2009/06/southern-indiana-sedgin.html

Nichols, Stan, and Lynn Entine; Prairie Primer; University of Wisconsin-Extension (no publication date).

Weeks, Sally S., and Harmon P. Weeks, Jr.; Shrubs and Woody Vines of Indiana and the Midwest: Identification, Wildlife Values, and Landscaping Use; Purdue University Press; West Lafayette, Indiana; 2012.

sources Used;
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111Weeks, Sally S, Harmon P. Weeks, Jr. and George R. Parker; Native Trees of the Midwest: Identification, Wildlife Values, and Landscaping Use; Rev. and Expanded Second Edition; Purdue University Press; West Lafayette, Indina; 2010.

Yatskievych, Kay; Field Guide to Indiana Wildflowers; Indiana University Press; Bloomington, Indiana; 2000.

Various web sites consulted for comparison and identification of species:

www.illinoiswildflowers.info

plants.usda.gov

www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder

Books by Michael A. Homoya:

Orchids of Indiana; Indiana University Press; Bloomington, Indiana; 1993.

Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests: A Field Guide; Indiana University Press; Bloomington, Indiana; 2012.

Books by Harold Allison:

Indiana’s Rare and Unusual Trees; Harold Allison; Washington, Indiana; 1977.

Tragic Saga of the Indiana Indians; Graphic Design of Indiana; 1986.

And ... a special thanks to all whose hands are in the photos - they graciously held plants and seeds for my camera.