2015: Volume 36, Number 1 - Missouri Prairie Foundation

Transcription

s
SPRING
2015
VOLUME 36
NUMBER 1
Missouri Prairie Journal
The Missouri Prairie Foundation MPF Buys 359 Acres in 2014!
MPF 2014 Annual Report
Native Bee & Plant Relationships
Missouri Glade Mapping Project
Natives for Flower Arrangements
1966 – 2016
th
anniversary
campaign
Protecting Native Grasslands
Message from the President
W
NOPPADOL PAOTHONG/MDC
ith a new year underway, it
seems a good time to review
changes to the Missouri
landscape over the last 150 years, and how
we can all work and be involved to ensure
prairie in our future.
Fewer than 120 years ago, Judge C. I.
Robards remembered the prairies around
Bates County, Missouri, not far from where
Doris Sherrick became MPF’s
I live: Flowers that grew spontaneously and
19th president on October
occupied every season from earliest spring to
12, 2014. A retired educator,
Doris is an ardent and active
latest fall, excelled any collection man could
conservationist, devoting much
gather in a life-time…the grass that grew
of her life in retirement to
everywhere was more nutritious than any
volunteer efforts. In addition to
work with the Missouri Prairie
meadow of modern days…But man’s progress
Foundation, Doris is also very
and civilization have destroyed that which can
involved in local conservation
never be reproduced. The plow and the railroad
organizations in Cass County
where she lives.
have developed a different order of things and
whether better or worse, it remains for those
who loved the beautiful prairies to know them only in memory.
— from The Old Settlers’ History of Bates County, Mo. From Its First
Settlement to the First Day of January, 1900.
Only in recent years is the magnitude of the prairies’ secrets being
revealed to us: prairies are nature’s stormwater managers and groundwater
rechargers; they sequester atmospheric carbon in soil; prairies provide vital
habitat for a wide diversity of species including essential native pollinators; they build rich soils with much yet to learn of the relationships of soil
microbes and plants; and they serve as special retreats for people in need of
beautiful places to enjoy and replenish spirits.
We are all very fortunate that nearly 50 years ago a small group of
knowledgeable and committed people realized that prompt action was essential if any of the few remaining parcels of native prairie were to remain for
future generations. Thus the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) was formed.
Since it began in 1966, MPF has been acquiring, protecting, and
promoting prairies and pursuing knowledge to guide prairie management
and restoration. For decades, MPF has promoted the use of native prairie
plants in all forms of landscaping—from individual lawns and businesses to
large-scale agricultural plantings. By taking on the Grow Native! program in
2012, MPF has formalized its commitment to the promotion of natives.
We would not be able to carry out our essential work without the
ongoing financial contributions and participation from you, our members
and friends. You make our work possible.
Our Missouri Prairie Journal is important in our effort to inform and
inspire about the beauty and benefits of prairie. I hope you enjoy this issue,
which includes our 2014 Annual Report and timely articles on prairie plant
and pollinator relationships, and the ongoing challenge sericea lespedeza
poses to prairie and agricultural land—and how we must work together to
reduce its impact.
Doris Sherrick, President
2 Missouri Prairie Journal
Vol. 36 No. 1
The mission of the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF)
is to protect and restore prairie and other
native grassland communities through
acquisition, management, education, and research.
Officers
President Doris Sherrick, Peculiar, MO
Immediate Past President Jon Wingo, Wentzville, MO
Vice President Dale Blevins, Independence, MO
Vice President of Science and Management Bruce Schuette, Troy, MO
Secretary Susan E. Appel, Leawood, KS
Treasurer Laura Church, Kansas City, MO
Directors
Glenn Chambers, Columbia, MO
Brian Edmond, Walnut Grove, MO
Margo Farnsworth, Smithville, MO
Page Hereford, St. Louis, MO
Tim Layton, St. Louis, MO
Scott Lenharth, Nevada, MO
Thomas Martin, Belton, MO
Jan Sassmann, Bland, MO
Bonnie Teel, Rich Hill, MO
David Young, Windsor, MO
Vacancy
Vacancy
Presidential Appointees
John Cable, Rolla, MO
Christine Chiu, Springfield, MO
Sarah Hinman, Springfield, MO
Doug Kappelmann, Rosebud, MO
Active Past Officers
Wayne Morton, M.D., Osceola, MO
Steve Mowry, Trimble, MO
Stanley M. Parrish, Walnut Grove, MO
Van Wiskur, Pleasant Hill, MO
Emeritus
Bill Crawford, Columbia, MO
Bill Davit, Washington, MO
Lowell Pugh, Golden City, MO
Owen Sexton, St. Louis, MO
Technical Advisors
Max Alleger, Clinton, MO
Jeff Cantrell, Neosho, MO
Steve Clubine, Windsor, MO
Dennis Figg, Jefferson City, MO
Mike Leahy, Jefferson City, MO
Dr. Quinn Long, St. Louis, MO
Rudi Roeslein, St. Louis, MO
James Trager, Pacific, MO
Staff
Carol Davit, Executive Director and Missouri Prairie Journal Editor,
Jefferson City, MO
Richard Datema, Prairie Operations Manager, Springfield, MO
Contents
Spring
Editor: Carol Davit,
1311 Moreland Ave.
Jefferson City, MO 65101
phone: 573-356-7828
[email protected]
2015 VOLUME 36, NUMBER 1
Designer: Tracy Ritter
Technical Review: Mike Leahy,
Bruce Schuette
Proofing: Doris and Bob Sherrick
The Missouri Prairie Journal
is mailed to Missouri Prairie
Foundation members as a benefit
of membership. Please contact the
editor if you have questions about
or ideas for content.
16
4
2
Message from the President
4
2014 Annual Report
By Carol Davit
14
50th Anniversary Campaign Update
By Carol Davit
16
20
26
Native Bee-Plant Relationships
on Missouri Prairies
By Mike Arduser
19
MPF Prairie Bee Survey
By Mike Arduser
20
Mapping Missouri’s Glades
By Paul Nelson
26
Grow Native!
Native Plants for Flower Arrangements
By Linda Hezel
29
Jeff Cantrell’s Education on the Prairie
30
Steve Clubine’s Native Warm-Season Grass News
34
Prairie Postings
Back cover Calendar of Events
Regular membership dues to
MPF are $35 a year. To become a
member, to renew, or to give a
free gift membership when you
renew, send a check to
MEMBERSHIP ADDRESS:
Missouri Prairie Foundation
c/o Martinsburg Bank
P.O. Box 856
Mexico, MO 65265-0856
or become a member on-line at
www.moprairie.org
General e-mail address
[email protected]
Toll-free number
1-888-843-6739
www.moprairie.org
Questions about your membership
or donation? Contact Jane
Schaefer, who administers
MPF’s membership database at
[email protected].
On the cover:
A sweat bee species
(Lasioglossum
pruinosum) on purple
prairie clover (Dalea
purpurea), collecting
nectar to sustain itself,
and pollen on its legs
to feed bee larvae. Of
all Missouri’s natural
communities, prairies
are the most important
habitat for native bees,
supporting at least 200
of the state’s estimated
400 species of native
bees. See page 16 for
more. Photo by Chris
Helzer/The Nature
Conservancy.
Vol. 36 No. 1 Missouri Prairie Journal
#81779
#8426
3
2014 MPF
annual report
Three Tracts of Land Purchased in 2014!
Vol. 36 No. 1
BRUCE SCHUETTE PHOTOS
T
he Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) gratefully
acknowledges the generosity of all supporters who
not only enabled MPF to carry out an impressive
amount of prairie stewardship and outreach and educational
programming in 2014, but also to buy three additional tracts
of land. With these new acquisitions, MPF now owns more
than 3,000 acres. In an era of rapidly dwindling original
prairie resources and competition for cropland and other
development, this is a huge accomplishment.
In May 2014, with a $162,495 award from a mining
mitigation settlement administered by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources, MPF purchased 8.1 acres in the City of Joplin,
and will restore/reconstruct prairie on the land. In 2019, MPF
will deed the tract to the City of Joplin, which will make the
property part of its park system.
In October 2014, MPF was able to purchase a
magnificent, original prairie gem: the 171-acre property
owned and cared for by the Cox family in Lawrence County
for decades. The property—now called Linden’s Prairie—was
purchased thanks to $220,826 from the 2012 estate gift to
MPF from the late Ms. Linden Trial and also a $100,000 gift
from the Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family Foundation. A June 13,
2015 dedication is planned.
In November 2014, MPF purchased 180 acres—which
include 86 acres of original, dry-mesic, chert sandstone prairie
and prairie swale communities—from a private individual in
Vernon County, immediately north of MPF’s Denison Prairie
and very close to MPF’s Lattner Prairie. An award of $540,000
from The Conservation Fund and a small portion of a $20,000
Land Acquisition Fund donation from MPF member Edgar
Schmidt made the purchase possible. The total combined size
of Lattner, Denison, and this new acquisition—called Pleasant
Run Creek Prairie—is 620 acres. A June 20, 2015 dedication is
planned.
The financial support MPF received in 2014 brought
the organization closer to its 50th Anniversary goals, as well.
We hope you will take part in the many anniversary giving
opportunities MPF is making available to you in 2015, and
that you can attend the dedications of our new prairies and
our other events planned for this year. Thank you, prairie
supporters!
—Carol Davit
Executive Director & Missouri Prairie Journal Editor
Above, clockwise from top left, is a stand of splitbeard bluestem
(Andropogon ternarius) at MPF’s new Pleasant Run Creek Prairie, and royal
catchfly (Silene regia) and green eyes (Berlandiera texana) at MPF’s new
Linden’s Prairie. On facing page is sensitive briar (Mimosa quadravalis)
and other wildflowers at MPF’s Stark Prairie, acquired in 2013.
Welcome,
New Board Members!
At the 2014 Annual Meeting on October 11, members voted
to add new directors Thomas Martin and Tim Layton to the
MPF board. Christine Chiu, John Cable, Sarah Hinman, and
Doug Kappelmann have joined the board as presidential
appointees.
At its October 12, 2014 meeting, the board of directors
elected the slate of officers for the coming year: Doris
Sherrick, President; Dale Blevins, Vice President; and
Susan Appel, Secretary. Bruce Schuette remains the Vice
President of Science and Management and Laura Church
as the Treasurer. Jon Wingo, moving to the Immediate Past
President slot, remains an officer. See page 2 for the roster of
all board members.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2014 WORK
Prairie
Stewardship
HOW MPF USED FUNDING TO CONSERVE PRAIRIE AND
PROVIDE NATIVE PLANT EDUCATION IN 2014*
Administration:
Membership and Fundraising
6.6%
13.1%
Outreach, Education, Research,
and Grow Native! Program
Prairie Management,
Property Taxes, and Insurance
29.6%
50.7%
Programmatic Expenses
80.3%
* In 2014, MPF spent $97,628.69 to purchase land in Joplin; $320,826.55 to purchase Linden’s
Prairie, and $541,525.17 to purchase Pleasant Run Creek Prairie. These funds are accounted for in the
revenue chart below, and from restricted funds received from the bequest of Ms. Linden Trial in 2012
and 2013. Because these land purchases are not depreciable expenses, they are not included in the
expense chart above.
MPF 2014 SOURCES OF FUNDING
Merchandise, Seed, and Plant Sales
USDA Payments
BRUCE SCHUETTE
2.8%
2.3%
Grow Native! Program
3.3%
Membership dues and other
donations by individuals
• Managed more than 2,600 acres of
MPF-owned prairie—including invasive species control and prescribed
burning—and provided management
services on several partner prairies.
Stewardship included dramatic tree
clearing at MPF’s Stilwell Prairie to
expand prairie habitat at this amazing, 376-acre property, and clearing
of woody growth and treatment of
invasive plant species at MPF’s new
acquisition in Joplin.
Rent, Annual Dinner and
other Fundraising Events
Investment Income
1.8%
1%
Grants
68.6%
20.2%**
** Membership dues and other donations by individuals are critical to our work; if large grants
received for land purchases in 2014 were not counted in total revenue, membership dues and
other donations by individuals would equal 52.6% of total 2014 revenue. Other revenue source
percentages would also be higher.
STAN PARRISH
• Formed a partnership with the Laura
Ingalls Wilder History Home and
Museum in Mansfield, MO, to reconstruct six acres of prairie so visitors can
experience the native grasses and wildflowers that Laura Ingalls Wilder loved
so much.
• Engaged the services of native bee
expert Mike Arduser to carry out pollinator surveys on several MPF prairies.
Arduser found several rare bee species,
underscoring how important these
prairies are for pollinators.
• Funded a botanical assessment of
MPF’s Penn-Sylvania Prairie, conducted by the Institute for Botanical
Training (IBT). During their sampling
they recorded the highest diversity in
a ¼-meter square plot anywhere in the
state IBT has ever surveyed.
MPF Prairie Operations Manager Richard Datema seeded prairie grass and wildflower species at a sixacre prairie reconstruction at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum in December 2014.
5
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Now in its 49th year, MPF has
acquired more than 3,770
acres of prairie for permanent
protection. With the conveyance
of more than 700 of those acres
to the Missouri Department of
Conservation, MPF currently
owns more than 3,000 acres in
18 tracts of land, clears trees on
properties neighboring MPF land
to expand grassland habitat, and
provides management services for
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Presettlement Prairie. Of these original 15 million acres, fewer than 90,000 acres remain.
SUSANFARRINGTON
Ecologists rank temperate grasslands—which include Missouri’s tallgrass prairies—as the
least conserved, most threatened major terrestrial habitat type on earth. Prairie protection
efforts in Missouri, therefore, are not only essential to preserving our state’s natural
heritage, but also are significant to national and even global conservation work. MPF is the
only organization in the state whose land conservation efforts are dedicated exclusively to
prairie and other native grasslands.
CAROL DAVIT PHOTOS
ANNUAL REPORT
2014
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• Carried out our second full year of the
successful Grow Native! program; see
facing page for highlights.
• Awarded the third MPF Prairie
Gardens Grant to Wanda Gray
Elementary School in Springfield.
• Gave away more than 4,000 native
milkweed and nectar plants to citizens
to help monarch butterflies.
• Organized many events free and open
to the public, including MPF’s Fifth
Annual Prairie BioBlitz at Gayfeather
Prairie and many other free hikes and
tours at native grasslands around the
state.
• Produced three issues of the Missouri
Prairie Journal sent to members, elected officials, schools, teachers, landowners, and conservation leaders.
• Gave many presentations on prairie
and native plants to garden clubs
and other groups, and had a presence at Whole Foods® Markets, the
Springfield Butterfly Festival, LUSH
Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, the
Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative
Conference, and many other events.
• Organized three fundraising events:
the MPF annual dinner—which was
also our 50th Anniversary Campaign
kick-off dinner—featuring Dr. Peter
H. Raven, President Emeritus of the
Missouri Botanical Garden, on August
23; the Grow Native! Field Tour,
thanks to MPF members Becky
and Bill Ambrose, on June
21; and the Prairies
& Pollinators
Benefit on June
26. Together, the
fundraising events
netted more than
$13,500 for MPF.
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Clockwise from top, MPF members and guests enjoyed a hike to the top of Barnett
Mountain in Shannon County in October 2014, led by MPF members Susan Farrington
and Dan Drees. Shaw Nature Reserve Prairie Day visitors enjoyed MPF’s “Tiny
Treasures of the Prairie” booth. MPF gives a huge thank you to members Bill and
Becky Ambrose, who sponsored a tour of their Maries County property and a picnic as
a fundraising event for MPF. The Ambroses have restored glades, planted native forage for cattle, and protected Little Tavern Creek by planting native trees and shrubs.
Grow Native!
Program
Activity
In 2014, MPF carried out the second
full year of its Grow Native! program. In
2012, MPF was chosen by the Missouri
Department of Conservation to become
the new home of the native plant education and marketing program, whose
goals are to increase the supply of and
demand for native plants in the built
environment and altered landscapes.
The work of the Grow Native! program
is overseen by a committee of dedicated
native plant advocates and native plant
industry professionals. Highlights of
Grow Native! activity in 2014:
• Organization of three successful
native landscaping workshops:
Converting Fescue to Native Grasses
and Wildflowers in Columbia, MO;
Advanced Native Plant Design in
Springfield, MO; and Identification
and Control of Invasive Plants in
Gray Summit, MO, and a Grow
Native! series of native landscaping
talks at the Western Landscaping and
Nurserymen’s Trade Show.
• Submission of native landscaping
articles throughout the year to Missouri
Ruralist, Kansas City Gardener, and
Ozark Living magazines, and publication of three native landscaping articles
in the Missouri Prairie Journal.
• Native plant outreach at many events,
including the Missouri Landscape and
CAROL DAVIT
Many Thanks to
2015 Grow Native!
Sponsors
Many thanks to the presenters at all 2014
Grow Native! workshops. Above, from left, are
Horticulturist Scott Woodbury, Director John
Behrer, and Naturalist Dr. James Trager of
Shaw Nature Reserve; MPF Technical Advisor
and Missouri Botanical Garden botanist Dr.
Quinn Long; and MPF Technical Advisor and
Missouri Department of Conservation ecologist
Mike Leahy, who, along with MPF Immediate
Past President Jon Wingo, were presenters at
the Invasive Species Identification and Control
Workshop.
Nursery Association’s Nuts and Bolts
Continuing Education Conference,
the statewide Master Gardeners’
Conference, Kansas City Lawn
and Garden Show, Edgar Denison
Celebration in Kirkwood, and the
Turfgrass and Ornamental Field
Day at the University of MissouriColumbia.
• Successful Grow Native! professional
member conference in November
2014.
• Creation of Top Ten native plant
lists for specific landscaping purposes,
available at www.grownative.org,
Native Plant Info.
• Distribution of nearly 15,000 copies of
the 2014 Grow Native! Resource Guide
statewide and elsewhere in the lower
Midwest.
• Grow Native! plant sale in partnership with Runge Conservation Nature
Center, Jefferson City.
• Sale of more than 100,000 Grow
Native! plant tags to Grow Native!
professional members.
MPF’s Grow Native! program includes a
professional membership component,
whereby members’ annual dues support the
activity of the program, and the program
helps market the products and services of
the members, as well as provides member
educational benefits.
In 2014, 87 businesses, educational institutions,
organizations, municipalities, and others
renewed or became new members for 2015 at
the $100 or $150 membership levels, or at one
of several higher sponsorship levels.
MPF thanks all members and would like to
give special recognition to these generous
sponsors:
Grow Native! Champion Sponsor ($2,000):
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Grow Native! Platinum Sponsors ($1,000):
Anonymous
Forrest Keeling Nursery
Greenscape Gardens
Missouri Department of Conservation
Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
Native Landscape Solutions, Inc.
St. Louis Composting
Grow Native! Gold Sponsors ($500):
Bohn’s Farm & Greenhouses
Bohn’s Farm & Greenhouses, St. Louis Sales
Office
Grow Native! Contributing Sponsors: ($250):
Applied Ecological Services, St. Louis
Critical Site Products, Inc.
Gaylena’s Garden
Green Thumb Gardens/Down to Earth Services
Landscape & Nursery Association of Greater
St. Louis
National Nursery Products, St. Louis
Suburban Lawn and Garden
7
2014 Grow Native! Ambassador Award
JEN SWEET
The Grow Native! program annually recognizes an
individual who has made outstanding contributions to
the advancement of the use and promotion of native
plants in the built environment and altered landscapes.
Recognition is awarded in the form of the Grow
Native! Ambassador Award.
At the 2014 Grow Native! professional member
conference in November, Grow Native! Committee
Chair Betty Grace, left, announced that Terry
Winkelmann of St. Louis had been selected to receive
the 2014 Grow Native! Ambassador Award.
Winkelmann is the founder of the St. Louis
Sustainable Backyard Tour, now gearing up for its fifth annual event. The Sustainable
Backyard Tour gives citizens of all walks of life and ages the opportunity to visit private and school gardens throughout the St. Louis metro area and get their questions
answered first-hand about creating and maintaining healthy, green outdoor spaces.
The free, self-guided tour demonstrates the many ways St. Louis-area residents
can utilize their yards in a more eco-friendly, sustainable way to provide food for
their families, wildlife habitat, relaxation and visual appeal, all the while minimizing impacts to the environment and maximizing the use of native, sustainable plants.
Tour sites showcase a range of green living practices, including low-impact lawn care,
composting and creative use of recycled materials, organic gardening, chicken and
beekeeping, gardening with native plants, mushrooms, fruit and nut trees, as well as
rainwater conservation, pesticide and herbicide use reduction, renewable energy production, and backyard habitat creation.
The fourth annual tour was held June 22, 2014, and included 47 sites, 30 of them
featuring native plants. Nearly 2,300 people went on the tour. The 2015 tour will be
held June 14, 2015. For more information, visit www.sustainablebackyardtour.com.
Congratulations, Terry Winkelmann, and thank you for being an ambassador for
natives!
If you would like a free copy of the 2015
Grow Native! Resource Guide to native
plant products and services, please send
a message to associate@woodybibens.
com or call 314-690-3620. Large supplies are also available to give away at
conferences, garden club meetings, and
other events.
2014
BETTY STRUCKHOFF
ANNUAL REPORT
2014 Native Landscape Challenge
Vol. 36 No. 1
The annual Landscape Challenge, jointly sponsored by Grow Native!, Shaw Nature
Reserve, and the St. Louis Chapter of Wild Ones, has once again marked the
changing season and another year. The contest was held in Kirkwood, which earlier in
the year had celebrated the achievements of the late Edgar Denison, the well known
native plant enthusiast. Carrie Coyne represented Grow Native! in the selection
process, which required choosing a winner—Lisa Wilhelm—from among the dozen
applicants.
Planting day was September 27, 2014. Early in the morning, Scott Woodbury of
Shaw Nature Reserve arrived with a truckload of mulch. Wild Ones member Jeanne
Cablish was super organized with the design and the plants and quickly put a crew of
Wild Ones volunteers to work. The homeowners were delightful to meet, the coffee
and bagels were plentiful, and their teenage son helped us throughout the morning.
The event concluded with the traditional group photo of lots of dirty hands. Then
Ed Schmidt, MPF and Wild Ones member, presented homeowner Lisa Wilhelm with
Dave Tylka’s book, Native Landscaping for Wildlife and People. It will be their guide to
years of enjoyment.
—Ed Schmidt
Thank you, MPF Members and Other
Supporters Who Made Contributions in 2014
Thank you, 2014 Grantors!
MPF is grateful to all individuals, agencies, private
foundations and other organizations for their support
in 2014. Several grantors made significant awards
and grants that made three acquisitions and much
stewardship possible.
MPF would like to especially recognize The
Conservation Fund for its $540,000 award that made the
purchase of MPF’s 180-acre Pleasant Run Creek Prairie
possible. Clint Miller of The Conservation Fund, who
reviewed MPF’s proposal, said “The Conservation Fund is
delighted we could help the Missouri Prairie Foundation
secure this important site.”
MPF would also like to thank:
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri
Department of Natural Resources, who administered
a $162,495 award from a mining mitigation settlement
for the purchase of land in Joplin.
• The Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family Foundation, for its
$100,000 grant that helped make the purchase of
Linden’s Prairie possible.
• The Edward K. Love Conservation Foundation, for its
grant of $25,000, directed to prairie stewardship.
• Missouri Bird Conservation Initiative, for $20,000 in
grant funds for restoration work at MPF’s Stilwell Prairie.
• Wildlife Diversity Fund grants totaling $17,500 for
invasive species control on prairies owned by MPF,
Missouri Department of Conservation, The Nature
Conservancy, Kansas City Parks and Recreation, Powell
Gardens, and individual private prairie landowners.
• LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, for a grant of
$16,840 to support production of the Missouri Prairie
Journal.
• Wildlife Diversity Fund grant of $12,750 for pollinator
surveys on Missouri Department of Conservation land.
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners for Private
Land, for $10,000 for restoration work at MPF’s Stilwell
Prairie.
• The Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation, for
$5,000 for restoration work at MPF’s Stilwell Prairie.
• The National Wild Turkey Federation, for a grant of
$2,295 to support a prairie management equipment
purchase.
• The Ozark Regional Land Trust (ORLT), for $1,000 to
help support MPF’s work at ORLT’s Woods Prairie.
• The Audubon Society of Missouri for $371.60 in
support of prairie bird surveys.
$35,000 to $99,000
Rudi Roeslein, Roeslein
Alternative Energy LLC
$20,000 to $34,999
Edgar Schmidt
$10,000 to $19,999
Ronald and Suzanne Berry
$5,000 to $9,999
Anonymous
Warren and Susan Lammert
Margaret Holyfield and
Maurice Meslans
Susan Lordi Marker
$2,500 to $4,999
James and Charlene Jackson
Doris and Bob Sherrick
$1,000 to $2,499
Anonymous
Anonymous
Charlotte Adelman and
Bernard Schwartz
Susan Appel
Mark Belwood
Dale and Marla Blevins
Alan Branhagen
Anna and Don Case-Slawsky
Laura Church
Karen and Paul Cox
Bill Crawford
Richard and Eleanor Dawson
Mrs. Henry (Nancy) Day
Leo and Kay Drey
Susan Dyer
Margo Farnsworth and
Jim Pascoe
Wes Fordyce
James and Joan Garrison
Roberta Gilbreath
Francine Glass
Bonnie Goldberg
Dennis Gredell and
Lori Wohlschlaeger
Robert and Cathleen Hansen
Galen and Grace Hasler
Rusty and Prae Hathcock
Dave and Tanya Haubein
Wallace H. Jerome Foundation
Brian Lee Johnson
Mary Khoury
Robert and Barbara Kipfer
Lea and Dennis Langdon
Ann and Dan Liles
Curtis and Ann H. Long
David Mesker and
Dorothy Haase
Gina Miller
Patricia and John Mort
Wayne Morton
Barbara Oelke
Kei and Susan Pang
Stanley and Susan Parrish
Terence Raterman
F. Leland Russell and
Mary Jameson
Walter and Marie Schmitz
Richard and Karen Thom
Linden Trial Estate
$500 to $999
John Besser and Cathy Richter
Leona Lee Bohm
Mark Brodkey
Community Foundation of the
Ozarks
George Deatz
Robert Elworth
Rebecca Erickson
Friends of the Garden
Margaret Gilleo
Bucky Green
James and Marilyn Hebenstreit
Cynthia Hobart
Cécile Lagandré and
Dave VanDyne
James and Nancy Martin
John and Constance McPheeters
John Moore
Richard Moore and Linda Hezel
Roger and Anita Randolph
Winnie Runge-Stribling and
Charles Stribling
David and Judy Young
$250 to $499
Joan E. Adam
John and Agnes Baldetti
Robert and Linda Ballard
John and Nancy Cable
John Camp
Bob and Sara Caulk, Fayetteville
Natural Heritage
Bibie Chronwall and
Stephen Morris
Suzanne Crandall
Ronald and Sue Dellbringge
Ann Earley and Bob Siemer
Brian Edmond and
Michelle Bowe
Federated Garden Clubs of
Missouri, Inc.
Cheryl and Chuck Fletcher
Savannah and William Furman
Jim Hull
Larry Hummel
Lance and Pat Jessee
Joseph Jezak
Frank and Theresa Johnson
George Kambouris
Arvil Kappelmann
Janet Koester
Robert and Mary Kraft
John and Nancy Lewis
Maurice and Ernesta Lonsway
Julia Marsden
John and Anita O’Connell
Kurt and Judith Odendahl
Larry O’Reilly
Emily Pulitzer
Simon and Vicki Pursifall
Stan and Audrey Putthoff
Gordon and Barbara Risk
Caroline and Bill Sant
Marvin and Lois Schuette
Dave and Mary Sturdevant
James Sullivan
Charles and Nancy Van Dyke
W. Randall Washburn
Mark Willard Charitable Trust
Sue Ann Wright
$100 to $249
Anonymous Contributions to
the Monarch Challenge
Rose Allison and Nicholas Kyle
Bill Ambrose
Richard Armstrong
Alan and Mary Atterbury
John and James Barnhardt
Joann and Daniel Barklage
Joe Bassler
Anastasia Becker
Pat Behle
Arther Benson
Jerry and Linda Benson
William Berthold
Irene Bettinger
Dan and Jenny Blesi
Peter Bloch
Ron Boudouris
William Bowman
Bettye Boyd
John Brennan
Mary Bumgarner
Jeffrey Cantrell
Glenn Chambers
Devin and Glenda Chandler
Doyle Childers
Linda Chorice
Louis Clairmont and
Deborah Barker
Robert Clearwater
Raymond Coffey
Cyndi Cogbill
Fred and Nancy Coombs
Juliet Coyne
John Crouch
Jo Anna Dale
William Danforth
Dolly Darigo
Duane Dassow
William and Arlene Davis
Kevin and Janet Day
Dale Dermott
Jill DeWitt and Charles Wurrey
Harold Draper
Ethan Duke and Dana Ripper,
Missouri River Bird
Observatory
Max Elliott
James and Cynthia Felts
E. B. and Dorothy Feutz
Dennis Figg
Mary Fink
Kevin Firth
Martin Fitzgerald
Forrest Keeling Nursery
Betty and Jim Forrester
Robert Fuerst
Timothy Fuhrman
Dale Funk
Robert Garrecht
Gary and Lillian Giessow
Bob Gillespie
Junette Gist
Jackie Goetz
Ellen Sue Goodman,
Bluejay Farm
Nelson Greenlund
Lloyd Gross
Randy Haas
Thomas Hall
9
2014
ANNUAL REPORT
MPF Members and Other Supporters Who
Made Contributions in 2014 Continued
Natalie Halpin
Rex and Amy Hamilton
Joe Hampel
Mel Harness
John Harris and
Denise Pimkerton
Ted Harris
Rex Hill
Alan Hillard
Katherine Hoggard
Joe Holland
Mike Holley
Penny Holtzmann
Bob Hotfelder
Carol and Mark Hunt
Robert Hurst
Tom and Anne Hutton
Elizabeth Jackson
Dave and Tammy Jahnke
William James
Robert and Joan Jefferson
Tom Jegla
Kay and Betty Johnson
Paul Johnson
Vicki Johnson
Leslie Jordon
Doug Kappelmann
Anthony and Mariden Kassab
Buck and Patricia Keagy
Stu Keck
Duane and Cosette Kelly
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Kern
Robin Kern
John and Deborah Killmer
David Kirk
Janet Kister and David Wolfe
Gary Klearman
Lesley Knowles
Roger and Lynda Koenke
Keith and Kuniko Kretzmer
Russ and Kim Krohn
Linda Labrayere
Doug and Deborah Ladd
Tim Layton and Julie Scaglione
Mark and Mary Leeker
Michelle Liberton
Theresa and Joseph Long
Carolyn and Joseph Losos
Gretchen and Lynn Loudermilk
Dennis and Kathy Lubbs
Barbara Lucks
Ronald W. and Margie Lumpe
Steve and Diane Lumpkin
Roger Maddux and
Cynthia Hildebrand
Tom and Evelyn Mangan
Dennis and Tina Markwardt
Ford Maurer
Gayla May
Doug and Beth Martin
Marty and Sara McCambridge
Tom and Phebe McCutcheon
Pat and Peter McDonald
Rosa McHenry
Judy McKinnon
Terry and Ellen Meier
Gary Meints and
Michelle Reinmiller
Stephen Merlo
Walter and Cynthia Metcalfe
Kristine Metter
John and Laverna Meyer
Phillip and Pearl Miller
Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
Richard and Carol Mock
Monsanto Matching Gifts
Program
William and Mary Moran
Lydia Mower
Vol. 36 No. 1
Dean and Bette Murphy
J. Sarah Myers and
Dennis O’Brien
Paul and Suzanne Nauert
Thompson Nelson and
Lorraine Gordon
Mary Nemecek
Barbara and Wade Newman
Doris Neihoff
Thomas and Lynn Noyes
Mary Jo Ostenberg
Harry O’Toole
John and Mary Parks
Nancy and Kent Parrish
Bob and Pat Perry
Glenn and Ilayna Pickett
Jeanie Scott Pillen
Joel Pratt
Lowell and Betty Pugh
Stacy Pugh-Towe and
Monte Towe
Nancy Reynolds
Tracy Ritter
Eileen Robb
Mark Robbins
Marc and Becky Romine
Randy Rosiere
Gretchen Ross
Paul Ross
Sebastian Rueckert
Michael Rues and
Ann Wakeman
Molly and John Rundquist
Robert Sabin
Thomas Saladin
Charles Salveter
David Sanford
Bruce and Jan Sassmann
Kevin and Tosca Schaberg
Arlene Segal
Owen Sexton
Jane Schaefer
Michael Sherraden
Steven and Christine Sheriff
Jean and Jim Shoemaker
John Skelton
Charles and Charlotte Skornia
Deanna Staehling
Alistar and Karen Stahlhut
Marvin and Karen Staloch
Richard and Nelda Steel
Warren Stemme
Leisa and Tony Stevens
Larry Stock
Dave and Mary Sturdevant
Rheba Symeonoglou
Bonnie Teel
Judith Tharp
Nadia and Randy Tindall
Michael Todt
Nancy Tongren
James and Jan Trager
Michael Trial
Mike and Kathy Trier
Andy Tribble
Staria Vanderpool
Henk and Anita Van Der Werff
Thomas Vaughn
Matt Vitello
Kelly Walters
Robert Warren
Henry and Susan Warshaw
Samuel Watts
Mary and Steve Weinstein
Lori Wilson
Van and Margaret Wiskur
Rip Yasinski and Trish Quintenez
Glynn Young
Bob Ziehmer
$50 to $99
Janice Albers
Thomas Alexander and
Laura Rogers
Kathleen and Harold Anderson
Carl Armontrout
Toni Armstrong and
Richard Spener
Robert Arrowsmith
Lisa Bakerink
Kent and Patty Bankus
Ralph Barker and
Margaret Vandeven
Anne Barnstead-Klos
Jennifer Battson Warren
Bauer Equity Partners
Patricia Bellington
Nick and Denise Bertram
Anita Berwanger
William and Dianne Blankenship
Alice Bloch and Frank Flinn
Irving and Melody Boime
Linda and Dale Bourg
Dennis Bozzay
William and Joan Brock
William and Sibylla Brown
Denise Brubaker
Sandra Brumfield
Jo and Kelly Bryant
Fred and Susan Burk
Mike Burk and Joan Groff
Penney Bush-Boyce
Gary Busiek
James and Anne Campbell
Donald and Delores Cannon
Harvey and Francine Cantor
Dale and Connie Carpentier
Tom Carr
Dan Cass
Thomas and Marilyn Carroll
David and Ann Catlin
Danny and Mona Caylor
Hilary David Chapman
James Clark
Steve and Debbie Clark
Diane Cobb, Alpha Chiropractic
Center, Inc.
Virginia Burns Cromer
Paul and Martha Cross
Michael Cullinan
Wray and Doris Darr
Sue Davis
Bill and Joyce Davit
Carol Davit and Mike Leahy
Trent Dennis
Valerie and Ron Dent
Mary and Wallace Diboll
Donald Dick
Janet Dickerson
David and Carla Dods
Dee Dokken
Denny and Martha Donnell
Mike Doyen
Carolyn Doyle
Joyce Driemeyer
John Eckhardt
Earl and Darryl Edwards
Marguerite and James Ellis
Neil and Irene Ellis
Theresa Enderle
Danny Engelage
Sally Erickson
Spencer Ernst
Joe Fearn
Jean and Kevin Feltz
Suzanne Fischer
Ted and Julie Fisher
Mary Foley
Larry and Pam Foresman
Gretta Forrester and
Walker Gaffney
Inge Maria Foster
Sally and Howard Fulweiler
David Galat
Thomas Ganfield
Stan and Suzanne Gentry
John George
Joseph Godi
Deborah Good
Gerald and Anita B. Gorman
Karen Gray
Darin Groll
David and Ann Gulick
Chris and Pam Gumper
Michael and Kathryn Haggans
Jerry and Linda Haley
Kenneth and Cleo Hamilton
Melanie Haney
Marilyn Harlan
Trevor Harris and Lisa Groshong
Jo Ellen Hart
Marie Hasan
Mick and Janie Hayden
Donald and Ina Hays
Susan Hazelwood
Ann Henning
Kerry Herndon
Roger and Nancy Hershey
Michael and Jeanne Hevesy
Mary Ann and
Ronald Hill USN (Ret)
Dana Hoisington
Sue and Steve Holcomb
Kathleen and Lawrence Horgan
Gary Jackson
Bernie and Sally Jezak
G. D. and Penny Johnson
Margaret and Henry Kaltenthaler
John Karel
Fred Kautt
Lisa Keilholz
Christi Kinder
Laurie Kleen
Flo Klenklen
Roger and Fran Koch
Linda Kocher
Scott and Cindy Kranz
Robert and Maureen Kremer
Robin and Mike Kruse
Jean Kuntz
Debbie and James Laemmli
Alberto and Judith Lambayan
Leona Lambert-Suchet
Jerrold and Harriet Lander
Dean and Dianna Laswell
Bob Lee
Jim and Suzanne Lehr
Linda Lehrbaum
Scott Lenharth
Rae and Joan Letsinger
Steven Linford
Craig Lingle
Quinn and Melissa Long
Glenn and Judith Longworth
Patricia Luedders
Chandan and Banti Mahanta
Paul Mahoney and
Jeanne Erickson
Randall Mardis
Thomas Martin
Richard Matt
Marcel Maupin
Ric and Jean Mayer
Carol and Paul McAllister
Sherry McBride
Bill and Brenda McGuire
Tom McGraw and Elizabeth
Prindable
Mark McHenry
Larry and Belinda Mechlin
Gary and Carole Mehl
Holly Mehl
Larry Melton
M. M. Merideth
Dale and Beverly Mermoud
Kathleen Metter
Brad Meyer
Elizabeth Meyers
Cheryl Miller
Shella Monk
William and Nancy Moss
Steve Mowry
Phyllis Murphy
Lisa and Robert Nansteel
David and Karma Nees
Greg Newell
David Newkirk
Justin Newman and
Elizabeth Leis-Newman
Krista Noel
Burton Noll
Orbie Overly
James and Mary Pandjiris
Nancy and Michael Pawol
Vincent and Jane Perna
Nathaniel and Juanita Peters
M. June Pfefer
Mark Phipps
Joel Picus
Paul Pike
Allen Piles
Ray Poninski
Wayne and Linda Porath
Dick and Donna Pouch
Anne Premont
Caroline Pufalt
Allan Puplis
Susan Pyle
Edward Quinn
David Read
Jim Rhodes and
Stephanie Sigala
Margie Richards
Thomas Richter
Cheryl Ricke
Bill and Emily Robertson
Richard and Marie Robertson
John Roeslein
Jason and Amy Rogers
George Rose
Robert Rothrock
Gail and Thomas Rowley
Russell and Ann Runge
Mark Ryan and
Carol Mertensmeyer
Douglas and Jeanette Salzman
John and Dori Samson
Jackie Schirn
David and Alice Schlessinger
Steve Schnarr
Dave and Angela Schneider
Lorraine Schraut
Walter Schroeder
Mike and Rose Schulte
Don and Deb Schultehenrich
Noel George and Connie Seek
Robert Semb
John and Jacquelyn Settlage
Jerry Shatto
Charles and Mary Sheppard
William Shields
Dale Shriver and Judith Rogers
Alan and June Siegerist
Ted and Beth Slegesky
Mary Smidt
Christine Smith and
George Fuson
Eleanor Smith and
James Droesch
Mike Smith and
Maria Brady-Smith
Robert Smith
Stephen Smith
Suzi Spoon
George Stalker and
Jean Keskulla
Straub Family
Robert Strickler
Mark Strothmann
Mary Stuppy
Christine and Rocky Swiger
Jessica Taggart
Justin and Dana Thomas
Lydia Toth
Dennis and Adele Tuchler
Aaron and Tracy Twombly
David and Jennifer Urich
Matthew Van Dyke
Jim Van Eman
Jane Van Sant
David Waltemath
Richard Watson
Dawn Weber
Fred and Jan Weisenborn
Jim Wells
Thomas Wendel and
Deborah Butterfli
Rad Widmer
Linda Williams
James and Evelyn Wilson
Karen Wilson
James Winn
Elizabeth Winters-Rozema
Howard Wood
Teresa Woody and Rik Siro
Dalton Wright
Becky Wylie
Martha and Douglas Younkin
$35 to $49
Marian Abrams
Karen Adams
Jan and Lyle Alderson
Tom and Cathy Aley
Kathy Allen
Russell Allen
Alan and Paula Alshouse
David and Sandra Alspaugh
Cliff Amos
Denise Anderson
Michelle Anderson
Nancy Jo Appel
Darlene Arnett
David Austin
Cathy Backs, Grace the Earth
Foundation
Roy Bailey
Debra Jo and Barry Baker
Byron Baker, Baker Brothers
Farm
Robert and Ruby Ball
Carol Ballard
Timothy Banek
Phyllis Banks
Steven Barco
John and Emmi Bay
Lesa Beamer
Jack Beckett
John and Carole Behrer
Margaret Bergfeld
Larry and Sarah Berglund
Casey Bergthold
Sarah Bibens
Linda Bishop
Kevin and Mistie Bley
David Bloomberg
Don Bohler
Jo Ann Bonadonna
Dennis and Kathleen Bopp
John S. and Laura L. Bosnak
Beverly Boucher
David Bradley and C. McGennis
George and Nancy Brakhage
Charles Bramlage
Jim Braswell, Show-Me-Nature
Photography
Shirley Braunlich and
Peggy Robinson
Dennis Brewer
Bill Brighoff
Mike and Martha Brooks
Glenn Brown
James and Erma Brown
Julie Brown
Jennifer and William Browning
John Brueggemann
Amy and Mike Buechler
Eric Buehler
Tom and Ellen Burkemper
Casey Burks
Linda Burns and Chuck Mason
Bob Burton
Steve Burton
John and Mary Ann Callen
Ivy and Don Canole
Jerry and Linda Castillon
Charlie and Zoe Caywood
Phyllis Chancellor
Michael Cheek
Linda and Jack Childers
Christine Chiu
Jim and Brenda Christ
Eric and Diane Christensen
Joe and Ginny Church
Bill and Dolores Clark
Elaine Clark
James Clark
Steve Clubine
Ron Colatskie
Betsy Collins
Stevie Collins
Becky Connor
Katherine Connor
Liz Copeland
Kate Corwin
Christopher Crabtree
Steve Craig and Amy Short
Gerry Crawford
Donald Culwell
Eric Cunningham
Rupert Cutler
Larry Daniel
William Dark Photography
Byron Davenport
Joyce Davenport
Nicholas Day
Richard and Susan Day
Gail DeGunia
Joseph and Carmen Dence
John Dengler and
Carol Shoptaugh
J. Brock Diener
John Dillingham
Damien Dixon
William Dreyer
Judith Dudley
Jennifer and David Dunn
Kate Durham, Durham Designs
Joe and Betty Dwigans
Harold Eagan
Perry and Christie Eckhardt
William Eddleman
Majorie Eddy
David Erickson
Judy and Tom Evans
Dick Fermanian
Louesa Runge Fine
Jerry and Mary Ann Fischer
Michael Fleming and
Jody Pense, Sam Baker
Concessions, Inc.
William and Joanne Fogarty
Scott Foley
Beverly Foote
Rebekah and Don Foote
Kathleen Frank
Robin and Debra Frank
Elizabeth Franklin
Linda Frederick
Gary and Patti Freeman
Paul and Heather Frese
Norman and Vicki Garton
Karen Garver
Kathryn Gates
Jim and Karren Gebhart
Marybeth Gee
Virgil Gehlbach
Ona Gieschen
Beverly Gieselman
Cecelia Glynn
Bryan Goeke
Karen Goellner
Leah Gay Goessling
Lafe Goodfellow
Tony Grandinetti
Diana Gray
Kelly Green
David Groenke
Ben Grossman
James and Janine Guelker
John Gulla
Andy Guti and Sherri DeRousse
Eric Hadley
Hilary Haley
Sharon Haley
Matt and Angel Hammack
Walter Hammond
Keith Hannaman
Jeff Hansen
Harold and Kristy Harden
Leann Harrell
Cathy Harris
Jean Harris
Al Hashtroudi
Sylvia and Daniel Hein
Roger Helling
Sue Helm
Jason and Jane Hennessey
Josephine Hereford
Nick and Erin Hereford
Page and Fonda Hereford
Vera Herter
Jeanne Heuser
Steve Heying
Harriet Hezel
Steve Hilty
Ethan Hirsh
Dennis Hogan
Jenny Hopwood-Dickson and
Tim Dickson
Karen Horny
Gary House
Robert and Linda Hrabik
Paul Hubert
Gaylena Hudek, Gaylena’s
Garden
Lessie Hudson
Paul Hughes
William Hughes
Suzanne Hunt and
Andrew Gredell
June and David Hutson
Dan Isom
Edwin Jacobs
David and Eva Jankowski
Jamie Jepsen
Betty Johnson
Delwin Johnson
Suzanne Hamby Jones and
Dennis Jones
Alvin Jording
Kansas City Public Library
Philip Kapfen
John Kay
Peggy Keilholz
Mike and Betsy Keleher
Sue and Dan Kelly
Sonny Ketcham
John Kirmil
Wallace and Norma Klein
Jean Knoll
Bryan Knowles
Janie Kochler
Steve Kodner
Phillip and Sara Koenig
Peter and Susan Kohl
Don and Ruth Kollmeyer
Daniel Kopf
Leroy Korschgen
Paul and Jane Kruty
Liz Kucera
Kent Kuhlman
Curtis Kukal
Joseph and Linda Kurz
Larry and Marvin Lackamp
William and Virginia Landers
Jim and Mariann Leahy
J. E. Leonard
Sherry Leonardo
Lawrence and Ruth Lewis
Curtis Lichty
Mark and Pamela Lindenmeyer
Arleena Littlepage
Mark Loehnig
Mary Logsdon
Mary Long
Bob Lorance
Patricia Lynn
Douglas Maag
Dirk and Ellen Maas
Clarence Mabee
Tim Maddern
Shirley Maher
Edward Manring
Brian Martin
Jan Martin
Loretta McClure
Ronald McCracken
Wallace Mc Donald
Robert McPheeters
M. H. and W. R. McVicker
Charles McDowell
Veronica Mecko
Stan Mehrhoff, Mehrhoff Farms
LLC
Melodie and Mark Metje
Mid-Continent Public Library
Bob Middleton
Bill and Jody Miles
Douglas Miller
Elaine Miller
Jan Miller
Pat Miller
Stuart Miller
P. E. Minton
Steve and Judy Mohler
Anna Molina
Ricky and Lou Mongler
Cecil and Geraldine Moore
Richard Moore
Leroy and Diane Morarity
Lee Morris
John Mudd
Mark Mudd
Joanne Mueller
Billie Mullins
Michael Murphy
John Murphy
Angela Nance
Jan and Bill Neale
Robert Nellums
Edie Nelson
Robert Nelson
Jim Niemann
Sue and Doug Noland
North Independence Branch,
Mid-Continent Public Library
Brett and Carrie O’Brien
Philip O’Hare
Maria O’Keefe
Juanice Oldroyd
Bill Olson
Susan Orr
Chester R. Owen
Ozark Berry Farm, LLC
Ozark Wilderness Waterways
Club
Janette and Russell Pace
Bruce Palmer
Norman Parker
Cynthia Pavelka and
Mike Larocca
Carla Peniston
Brock Pfost, White Cloud
Engineering
Lee and Dennis Phillion
David Phillips
Paul Pike
William Piper
Lyle and Jan Pishny
Pittsburg State University Axe
Library
Agnes Plutino
Wayne and Elizabeth Porter
George and Susan Powell
Dallas Preston
Lyle Pursell
Anne Rankin Horton and
Robert Horton
Michael and Sharon Rapp
Betty Rawley
Jerry Reese
Jennifer Reidy and
Randy Cartwright
Rochelle Renken
Bart and Liz Renkoski
Barbara Reynolds
Tom and Shirley Rheinberger
Lynda Richards
John and Karen Richardson
Sheryl Richardson
Joann Rickelmann
Marcella Ridgway
Mike Rieger
Brian Ritter
Michael Robertson
Megan Rogers
Tim and Janet Rogers
Paul Ross, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. William Rowe
Roy and Mary Ruckdeschel
Leah Ruehle
Ron Rupp
James Ruschill
Mark and Suzanne Russell,
Cedar Bluff Farm
Stephen Savage
Ken Schaal
Adam Schaffer
Francis and Eva Schallert
Gary Schimmelpfenig and
Christine Torlina
11
2014
ANNUAL REPORT
MPF Members and Other Supporters Who
Made Contributions in 2014 Continued
Vol. 36 No. 1
Ann Winschel
Michael Wohlstadter
Dennis and Katherine Woldum
Douglas Wolter
Duane and Judith Woltjen
Julia Womack
P. Allen Woodliffe
Jennifer Wyatt
Patrick Wynne
S. Jeanene Yackey
George and Kay Yatskievych
Judy Yoder
Mary and Craig Yorke-Powell
Sandra Zanaboni
Jeff Zimmerschied
Mark and Jill Zupec
To $34
Rich Andrews
Arrowhead Garden Club
Carol Bachhuber
Simon and Monica Barker
Carla Bascom and Kevin Hogan
Stephen Bowles
Nancy Chapman
Mary Clasby-Agee
Elisabeth Collins
Carl and Donna Conley
Judith Conoyer
Lois Fairchild
Marshall and Faye Dyer
June Fender, Willard Care Center
Marilyn Fleming
Ray Harmon
Winifred Hepler
Sarah Hinman
Daniel Hof, Hofco Farms
David and Jane Hooper
Robert and Melinda Horn
Marjorie Inden
Henry and Linda Landry
Bill and Susan Lekey
Janis Londe
Bryan and Elizabeth Lucore
Danny Manis
L. Margaret Martin
Lenora Medcalf
Karri Merritt
John Mill
John Nekola
Jarrod Pace
Bill and Julia Petrovic
Stephen and Beverly Price
Gopinath and Valerie Rao
Betty Richards
Gilbert and Donna Ross
Thomas and Elaine Scatizzi
Annie Stanley, Sappington Garden Shop
Jack Sharkey
Patricia Smetana
Cheryl Ann Steffan
Clarence Stitz
Boyd and Carolyn Terry
Ann Thorne
Rita Ulrich
Stephen Weissman and Gary Ross
Carl Wermuth and Carmen Cortelyou
Ray Wilber and Cathy Dwigans
Annabelle Wiseman
Robert Wood
Contributions listed above are
per 2014 bank deposit dates.
Please contact Jane Schaefer, who
administers MPF’s membership and
donor database, at janeschaefer@
earthlink.net or call 888-843-6739 if
you have questions.
www.Henry Domke.com
David Schmelig
Pamela Schnebelen and Jane Anton
Gary Schneider
Marc and Debbie Scholes
Robbie Scholes
Mike and Holly Schroer
Scott and Elizabeth Schulte
Ruby Schweppe
Lynne Scott
Eric Seaman
Thom and Jane Sehnert
Vincent and Joan Seiler
Donna Setterberg
David Setzer and Linda Headrick
Gary and Penny Shackelford
Quint Shafer
Terry Sharpe
Lisa Shartzer
Robert Shaw, Mary Institute Country Day
School Science Department Chair
Robert and Marcia Shelby
Tim Sherrick
Ronda Sherrill
Ross Shuman
George Shurvington
Donald Simpson
Robert and Joyce Slater
Neal Smith
Steven and Julie Snow,
Snow Family Farm
Michael Soltys
Herb and Charlene Sommerer
John Spicer
Tom Spriggs
Cindy Squire, Twin Cedar Creeks A Berry, Nutty Goat Farm
Karen Stair
John and Judith Stann
Michael and Edith Starbuck
Doug and Cindy Steinmetz
Barbra Stephenson
D’Jeanne Stevens
Al and Linda Storms
Mary Stuber
Sandy Sullivan
Harriett Swinger
Carol Synhorst
Bernard and Betty Teevan
Harold Temme
Larry and June Terrell
Alan Thibault
Andrew and Diann Thomas
Bob Thompson
Richard and Jeanette Thompson
Thomas Thompson
Romie Thornhill
Dorothy and Robert Thurman
Robert Turnbull
Dave Tylka
Karen Van Berkel
Elmer Van Dyke
Charlotte VanBibber
Don and Paula Vaughn
Joe Veras
Lumber and Magda Villwock
Jana Wade
Maxine Walker
Terry Weaver, Missouri Western State
College Library
Ann Wethington
Bonnie and Timothy White
Gail and Stephen White
Kevin Whitsitt
Mary Jo Wickliff
Jerry and Maggie Wiechman
George Williams
James and Barbara Willock
James and Evelyn Wilson
Loel and Iana Wilson
MPF’s 2014 Awards
By Lee Phillion
At the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s (MPF’s) annual
meeting held October 11, 2014, at Dr. Wayne Morton’s
prairie just outside of Cole Camp, MPF honored
the following individuals for their contributions to
prairie conservation efforts. Framed photos were
presented to the awardees. MPF would like to thank the
photographers who contributed their photographs for
the awards, and MPF board member Jan Sassmann for
generously framing them.
Monte Abbott
Donald M. Christisen Prairie Volunteer of the Year Award
Monte Abbott, (at right in photo) who teaches anthropology and
archaeology in St. Louis, is a paleoethnobotanist by training. That
means he studies how ancient people used the plants available to
them. While most of his fieldwork has been at archaeological sites
dating from 800 AD to 1300 AD, it’s his neighbors who are benefitting from his most recent “field work.” Thanks to Monte’s volunteer
leadership, prairie plants are again blooming around the St. Louis
neighborhood once known as “Prairie des Noyers.”
In the early 1800s, Henry Shaw, who would found the Missouri
Botanical Garden, purchased the Prairie des Noyers, which contained
many sinkholes and scattered trees in addition to prairie. Starting in
the late 1880s, the sinkholes were filled in, and large homes were constructed along wide avenues. Over time, the “Shaw Neighborhood” as
the area came to be known, fell into decline.
The Shaw Neighborhood was in the early stages of renaissance
when Monte moved there. In 2011, he began a personal quest to
beautify his neighborhood by planting shrubs and native forbs within
a three-foot deep strip of fescue along a chain link fence by a highway
that faced his house. The street department allowed Monte to tend the
plantings, and as the plantings became mature, Monte noticed that
his neighbors stopped tossing trash there.
Buoyed with that success, Monte “jumped the fence” in 2012.
With permission from the highway department and the help of 35
volunteers, he planted 120 trees and 35 bare root seedlings in an area
between the fence and highway.
His most ambitious project to date, however, started in 2013, when
Monte and two friends obtained grants to beautify an unsightly and
barricaded highway underpass. In the 1960s, the historic neighborhood had been bisected by construction of highway 44, which isolated
north and south areas. Unequal neighborhood deterioration followed,
and in the 1980s, the Thurman Street underpass, the major connector
of the two areas, was barricaded in an attempt to control crime.
But even after both neighborhoods had been in a renaissance for
many years, the blocked underpass remained as an eyesore of broken
pavement, weeds, litter, and graffiti, which fostered perceptions of danger and became a social barrier for both neighborhoods. “It stayed a “no
go” zone,” said Monte. “Some of us thought it should be a connector.”
Today, the first part of his vision to connect the two neighborhoods—a half-acre of prairie habitat—blooms along the underpass
entrances, and a sign proclaims it the “Thurman Gateway.”“The goal
is to promote connections, give our city kids the chance to see how
prairie plants draw insects and birds, and to repair some of the ecological damage of the past,” said Monte.
Lorna Domke
Clair M. Kucera Prairie Landowner of the Year
When Lorna Domke retired from her role as chief of the Education
and Outreach Division for the Missouri Department of Conservation
in 2010, she turned her full attention to developing a place where
people can, as she says, “…enjoy the magic of nature.”
That “place” is a public non-profit nature garden, The Prairie
Garden Trust (PGT), located in Central Missouri near New
Bloomfield where visitors can experience a variety of native habitats—
woods filled with old trees, colorful and diverse prairie plantings,
and streams and ponds teaming with aquatic life. Lorna serves as its
president and champion. Eventually, the PGT will become a 600-acre
enhanced habitat where Lorna hopes visitors will be moved by nature.
“I want people—especially children—to have experiences in nature
that truly and deeply stir them,” said Lorna. “It’s about the emotional
magic that occurs when someone is fully engaged in the sounds,
smells, and colors of nature. You can’t get that from books.”
Lorna’s journey to leading the PGT began in 1981, when she
and her husband Henry Domke, MD, a family practice physician,
settled on land adjacent to a property purchased by Henry’s parents a
decade earlier. Lorna embraced the diverse habitats she encountered,
and after Henry’s parents created the first PGT land trust in 1989,
Lorna served as president. She notes that fellow 2014 awardee Merv
Wallace, along with professional property manager Jamie Coe, helped
develop the property.
Since then, she has continued to leverage her considerable talents
and enthusiasm toward turning this landscape into one of Missouri’s
gems of nature. A horticulturist and groundskeeper now help Lorna
and Henry manage the land. Lorna believes that weaving conservation into the fabric of our culture requires people to understand how
wildlife and habitats develop and change, to know the geologic and
historical stories that underpin the landscape, and to see why wildlife
and habitats need to be actively managed.
Since 2007, when Henry Domke left private practice to devote
himself to his successful art career, Lorna has also served as CFO of
Henry Domke Fine Art. Profits from the business help support the
mission of the Prairie Garden Trust. Together, the Domkes are a
formidable force for conservation, and the PGT property has become
a model for successfully managing native habitats and helping others
understand the value of these habitats.
Mervin Wallace
Bill T. Crawford Prairie Professional of the Year
Every spring and summer, the roadside along Highway 54 between
Jefferson City and Osage Beach comes alive with patches of native
forbs—Merv Wallace’s gift to motorists. Better known as the proprietor of Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, Merv began spreading native
seeds in 1989 on rocky outcrops along highways where highway
construction had created the perfect glade habitat for natives like
Missouri primrose and purple beardtongue.
The roadside landscapes are an example of how Merv creatively
and constantly educates people about natives. For the last 30 years,
the wildflower nursery has been his platform for sharing his philosophy about the natural world and bringing the genetic diversity of true
native plant species to gardeners.
From the start, Merv initiated a “gold standard” for his products—offering only native species from sources in Missouri that are
as genetically similar as possible to what the first settlers encountered,
given natural selection. The majority of his plants are propagated from
seeds to maintain genetic diversity.
The Missouri Wildflowers Nursery catalog has become a “how to”
book for native plant gardening as well as a trusted source for plants.
Merv draws upon knowledge gained through years of observing native
plants in their respective communities to teach both novice and veteran gardeners how to successfully landscape with natives.
Business success has come primarily through word of mouth. Merv
said that it took him four years to “break $10,000” by selling native
plants from the back of his old Dodge Caravan at local farmers’ markets. Today, that figure represents a “good day” at a plant sale. The
nursery now has more than 10,000 people on its mailing list.
“Organizations like MPF and its Grow Native! program have really
helped educate the public about the benefits of native grasses and
forbs,” said Merv. “As the number of people who understand the value
of native plants in the ecosystem has increased, so has our business.”
Both Merv and his wife, Ginny, have been involved with MPF for
decades; sharing their incredible knowledge of native plants and also
providing plants for MPF-sponsored sales.
Merv grows natives on his own 45-acre property in Brazito where
the nursery is based, and he also contracts with various organizations
to harvest seed from original prairies. And, some seed goes to creating
roadside glades. In a couple of years, travelers on the new expansion
of Highway 50 between Jefferson City and Linn, MO will enjoy the
results of the seeding Merv did in those fresh cuts last fall.
Lee Phillion is an MPF member and a Missouri Master Naturalist
from St. Charles, MO.
13
UPDATE
¶ th
anniversary
campaign
50th Anniversary
Campaign Funds
Received, Awarded, or
Pledged
GOAL $4 million 2016
.63+,567769;<50;@-6979(090,796;,*;065
$2.976 million as of 1/15
$2 million
Nearly 50 years ago, the founders of the Missouri Prairie Foundation took a stand to ensure that
Missouri will always have rich, beautiful prairies. As its 50th Anniversary approaches, the
Missouri Prairie Foundation presents all prairie enthusiasts and lovers of native landscapes with a
golden opportunity to invest in future prairie protection by contributing to the Missouri Prairie
Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Campaign.
Campaign Goal—$4 million
in gifts and pledges. This
campaign fundraising goal will
enable the Missouri Prairie
Foundation (MPF) to purchase
more land, steward it carefully,
and increase and sustain the
staffing necessary to continue
building future support for
prairie and native plants.
Vol. 36 No. 1
$1 million
How MPF Will Allocate
Campaign Funds
$1 million for operating expenses from 2014 through 2016.
$1 million for new land acquisitions and MPF’s Land Acquisition
Fund, so MPF is financially prepared to act promptly to save a
prairie parcel from being plowed under. While MPF has recently
received funds that are being used to acquire land, it is vital that
the acquisition fund, with a current balance of just $32,000, continue to receive funds so MPF is prepared to acquire prairies when
they become available.
$1 million for MPF’s Stewardship Fund, to provide a secure source of
funds for future prairie stewardship expenses.
$1 million for MPF’s Permanent Endowment Fund, to provide a permanent source of funds for non-stewardship operating expenses.
MPF’S GOLDEN PRARIE, NOPPADOL PAOTHONG/MDC
$3 million
Susan Lordi Marker $5,000
Monarch Challenge for 2015
MPF has established Prairie Champion and Prairie Patron giving opportunities for
individuals, businesses, philanthropic foundations, and others with the means to
give cash or securities at the following levels:
Artist and MPF member Susan Lordi Marker, of
Kansas City, is donating $5,000 early in 2015, and
challenges other prairie supporters to match her
gift. Gifts of all amounts are welcome—to match
and even exceed Lordi Marker’s $5,000!
Prairies Now and Forever Champion $1 Million or More
Big Bluestem Champion $500,000 or More
Prairie-Chicken Champion $250,000 or More
Sunflower Champion $100,000 or More
Monarch Champion $50,000 or More
Blazingstar Champion $25,000 or More
Gold Patron $10,000 or More
Silver Patron $5,000 or More
Each contribution moves MPF closer to fulfilling its campaign, and each donor
is an honored supporter. You can make a difference for prairies by helping MPF
reach this goal at your desired level of giving. Gifts or pledges may be lump sums
or annual amounts. Prairie Champions and Prairie Patrons receive significant
recognition and a generous package of amenities.
Prairie Champions and Patrons
based on contributions from 2014 through January 2015
Big Bluestem Champion: The Conservation Fund
Sunflower Champion: Robert J. Trulaske, Jr. Family Foundation
Blazingstar Champion: Rudi Roeslein, Roeslein Alternative Energy; Edward K. Love
Conservation Foundation
Gold Patron: Edgar Schmidt, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Ronald and
Suzanne Berry
Silver Patron: Anonymous, Warren and Susan Lammert, Margaret Holyfield and
Maurice Meslans, Susan Lordi Marker, John and Dorothy Stade
How to Make A Campaign Gift of Cash or Securities
To make a tax-deductible, 50th Anniversary Fundraising Campaign gift of cash,
please send a check to
50th Anniversary Campaign
Community Foundation of the Ozarks
P.O. Box 8960
Springfield, MO 65801
For information on making a tax-deductible campaign gift of securities,
patron recognition and amenities, and other details about the Missouri Prairie
Foundation’s 50th Anniversary Campaign, visit the Donate page at www.moprairie.
org, call 573-356-7828, or send a message to [email protected].
Planned Gifts to MPF
MPF recognizes and thanks Karen and Paul Cox for including MPF, during the
campaign period, as a beneficiary in their will. Examples of planned gifts include
charitable remainder trusts, appreciated stock or bonds held for more than one
year, or a bequest in your will or trust. If you have made a planned gift to MPF, or
plan to this year or next, please let us know by contacting us at [email protected]
or 888-843-6739.
“Like so many other
MPF members
and supporters,”
said Lordi Marker,
“I am extremely
concerned with
the dramatic
decline of monarch
butterflies, as well
as the rarity of our
rich prairies that
provide habitat
for monarchs
and thousands of
plants, pollinators,
and other insects
and animals. So
I decided to do
something about it,
and I hope you will
join me.
SUSAN LORDI MARKER
MPF’S GOLDEN PRARIE, NOPPADOL PAOTHONG/MDC
How You Can Help MPF Reach Its
50th Anniversary Campaign Goal
In 2014, Susan Lordi Marker
donated $5,000 to MPF and
challenged MPF Facebook and
e-news followers to collectively
raise $2,500, inviting them to
give as little as $1.75 each. Many
supporters contributed, some
anonymously, and exceeded the
goal by nearly $500! Lordi Marker
invites all prairie supporters
to join her in her 2015 $5,000
Monarch Challenge.
“We need prairies for the critical role they fill
in our ecosystem, but also, as creative human
beings,” said Lordi Marker, “we can enrich our
lives by just the experience of being in the
prairie, walking, listening, observing. As an artist,
the prairie is my inspiration to create—to be
surrounded in an environment alive with color,
texture, moving shapes, sounds and scents—all
at once. It is truly an experience for all the senses!
For me, the prairie is good for the soul.”
To make a Monarch Challenge gift in 2015,
please send a check to Missouri Prairie
Foundation, c/o Martinsburg Bank, P.O. Box 856,
Mexico, MO 65265-0856, or make a donation
on-line at http://www.moprairie.org/singledonation/ by June 1. Single donations will be
identified as Monarch Challenge contributions.
15
Native Bee-Plant
Relationships on Missouri
Prairies
The more then 200 species of native bees on Missouri’s
prairies play essential roles in plant reproduction
By Mike Arduser
DANNY BROWN
Our native bees have an
intimate, fascinating,
and wholly dependent
relationship with flowering
plants. And while it’s true
that most organisms, not
just bees, depend one
way or another on plants,
bees are among the few
organisms whose days
usually begin and end with
a floral embrace.
CHRIS HELZER/THE NATURE CONSERVANCY
Invertebrates: the little things that run the world
–E.O. Wilson
P R A I R I E I N V E R T E B R AT E S
Small but mighty: This emerald gem of a sweat
bee (Augochlorella aurata) is one of the most
common bees on Missouri’s prairies.
Above, at right, with legs laden with pollen,
this common eastern bumblebee (Bombus
impatiens) forages on asters. By gathering
pollen from the same plant species on
consecutive foraging trips, bees ensure the
effective transfer of pollen for pollination.
Vol. 36 No. 1
To survive and reproduce, most
female bees, depending on the species,
have to get up close and personal with
plants, collecting various food materials
including pollen, nectar, and floral oils,
as well as nesting materials like sections
of leaves and flower petals, resins, cuticular waxes from leaf surfaces, and other
items. In addition, though most bees
nest in the ground, some bees construct
nests in, and in a few cases on, plant
stems and twigs. Some of these species
excavate pith to make a nest cavity while
others, bluebird-like, locate and utilize
pre-existing cavities.
Power of Pollen
All these relationships with plants are
of course important to bees—nectar is
their fuel source, after all—but the most
specific relationship between plants and
bees, and the one that more than any
other determines whether particular bee
species are present or absent on a prairie,
involves pollen. Pollen is the main protein source for bees—it is the primary
food source for their larvae, and adult
bees eat it in addition to nectar.
Pollen is harvested by the females,
often in very specific ways reflecting
the morphology of the flower and the
Best Prairie Natives
to Attract and
Support Bees
Monolectic and Oligolectic Bees—
The Picky Eaters
It sounds like a bad strategy, but there
are some bee species that appear to
depend entirely on a single plant species
for pollen. These are called monolectic
bees. On Missouri prairies, the beautiful
blue sage bee (Tetraloniella cressoniana,
in the bee family Apidae) is a prime
example. This is a Great Plains bee that,
as far as we know, occurs no further east
in the United States than on some of
our highest-quality southwestern prairies (the Missouri Prairie Foundation’s
Golden Prairie, for example), where it
depends on blue sage, Salvia azurea.
A number of other bees are restricted to certain plant genera that may have
two or more species. These are referred
to as oligolectic bees. For example the
poppy mallow bee (Melissodes intorta,
Apidae), another Great Plains species,
collects pollen from the several species
of Callirhoe (poppy mallow or wine
cups; it also occurs on Golden Prairie).
However, if only one species of a plant
genus occurs on a prairie, that in effect
makes the bee monolectic at that location. There are oligolectic bees restricted
to the prairie clovers, Coreopsis species,
coneflowers, ragworts, violets, and a
number of other plant genera in very
diverse and unrelated families. Almost
morphology of the bee: In some cases
bees seem to learn how to handle certain
flowers, while in other cases the ability
seems instinctive. During harvesting,
the pollen is periodically groomed by
the bee into specialized arrangements of
hairs called the scopae—most commonly
on the hind legs but also on the “belly”
(underside of the abdomen) in many
bees, as well as on the sides of the back
of the thorax (the “saddlebags”) in many
others. The pollen is unloaded from the
scopae back in the nest—in pretty much
total darkness.
A pollen specialist (Osmia georgica)—on a
spring-blooming sunflower family species—
transports pollen on its “belly” and nests above
the ground in old wood cavities and in stems.
without exception, oligolectic bees have
limited flight periods coinciding with
the blooming period(s) of their host
plants. Timing is clearly everything for
these bees.
About one third of all bee species recorded from Missouri prairies
are oligolectic at some level. Many of
these oligolectic species are confined to
native prairies in Missouri as far as we
can tell, although there is convincing
evidence from elsewhere that some of
these species will move into restorations
or reconstructions when these are close
to a native prairie. There is also good
evidence that at least some of these species can hang on in very small prairie
patches for a considerable period of time
if enough of their food plants are present. For example, at the 8.1-acre parcel
of land in Joplin that MPF purchased
in May 2014 to restore, I discovered
that even this tiny patch is supporting
a sizeable population of an uncommon
prairie-dependent Coreopsis bee, Andrena
beameri.
Establishing these native prairie plants in
your yard or on your property will provide
pollen and nectar for lots of native bee
species, including some specialists, as well as
honeybees. All do best in full sun. Plant names
are followed by blooming period. Consult the
Resource Guide at www.grownative.org for lists
of native plant growers and sellers.
Prairie willow (Salix humilus) - early spring
Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides) - spring
Foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) late spring
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) - late
spring
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) - late spring
Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata, C. palmata and
C. grandiflora) - late spring-early summer
Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) early summer
Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) - summer
Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) summer
Black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) - summer
Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) - summer
Sawtooth sunflower (Helianthus
grosseserratus) - late summer
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) - late
summer
Aromatic aster and heath aster
(Symphiotrichum (Aster) oblongifolius and
Symphiotrichum (Aster) ericoides) - late
summer-fall
Stiff goldenrod and showy goldenrod
(Solidago rigida and S. speciosa) - late
summer-fall
Mysteries of Bee-Plant
Relationships
While the foregoing might imply that
“every flower has its specialist bee,”
that is hardly the case. In fact, one of
the mysteries of bee biology is why oligolectic bees specialize on certain plant
groups, but not on others.
The blazing stars (genus Liatris) are
a good case: the blazing stars seem like
17
a great bunch of plants to specialize on
in the Midwest; there are many species,
they are showy, lots of flowers on a stalk,
etc. Yes, many species of bees visit blazing stars to collect pollen and nectar, but
there are no oligolectic species (that we
know of) that do. In contrast, our native
species of alum root (genus Heuchera),
hardly as visually spectacular or foodrich as a blazing star buffet, is the sole
host for an oligolectic species, Colletes
aestivalis.
To muddy the waters a bit further,
there are also instances of oligolectic species specializing in one group of plants
throughout most of the bee’s geographic
range, but switching to entirely unrelated plants on the edges of the bee’s range.
The goat’s rue leafcutter bee (Megachile
addenda) is a specialist on Virginia goat’s
rue throughout most of the Midwest,
but specializes on cranberries in the
northeast. What would biology be
without a little mystery?
Bees Needing Plants,
or Plants Needing Bees?
It seems reasonable to think that if an
oligolectic bee on Missouri prairies
needs a particular plant or group of
plants, those plants, if they are bee-pollinated—and not all plants hosting oligolectic species are—must need the bee
in order to receive adequate pollination
services. But that is rarely the case; many
studies demonstrate that the plant(s) do
just fine in the absence of the specialist
bee(s), because there are so many other
bees, and in many cases, other insects,
that can do the job of pollination.
Good examples include the prairie
clovers, coneflowers, prairie willow,
asters, and goldenrods: these are plants
with simple flowers that are veritable
supermarkets for bees and other flowerfeeding insects, yet they also host a
number of oligolectic bees. Plants with
more specialized flowers and relatively
Vol. 36 No. 1
DANNY BROWN
Invertebrates: the little things that run the world
–E.O. Wilson
P R A I R I E I N V E R T E B R AT E S
A queen black-and-gold bumblebee (Bombus
auricomus) and prairie larkspur (Delphinium
carolinianum). This is one of nine bumblebee
species in Missouri, all of which occur on the
state’s prairies.
concealed pollen and nectar—like Salvia
azurea (blue sage), Tephrosia virginiana
(goat’s rue), and Penstemon sp. (foxglove)—are visited by a smaller group of
bees in addition to oligolectic species.
Then there are those plants that
need the bees far more than the bees
need them; the federally threatened and
Missouri state endangered Mead’s milkweed (Asclepias meadii) is one of these.
Milkweeds do not provide pollen to any
bees because the pollen is “containerized” in very small packets called pollinia
and simply can’t be harvested. Many
milkweeds do provide nectar, however,
which is what attracts the bees and other
insects. Mead’s milkweed is pollinated
by bumblebees and presumably by other
large members of Apidae, which are able
to extract pollinaria, the structures that
bear the pollinia, and accidentally insert
them into other milkweed flowers. But,
they must get their pollen elsewhere.
Thus Mead’s benefits from the presence
of pollen-providing plants of other species in the community, without which
there would be fewer bees and fewer
pollination services.
Polylectic Species—
The Heavy Lifters
There is an appeal and fascination with
oligolectic bees and some other specialist
insects because of their tight relationships with a number of prairie-dependent forbs. Some oligolectic species may
in fact have value as barometers of prairie health; that is, the presence of both
plant and oligolectic species may indicate a more complete or intact system,
or higher prairie biological integrity.
Nevertheless, many years of working with bees on prairies has taught me
that the heavy lifting—most pollination services—is provided by the nonoligolectic and non-monolectic bees:
they are the polylectic species. These are
bees that, in most cases, are in flight for
most of the growing season, that is, they
have multiple generations or are social,
like bumblebees and many sweat bees;
are often the most abundant bees on
prairies; visit an extremely wide variety
of plants; and are found in many other
habitats in addition to prairies. It is surprisingly a relatively short list, including
three bumblebees, a handful of sweat
bee species, and a few leafcutter bees.
This “band of bees” has stayed consistent
through the decades and across multiple sites, and regardless of the fact that
they are not prairie-dependent, prairies
depend on them.
Mike Arduser has been studying
native bees throughout the U.S. for more
than 30 years, and has organized and
taught courses on native bees for the
Missouri Department of Conservation—
from which he retired in 2013 after
working for 23 years—the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Washington University,
the University of Wisconsin, The Nature
Conservancy, and the Missouri Botanical
Garden. He has authored and co-authored
a number of popular and scientific
publications on bees and pollination
ecology, and identified bees for many
pollination projects throughout the
Midwest.
MPF Prairie
Bee Survey
Great Plains sunflower
specialist bee found
first time in state at
MPF’s Stilwell Prairie
By Mike Arduser
M
issouri’s remnant prairies are
our only touchstones to the
original prairie landscape and
its biota. While these remnants are but
vestiges of a much more expansive and
diverse grassland complex—like a jigsaw
puzzle with many missing pieces—they
are all we have, and cannot be replaced.
Not large enough to support the megavertebrates like bison and elk that at one
time passed through the landscape, our
remnants are, however, critical to supporting hundreds of other smaller grassland species, especially the invertebrates.
And about our prairie invertebrates there
is much to learn.
In the summer and fall of 2014,
I had the opportunity to search for
native bees on several Missouri Prairie
Foundation (MPF) prairies, via a contract with MPF. Golden and Stilwell
Prairies were prime choices because of
their proximity to the western border
of Missouri, the assumption being that
sites furthest west would be more likely
to host some Great Plain species if the
right plants were present.
Now, to find bees you have to think
like a bee, and that means looking for
the same flowers that the bees are looking for. Not all prairie wildflowers are
attractive to bees—they pretty much
ignore prairie phlox, for example—and
of those plants that are attractive to
bees, some, like sunflowers, are far more
A blue sage bee (Tetraloniella cressoniana) alighting on blue sage (Salvia azurea). Arduser found
it on MPF’s Golden Prairie, only the second time it has been documented in the state. On MPF’s
Stilwell prairie, Arduser found another species from the same genus, T. spissa—the first time it
has been found in Missouri.
attractive than others. Exceptions occur
of course; a few plants (poppy mallow is
one) attract few bees, but some of those
attracted may be pollen specialists of the
plant, and in some cases, are very rare.
I knew of at least two species of
plants that occurred on MPF’s Golden
Prairie that potentially could support a
couple of Great Plains pollen specialist
(oligolectic) bees, so I timed my visits to
coincide with the blooming periods of
those plants, wine cups (Callirhoe digitata) and blue sage (Salvia azura).
My timing paid off: the Callirhoe
bee, Melissodes intorta, and the blue sage
bee, Tetraloniella cressoniana, were both
present and relatively common. These
bees have been found in Missouri only
in one other location. They are soil-nesting bees with a very short flight period;
their timing has to be exact because their
lives and the future of their offspring
depend on it. If the bees were to emerge
from their ground nests a week or two
early (or late), they might miss most of
the plant’s blooming cycle.
MPF’s 376-acre Stilwell Prairie is
even closer to the state’s western border
than Golden Prairie is, and I had high
hopes of finding some Great Plains species there. Portions of Stilwell, however,
are in the early phases of restoration—
while 320 acres of the 630-acre Golden
Prairie have been a managed remnant
for many years—and its “bee plant”
plant diversity isn’t quite as high as that
of Golden. Blue sage was common and
abundant on Stilwell, but the blue sage
bee was never seen. But another Great
Plains species, a sunflower specialist,
was: Tetraloniella spissa, a large fuzzy
ground-nester, the first time the species
had ever been found in Missouri.
The presence of these bees on the
MPF remnants is a strong indication
that other surprises await, especially in
other invertebrate groups like moths and
butterflies, grasshoppers, etc. Without
MPF protecting its prairies, and actively
seeking to protect more remnants, our
knowledge of the prairie biota, and our
understanding of the prairie’s potential, would be lessened. We will never
have all the pieces of the prairie puzzle,
but we need all we can get in order to
approximate and understand prairie
diversity, and to use it as a guide for
restorations and reconstructions.
19
Mapping Missouri’s Glades
LANDMARK MAPPING PROJECT WILL ASSIST WITH GLADE CONSERVATION EFFORTS
By Paul Nelson
Glades are essentially treeless areas with exposed
bedrock or thin soils over bedrock, dominated by
drought-adapted herbaceous plants. The map divides
glades into five primary bedrock types: igneous,
dolomite, limestone, sandstone, and chert glades as
defined in The Terrestrial Natural Communities of Missouri
(Nelson, 2010). Glades are native grassland communities
with a distribution centered primarily in the Ozarks.
I
n the course of five years, using
geospatial technology and field
verification, I produced a map of
Missouri’s glades. This passion-driven
process was fueled by personal interest
in these fascinating desert-like natural
communities. From whence did this
passion derive? When I was a 13 yearold boy scout living in St. Louis, I hiked
the 26-mile Taum Sauk Trail located in
the heart of the St Francois Mountains.
This hike changed my life.
Rock-strewn glade openings provided awe-inspiring views of expansive
Ozark mountain scenery. The trail
ended at Johnson’s Shut-Ins State Park
where our scout troop camped for the
Vol. 36 No. 1
night. On that trip, I proclaimed that
one day I would work for Missouri state
parks. Fifteen years later, I completed
my Masters of botany degree from the
University of Southern Illinois with
a thesis entitled The Flora of Johnson’s
Shut-Ins State Park. Following graduate school, I began my career with
the Missouri Department of Natural
Resources, Division of State Parks.
In 1983 my graduate school friend
Doug Ladd—now the Director of
Conservation Science for the Missouri
chapter of The Nature Conservancy—
and I completed a study of Missouri
glades entitled A preliminary report on
the identification, distribution and clas-
1
sification of Missouri glades (Nelson and
Ladd 1983). This report enumerated
the first attempt to map glades employing black and white aerial photographs.
We mapped glades by hand in 7.5
minute topographic scale. The resulting map provided a generalized glimpse
of glade occurrences, crude patterns,
presumed rock type, and associated
flora. Presciently, the report stated:
“Undoubtedly, as surveying continues
and our knowledge of glade occurrence
becomes more sophisticated, additional
glades will be discovered…” Thirty years
later, ArcGIS geospatial mapping technology and very clear aerial photographs
provided that sophistication.
When I was a
13 year-old boy scout
living in St. Louis,
I hiked the 26-mile
Taum Sauk Trail
located in the heart
of the St Francois
Mountains. Rockstrewn glade openings
provided awe-inspiring
views of expansive
Ozark mountain
scenery. This hike
changed my life.
2
4
5
PAUL NELSON PHOTOS
3
GLADE TYPES IN MISSOURI
1. Chert, restricted to the Grand Falls Chert
Formation in Joplin. Photo taken at Wildcat
Glade Natural Area.
2. Igneous. In the foreground is Weimer Hill
at Taum Sauk Mountain State Park. Note
the glade openings on the mountain in the
background.
3. Dolomite. This succession of dolomite glades
at Caney Mountain is characteristic of the
White River Hills of southwestern Missouri.
The author mapped more than 10,900 acres
of dolomite glades in the Protem NE quad,
making it the densest concentration of
glades in the eastern US.
4. Sandstone. Channel sandstone bedrock is
Missouri’s largest producer of sandstone
glades, like Bona Glade Natural Area at
Stockton Lake, and is habitat for the nationally threatened geocarpon (Geocarpon
minimum).
5. Limestone. Missouri bladderpod and wild
hyacinth signify limestone glade at Rocky
Barrens Conservation Area.
Paul Nelson’s life-long achievement, the creation of a concise Missouri natural glade map, is now
available on the Internet. Viewers can explore the virtual distribution and patterns of more than 88,000 glade natural
communities at the following web link: http://gcpolcc.databasin.org/maps/4a84fba3e73e43f3988d1eea3e090f14.
21
and satellite images make it possible to
locate glades. ArcGIS became available
as a tool to map glade boundaries and
to consult with various images including
topographic maps, aerial photographs,
infrared images, and geologic resources.
The 7.5 minute topographic quadrangle map (quad) is the basic mapping
unit (scale 1:24,000, which means 1
inch on the map represents 2,000 feet
on the ground). For each electronic
quad, I downloaded corresponding leafoff aerial, geologic, and bedrock outcrop
images available from the Missouri
Spatial Data Information Service in
Columbia, and infrared map images
from the Missouri Resources Assessment
Partnership. Missouri’s Natural Heritage
Database provided more than 1,400
location records for glades of various
substrates. These glade locations helped
in the initial selection of 400 quad maps
across the Ozarks. In all, together with
an assistant, I searched and mapped 610
of Missouri’s 1,100 quads for the occurrence of glades.
Creating the Missouri Glade Map
Mapping Methodology
Most pre-European settlement glades still
exist on the landscape. To demonstrate,
visit Google Earth and search for “Glade
Top Trail, Ava, MO.” The resulting
image shows sinuous bands of glade openings across a woodland landscape. Aerial
Mapping an ecological unit of the
landscape must begin with agreement
on the definition, which, in Missouri,
was provided by the Terrestrial Natural
Communities of Missouri (Nelson 2010).
The glade definition incorporates the six
Vol. 36 No. 1
SOURCE GOOGLE EARTH
I needed an impetus, however, to
initiate a comprehensive glade mapping effort. Upon retirement from the
Missouri Division of State Parks in
2000, I joined the Mark Twain National
Forest as a forest ecologist serving on a
team to revise the Forest Management
Plan. Based on my experience in restoring ecosystems in state parks, I developed an ecological framework for the
plan that included objectives for restoring glade natural communities. Part of
the planning process involved determining where to best restore glades and
other natural communities. To accomplish this, we needed to know their locations. So I started mapping glades on the
Mark Twain National Forest in 2009.
One year later, fueled by the
Central Hardwoods Joint Venture’s
(CHJV) development of a list of priority grassland-shrubland birds and glades
that supported them, Dr. Jane Fitzgerald
of the American Bird Conservancy and I
initiated the CHJV Glade Conservation
Assessment (Nelson et al. 2013).
Ecologists from eight states participated
in this assessment to document the
current status and distribution of 24
distinct glade ecosystems. They amassed
a list of 207 plant species of conservation concern for which glade habitat is
essential. Missouri glades are habitat to
more than 500 other native plant species
and a host of glade animals. The glade
assessment team agreed that a critical
first step in developing glade conservation strategies was to map the extent of
glades in their states. Bingo. That was
my impetus.
Google Earth image of Glade Top Trail in Ava, MO.
zones described in the Glade Assessment
(Nelson et al. 2013). These variations
include exposed bedrock pavement,
moss- and lichen-covered rock, ephemeral seeps on slab rock, ledges, boulders,
and areas of shallow soil dominated by
a mixture of grasses and forbs. Scattered
trees often occur. A reliable indicator of
glade habitat is the presence of gladeobligate plant species or associations.
This project attempts to map restorable—thus historical—glades. Conditions
within the mapped glade are such that a
landowner (federal, state, or private) may
invest resources toward managing and
restoring existing or remnant flora and
fauna that once occurred when the glade
was in better condition. If a landowner
removes undesirable woody vegetation
(especially eastern red cedar (Juniperus
virginiana)), treats exotic species, and
occasionally implements prescribed fire,
then it can be expected that characteristic species (and sometimes species
of conservation concern) may recover.
Likewise, removing undesirable woody
vegetation should unveil the presumed
historic extent of the glade as it occurred
at the time of European settlement.
Determining Glade Boundaries
The mapped glade boundary is not a
precise delineation of where the glade
begins, but indicates a high probability
that glade characteristics are present
within 10 to 50 feet of the line. Having
a 40-foot zone is needed because of
irregularities along the glade borders
sometimes due to the imperceptible
gradation between rocky woodlands
and glade bedrock. Invasive eastern red
cedar often occupies the transition zone
between glade and woodland, which further obscures the precise boundary line.
Conversely, other glades are situated in
transition areas of poorly defined bedrock and deeper, often oak-dominated,
soils. The boundary is selected based on
A portion of Nelson’s glade map in ArcView, showing detail in the White River Glades of southwestern Missouri. This screenshot shows the spatial projections and tools used to map glades across one
of more than 600 7.5 minute quadrangle maps. The aerial image is geospatially virtual, meaning
that the glade boundaries represent points that can be located with field GPS units. Anyone using
GPS, including map phone apps, can go to the map boundary and should find a glade there.
image interpretations that suggest the
presumed bordering tree dominance
falls in the range of 10 to 30 percent
canopy cover as per the definition in
the Terrestrial Natural Communities of
Missouri. Small glade openings estimated
less than 400 square feet are excluded
because they generally are not detectible
in most images. Regardless, there should
be high confidence that characteristic
glade species are present around and
within the glade.
ArcGIS is amazing software with
an easy-to-use, point-and-click means
of analyzing and quantifying landscape
data, including glade map data across
any available geographically referenced
information. ArcGIS allows rapid
evaluation and comparison of infrared,
topographic, and geologic images over
the same land projection. Many quads
contained hundreds of glades of various sizes. To keep track of mapping,
I divided each quad into linear grids
approximately 1,500-feet wide and
systematically mapped glades across the
grid. I checked off completed quads on a
Missouri quad index map.
Finding the glades in satellite
images was not as simple as it may seem.
The glades of the White River Hills, in
particular, were difficult to map because
of the general landscape openness and
pervasive eastern red cedar invasion visible on aerial photographs. Where does
one start drawing the boundary around
a glade? As the mapping effort revealed,
the process was complicated by different
lithology: the wide range of rock type,
texture, hydrology, erosion resistance,
chemistry, and physical expression created by numerous geologic rock formations. Image interpretations required
recognizing textures, colors, and patterns
associated with these rock formations.
Aerial photography on hazy days, long
winter shadows, stages of vegetation
growth, and other variables all affected
image quality.
Switching between images helped
focus on the boundary line. In the
beginning, I evaluated photographs of
known glade locations to validate which
pixilated textures, colors, and contrasts
signified glades. Sharply contrasting
(and easily mappable) glades usually
appear on images with undeveloped and
relatively undisturbed woodland/forest
cover. These “clean glades” are often
bordered by an easily discernable fringe
of eastern red cedar. Glades formed over
sedimentary sandstones, dolomites, and
limestones often have a parallel series of
exposed ledges that give the appearance
of contour lines. When compared with
topographic contours, glade boundaries
form patterns of “U” and “S” shaped
curves and circles, often in sinuous and
meandering patterns.
As glade mapping progressed, I
found that shapes often followed consistent patterns on distinctive landscapes.
Similarly, other patterns emerged
in areas of igneous and chert glades.
Depending on the quality of infrared
images, I could detect and differentiate glades from other “glade-like” areas
based on the subtle—but consistent—
expressions of blue-gray colors reflected
from shallow, rocky, and grassy soils
associated with glades. Accumulated
mapping experience, coupled with many
field examinations, increased my ability
to focus on and separate glade boundaries from a variety of false positive
images. Varying landscapes, glade types,
and image quality required selecting and
cross-referencing images that best signified glades.
Unfortunately, the activities of
post-European settlement the past two
centuries have disrupted the natural
quality of lands surrounding and encompassing glades. Grazing by domestic
livestock, seeding glades with fescue, fire
suppression, urban development, highways, poor logging practices, and lake
impoundments often obscure otherwise
easily discernible glades. The era of openrange grazing left thousands of acres
of Missouri’s glades and surrounding
woodlands mantled in dense thickets of
eastern red cedar, barren soils, depauperate flora, and possessing low biotic integ-
23
rity. Areas impacted by overgrazing often
dominated many of the quad maps.
Determining boundaries in these “dirty
glade” situations required the combined
use of infrared, leaf-off aerial, and topographic imagery, and rigorous field verification. Infrared imagery is not always
reliable. False positive glade signatures
occur on ridge tops invaded by eastern
red cedar, old overgrazed pastures, quarries, and other non-glade settings.
As glade mapping progressed within
a given characteristic landscape, patterns
often emerged that helped predict the
likelihood of additional glades as long
as the geologic and topographic expressions remained similar. For example,
igneous glades form amoeba-shaped
patterns across the broad, high domes of
the St. Francois Mountains. Roubidoux
sandstone glades are often found when a
sandstone layer intersects moderate gradient streams or upper ravines of gently dissected hills. These and other patterns only
revealed themselves to me after many
hours of mapping and field verification.
A
B
Preliminary Findings,
Pending Publication
A concise map of Missouri’s extant
natural glades has major conservation
implications. I now have the means to
answer such questions as How many
glades are in my county (specific quad
map, property, public landowner, ecological subsection, etc.)? Where are most
PAUL NELSON
C
D
GLADE PATTERNS
A. Narrow banding of sandstone glades.
B. Igneous glades form amoeba-like patterns.
C. Parallel deep fractures interrupt sinuous
dolomite glades.
D. An 80-mile-long zebra pattern is formed by
Jefferson City-Cotter dolomite glades.
Vol. 36 No. 1
Number of Glades
of the limestone glades found? or What
is the maximum/minimum/average size
of igneous glades?
The map displays more than 88,000
glades totaling 158,356 acres. This number is disturbing because it falls far short
of the original (Nelson and Ladd 1983)
500,000-acre estimate. Glade mapping
revealed that the majority of Missouri’s
glade acreage still exists, although their
quality varies. Unlike Missouri’s once
vast prairie, glades do not lend themselves to plowing, cropping, fescue conversion, and timber production. Urban
sprawl, roadways, quarries, reservoirs,
and exotic species invasion are eating
away acres. Unfortunately as my eyes
scanned over thousands of glades, I saw
that most suffer from expanding eastern
red cedar invasion that blocks out lifegiving light to sun-loving plants and
animals.
The good news is that many glades
respond quite well to ecosystem restoration efforts. Now with a comprehensive
glade map in place, the next step is a
conservation strategy to determine how
much and where to restore Missouri’s
rocky natural grasslands. Further, the
map reveals glade patterns distinctively
tied to some 14 geologic rock formations
isolated across Missouri. Ecologists and
conservation planners should examine
their distinctive biota, then develop
objectives that best conserve a wide array
of biodiversity associated with them.
Acres
Largest size
Sandstone
4,197
2,621 acres
22 acres
Limestone
7,556
6,349 acres
78 acres
Dolomite
64,047
137,636 acres
944 acres
Igneous
12,163
11,622 acres
67 acres
55
108 acres
14 acres
88,018
158,336 acres
Chert
TOTALS
Table 1. Number and acres of Missouri’s five glade natural communities.
Chert Glade
Dolomite Glade
Igneous Glade
Limestone Glade
CASEY GALVIN
Sandstone Glade
References:
MISSOURI GLADE MAP
Nelson’s glade map confirms that Missouri can claim it is the nation’s glade state. Moreover,
Missouri’s igneous glades are perhaps the country’s best opportunity to assure preservation of the
federally listed Mead’s milkweed (Asclepias meadii), top right, which occurs on southwestern and
northern Missouri prairies and southeastern Missouri igneous glades.
Glade ownership
Number Glades
Total Acres
Missouri Department Natural Resources-State Parks
1,406
2,598 acres
Missouri Department Conservation
4,556
7,886 acres
Mark Twain National Forest
9,926
44,424 acres
National Park Service
634
621 acres
The Nature Conservancy
171
153 acres
2
3 acres
2,518
6,910 acres
19,213
62,595 acres
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Corps of Engineers
Totals
Nelson, P.W. and D. Ladd. 1983. Preliminary
report on the identification, distribution,
and classification of Missouri glades. Pp.
59-76 in C.L. Kucera (ed.). Proceedings of the
seventh North American Prairie Conference.
Southwest Missouri State University,
Springfield, Missouri.
Nelson, P.W. 2010. The terrestrial natural communities of Missouri. Missouri Natural Areas
Committee, Jefferson City, Missouri. 550 pp.
Nelson, P. W., J. A. Fitzgerald, K. Larson, R.
McCoy, A. Scholz, J. Taft, T. Whitsell, and
B. Yahn. 2013. Central Hardwoods Joint
Venture Glade Conservation Assessment
for the Interior Highlands and Interior Low
Plateaus of the Central Hardwoods Region.
Central Hardwoods Joint Venture.
Today, Paul Nelson is mapping glades
in Arkansas under a contract with the
American Bird Conservancy and hopes to
complete mapping of the Ozark Highlands
Ecological Section in 2015. Organizations
providing support to map Missouri and
Arkansas glades include the Gulf Coastal
Plains and Ozarks Landscape Conservation
Cooperative, US Fish and Wildlife Service,
US Forest Service, Missouri Department
of Conservation, Arkansas Game and
Fish Commission, Arkansas Natural
Heritage Commission and the American
Bird Conservancy. Allison Vaughn of the
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
mapped glades in the Osage River Hills and
assisted in field validation of glades
in Missouri.
Table 2. Glade numbers and acreage in conservation ownership in Missouri.
25
Native Plants
for Flower
Arrangements
Prairie to Table Arrangements™ from Prairie Birthday Farm
provide beauty and other benefits to restaurants in Kansas City.
Text and Photographs by Linda Hezel
Prairie Birthday Farm (PBF) was begun in 1995 as a biodiverse, sustainable land
stewardship effort to produce beautiful, nutritious, and flavorful food for my
family. Its 15 acres of permaculture design includes heritage fruit trees, heirloom
vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and small and wild fruits. Pastured heritage
poultry, honey bees, reconstruction of overgrazed and non-native pasture to prairie,
and rotation pasture for horses compliment the endeavor as does an abundance of
native plant landscaping around the house and in key areas around the farm. Over
the years, prairie burns and diversified garden spaces offered ample opportunity for
my husband and sons to participate in the small-scale food growing process.
Prairie to Table Arrangements™
Prairie to Table Arrangements™ from
PBF extend that dining experience in
several Kansas City area restaurants such
as The Rieger Hotel Grill & Exchange,
The American Restaurant, and the
Farmhouse. Patrons of these fine restaurants enjoy the aesthetic pleasure of
uniquely beautiful arrangements from
the PBF prairie of native wildflowers,
grasses, and herbs, while learning a bit
about the landscape potential of the
plants in the bouquets. Species identification and fun facts are provided in
print for wait staff to share with diners.
The process for using native plants
from PBF is unlike the conventional cutflower industry. Produced in the prairie
and around the farm without commercial chemicals or poisons, the plants have
real and distinguishing characteristics. It
is Art from the Prairie™ at PBF.
As Wes Jackson has advised us in
his book, Becoming Native to this Place,
Vol. 36 No. 1
“We must give standing to the new
pioneers … a massive salvage operation
to save the vulnerable but necessary pieces of nature and culture and to keep the
good and artful examples before us …
for the point of art, after all, is to connect.” (p. 103). And so it is that using
prairie plants for tablescapes can be a
connection to the value and substance of
prairie and native wildflowers.
A Cut Native Plant Primer
The rules for cutting prairie plants are
the same as for all cut flowers. Cut
early in the morning while the petals
and leaves are still damp with dew. Cut
stems at a 45-degree angle to increase
water absorption. Place directly in a
bucket of tepid water. If in a time of
drought, watering the plant the night
before will enable its natural hydration.
If high winds and driving rains are forecast, harvest before the weather event.
Strip lower stem leaves out in the prairie.
Give the mulch back to that soil. Keep
the cut plants out of direct sunlight.
The plants I use for my Prairie to
Table Arrangements™ require intentional
observation to determine when their
best characteristics are evident for table
presentation. Longevity on the table will
depend on many factors. Drought, stage
of development, point in growing season, extreme weather events, and insect
and disease pressure will all impact the
resilience of the cutting. We must be
students of the plants. Careful observation, photographs, and notes on details
(buds, flowers, seeds, and foliage) will
build a knowledge base from which to
understand the best plants (strengths and
weaknesses) for the final placement site.
All placements will have environments that support or challenge the
cuttings. A candle on a table or a heating or air-conditioning vent can shorten
the vigor of an otherwise robust arrangement. The importance of vase choice
cannot be overstated. Color, style, condition, and relevance to the placement site
can be the special touch that enhances or
detracts from a presentation.
Some species that have worked especially well for PBF include Euphorbia
marginata (snow on the mountain,
native to loess hill prairies in northwestern Missouri and further west), Asclepias
tuberosa (butterflyweed), all Solidago
species (goldenrods), Scutellaria incana
(downy skullcap), all Rudbeckia species
(black-eyed Susans), Monarda fistulosa
(wild bergamot), Monarda bradburiana
(bee balm), all Liatris species, Eryngium
yuccifolium (rattlesnake master), all
Echinacea species, Aquilegia canadensis
(eastern red columbine), and most of the
native grasses. So many lovely specimens
grace the tallgrass prairie.
A good working relationship with
the house manager or other person who
can water, remove early wilting stems, or
even recut the stems to prolong vase life
Of What Plant Birthday Do You Take Notice?
The name of my farm was inspired by Aldo Leopold’s 1949 “Prairie Birthday Essay” in a Sand
County Almanac, in which he noted, “During every week from April to September
there are, on the average, ten wild plants coming into first bloom. In June as
many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can
heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them. He who steps
unseeing on May dandelions may be hauled up short by August ragweed
pollen; he who ignores the ruddy haze of April elms may skid his car on the
fallen corollas of June catalpas. Tell me of what plant birthday a man takes
notice, and I shall tell you a good deal about his vocation, his hobbies, his
hay fever, and the general level of his ecological education.” Reconstructed
prairie on PBF and reintroduction of Missouri wildflowers has resulted in the privilege of
celebrating wild plant birthdays and experiencing prairie at home.
Unlike the current industrial model of intensive, row-cropped monocultures, PBF
follows a food-growing model more similar to that of Native American farmers—mostly
women—who planted a wide variety of plants that would produce under different
weather conditions and congruent with the changing seasons. Those early gardens
were geographically dispersed and intercropped. Aspiring to that Great Plains traditional
farmscape, PBF boasts edible flowers (dozens of varieties), fruit (25+ varieties), herbs (40+
varieties), and vegetables (15+ varieties) that provide rich, complex-flavored, and nutrientdense food for area chefs and eaters.
27
WE ARE CELEBRATING
15 YEARS for Grow Native! Begun
in 2000, a program of the Missouri
Departments of Conservation and
Agriculture, Grow Native! was
transferred to MPF in 2012. MPF
and its Grow Native! Committee are
organizing and promoting many
events throughout the year to recognize the anniversary of the program, our
Grow Native! professional members, and the vital importance of choosing
native plants for the built environment and altered landscapes. Below are
events organized to highlight the importance of natives and recognize the
15-year anniversary. Watch for news about more events!
will improve success with prairie plants
in table arrangements. Adding herbs and
nonnative—but naturalized—plants
will expand the possibilities. There are
no rules in creativity. Be open to playful inspiration. What pleases your eye?
What would you want in front of you
for dinner? Understanding and appreciating prairie plants for the vase is a
new adventure—for the vendor and the
customer.
References
Leopold, A. 1949. A Sand County Almanac: And
Sketches Here and There, Oxford University
Press: New York.
Jackson, W. 1996. Becoming Native to This
Place, Counterpoint: Washington, D.C.
Linda Hezel, R.N., Ph.D., owns Prairie
Birthday Farm in Kearney, MO., where she
grows vegetables, fruits, herbs, edible
flowers, and native plants, and conducts
research. She sells produce, eggs, and
honey from the farm to local chefs and
residents. Farm research projects have
been funded by the Missouri Department
of Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
Soil research has been conducted on
the Farm for the last eight years. Articles
about Linda and Prairie Birthday Farm
have appeared in The Wall Street Journal,
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems
online, Bluestem: The Cookbook, American
Journal of Nursing, and the Kansas City Star.
See the Missouri Prairie Journal, Fall 2008,
Vol. 29, # 3, for Hezel’s article “Healing and
Building Soil on Prairie Birthday Farm,” with
Dr. Robert J. Kremer. Available at
www.moprairie.org.
Vol. 36 No. 1
May 9, 2015—Native Tree Walk at Mizzou Botanic Garden. 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Enjoy a spring stroll on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus—also a botanical garden—with Dr.
Chris Starbuck, Associate Professor Emeritus with MU’s Division of Plant Sciences and past president of the
Friends of Mizzou Botanic Garden, as your guide to native tree specimens on the grounds. Free. Park in the
Virginia Avenue Garage, Columbia, MO. Meet at 9:15 in the lobby of the Christopher Bond Life Sciences Center
located where Virginia Ave. dead ends into Rollins (north of the Virginia Avenue Garage, greenhouse on roof).
To RSVP, call (573) 884-2556 or email [email protected] by May 8, 2015.
Bi-Monthly Tree Walks Sponsored By Powell Gardens and Grow Native!
Sunday afternoons from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Don’t miss these special opportunities to learn about native
trees in spring, summer, and fall from Alan Branhagen, Director of Horticulture at Powell Gardens. Each walk
is designed to cover approximately two miles so guests should wear appropriate footwear and dress for the
weather.
April 19, 2015—Mount Washington Cemetery, 614 S. Brookside Ave., Independence, MO 64053. Meet at
the main entrance. This walk is timed to enjoy the flowering dogwoods in bloom. It is the site of area
champion sycamore, mockernut hickory, pignut hickory and baldcypress with large examples of black
hickory, both species of catalpa, and willow oak. Mount Washington Cemetery dates to 1900 and lies
on loess-covered hills near the Missouri River, which support one of the richest diversity of trees in the
region. No facilities are provided although there is a Quick Trip nearby on Winner Road just east of I-435.
June 14, 2015—Union Cemetery, 227 E. 28th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64108. Meet at the main entrance.
Union Cemetery has premier examples of old growth native white oaks and its champion trees include
Kentucky coffeetree, hackberry, and sassafras. This “Central Park” of Kansas City dates back to 1849 and
is an unexpected greenspace of spectacular trees with a backdrop of high rises at Crown Center and
downtown to the north. The site is 27 acres and will require the least amount of walking of the tree tours.
Port-a-potty facilities.
August 23, 2015—Burr Oak Woods Conservation Nature Center, 1401 Northwest Park Road, Blue Springs,
MO 64015. Meet at the parking lot at the west end of the park road, as the Visitor Center is closed on
Sundays. Burr Oak Woods has possibly the best local diversity of wild native trees containing most oak
and hickory species including rare dwarf chinkapin oaks and planted butternut and American beech. The
hike will be more than two miles on well-maintained trails. Outhouse facilities.
October 25, 2015—Forest Hills Cemetery, 6901 Troost Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64131. Meet at the main
entrance. Forest Hills dates back to 1888 and is known for its beautiful sugar maples, which should be
nearing peak fall color. At one time this cemetery had the finest collection of Missouri native trees and
was nationally renowned for its tree collection. It contains the area champion blackgum, and large
cucumbertree magnolia, a classic vase-shaped American elm that defies Dutch elm disease, white ash,
and chestnut oak. No facilities though Soil Service Garden Center and Nursery is nearby to the south.
To RSVP for the tree walks, call 816-697-2600 ext. 209. Free to members of Powell Gardens, Missouri Prairie
Foundation, and Grow Native! $5 fee to Powell Gardens for non-members.
March 19, 2015—Native Plant Education Program, presented by Grow Native! Professional Member
Hillerman’s Nursery. Free. Patty Lynch of Hillerman’s Nursery will give this presentation at the Scenic Regional
Library, Union Branch, 308 Hawthorne Dr., Union MO 63084 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. RSVP to April
Fundell 636-583-3224.
March 28, 2015—Grow Native! Plant Sale at Runge Conservation Nature Center, Jefferson City. See back cover.
CYNDI COGBILL
Education on the Prairie with Jeff Cantrell
A Closer Look at Color
E
RETHA MEIER
very organism in a prairie community—or any
ecosystem—has an “occupation” in nature related to how
it responds to resources and competitors in a specific
environment. How these species’ occupations affect other
organisms and the physical environment is basic ecology.
Some tasks related to occupation may be on-going
throughout the life of the organism; others are accomplished
seasonally. When an organism is carrying out a task, such as a
dung beetle collecting dung, it is filling its “ecological niche,”
or “occupation,” in this case, as a decomposer. Habitat, then, is
the site where all needs for the “employee” of that occupation
are met (its food, water, shelter, and space).
A little over half the calendar year, prairies are often
romantically described as being full of colorful wildflowers. The
selling point of color may be a hook that prairie enthusiasts
hope will recruit more people to appreciate and protect this
rare habitat. However, there is much more to pretty colors than
decoration.
First of all, if a characteristic in nature does not have a function, it generally will not be present. For example, various cavedwelling animals lack pigments simply because coloration—
whether for camouflage or attracting a mate—is not needed in
total darkness. The principle is the same in all aspects of an animal’s or a plant’s basic design; a jackrabbit does not have canine
teeth because it does not eat meat. Unnecessary teeth are too
costly to have; unutilized color pigments have drawbacks as well.
Prairie plants may be termed showy in summer because
there are scores of advertising campaigns taking place in
the form of those captivating floral colors. Practically all of
GLEs: EC.1.A.4.a; EC.2.A.3.d.; EC.3.C.4.a & d.
These photos, taken by
pollination researcher Retha
Meier with white light and
with a UV filter, are bird’s
foot violet (Viola pedata,
color morphs bicolor and
concolor), and yellow star
grass (Hypoxis hirsuta). Bees
see the violets as various
shades of blue-purple in
white light, but see the
yellow star grass in UV and
yellow. Note that, under UV,
the pollen-bearing anthers
appear much darker than
the petals. The stamen
stalks (bearing the anthers)
are hairy and those hairs
also appear to add to the UV
central pattern.
Missouri’s native prairie pollinators fly, thus blooming campaigns are targeting the pollinators so flowers can be first seen
from a distance. Color is perceived differently by the observers,
so the flower may be advertising to exclusive customers (pollinators).
People view some flowers as white or pale in color, but
many animals see into the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength. To the
bees, and other insects, a “blank flower” wears patterns forming
bull’s-eyes, stars, or blotches that lead them to the portions of
the flower that offer nectar or pollen as rewards. These “guides”
are important to bees, flower flies, moths, and even hummingbirds. Humans and monkeys appear to be among the few animals that can’t see into the UV range.
Some flower colors fade and wilt or change color once the
flowers are pollinated, similar to advertising signage conveying
“no vacancy” or “out of stock.”
A quick review of floral colors and who sees what hues well:
Bees and flower flies (hover flies, syrphids and drone flies): yellow,
blue, greens, pink-purple, and UV
Butterflies and skippers: pink, purple, yellow, red, orange, and UV
Decomposers /Carrion-eating flies: brown, maroon
Flower beetles: Some are insensitive to color and find flowers by their
smells while others respond to the same range of colors that
attract butterflies. The red poppies and tulips in your garden are
based on ancestors that came from the Middle East and attracted
hairy, amphicoma beetles.
Hummingbirds: All colors (including UV), but they seem to prefer reds
and oranges and/or red and orange combined with other colors
Color and color perception plays an important role in
numerous flora and fauna species of our native grasslands.
Comparative discussions can be presented to student and adult
groups when looking at our society and comparing/contrasting
them to prairie habitat and its niches.
Leading discussion questions can ask students to compare
two banks or two similar restaurants on how they are successful and perhaps target customers? Do they use color? Do they
advertise or camouflage any part of the business? Are they general or specific with their customer marketing?
Choose a flower like prairie blazing star or slender mountain mint. When are they open for business? Do they market
to certain customers? Questions like these relate niches and
ecology basics in a whole different way of thinking. It gives us a
different view of local color.
Recommended vocabulary to cover: camouflage, competition, counter-shading, community, habitat, mimicry, niche,
and resource.
Any questions on using the outdoors to teach youth/adult groups
or interpret nature can be relayed to Jeff at swampcandle1@gmail.
com or 417-476-3311 or work 417-629-3423.
29
Native Warm-Season Grass News • SPRING 2015
A Landowner’s Guide To Wildlife-Friendly Grasslands
I
SUSAN HILTY
n the fall/winter 2014 issue, I summarized
the recent history of greater prairie-chickens
in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. I mentioned
how prairie-chicken population densities were
greater—that is, fewer acres of grassland per
bird—in planted introduced grasses such as
timothy, redtop, and smooth brome than they were
historically or are currently in native prairie. This
may have confused some folks as it did me for many
years until I looked closer at the facts.
First, we need to look at studies that have been done on nest success
and nest densities. Ron Westemeier, Illinois Department of Natural
Resources retired researcher, located and recorded the fates of more
than a thousand greater prairie-chicken nests. He found nest densities
were higher (fewer acres per nest) in smooth bromegrass, redtop, and
timothy than in planted native warm-season grasses or native prairie. He
also found that nests in these introduced grasses had higher hatch rates
and more eggs per clutch than those in planted native grasses and forbs
or native prairie. Missouri’s Don Christisen (co-founder of the Missouri
Prairie Foundation) reported similar high density roosting in small (10 to
20 acre) blocks of these grasses in Missouri. Westemeier recorded nests
of all species found, including more than 300 bobwhite quail nests, and
numerous upland sandpiper and other grassland bird nests. Unfortunately,
few of his studies were ever published and may never be now that he has
retired.
I’ve given Westemeier’s and Christisen’s studies a lot of thought
during my career, and walked a lot of native and introduced grass
plantings and prairies, trying to figure why there would be such
differences. One thing that stood out is the difference in biotic life
between the introduced grasses and native prairie or planted warmseason grasses and forbs. Brome, redtop, and timothy are pretty much
grass with few forbs or legumes because these grasses, especially smooth
brome and redtop, are very competitive. They are largely without birds,
small mammals, or insects. They are very quiet if you listen—very boring.
The native grass plantings and prairie, on the other hand, are loaded with
forbs, birds, small mammals, and insects, and are noisy and busy places.
That’s why we love prairies and native grass/forb plantings—they are
loaded with life. Remember this.
So why are these introduced cool-season grasses more productive
for prairie-chicken nests compared to native communities? I think it has a
lot to do with all the life in the native cover types. In addition to the birds,
small mammals, and insects, there was a lot of evidence of predators—
diggings for small mammals, turtle and snake eggs, shed snake skins,
owl pellets, and predator trails that were clearly absent in the introduced
grasses. Now, put yourself in the position of a hen prairie-chicken or
bobwhite quail, having to make a nest bowl, line it with vegetation, lay
Vol. 36 No. 1
13 or more eggs, incubate them for 21
to 25 days, and move small chicks away
from the scent of the freshly hatched
eggs. The process takes 35 to 45 days and
you don’t want a predator to eat you, the
clutch, or chicks. What safer place than
where predators rarely go because of lack
of other prey? Also, successful hens tend
to nest in the same general location—
often within a few feet—of where they
Greater prairie-chicken eggs
hatched a clutch the year before, and
their progeny tend to seek out similar cover for nesting.
While this kind of cover is good for nests, it isn’t good for broods.
Remember, introduced cool-season grasses tend to lack broadleaf forbs
and legumes, and insects that feed on them, so it is not good brood
habitat. Hens must move newly hatched chicks to richer feeding grounds
within a few days so they can feed on high-protein insects and green
browse. Such areas, we found in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas, are usually
grazed native pasture. Fortunately, smooth bromegrass, timothy, and
redtop grow vertically with little horizontal structure or litter (old growth)
to interfere with chick movement so they can rather easily follow momma
away from the nest to brood-rearing cover, provided it’s not too far away.
This is not at all like idle tall fescue, which is nearly impossible for chicks to
move through. Idle, planted native grasses and prairie can also be difficult
for broods to move through if it has not been burned or grazed recently.
Westemeier found that 10- to 40-acre blocks were better than larger
blocks, with brood cover adjacent, but in a landscape of several hundred or
thousand grassland acres.
Some studies in Illinois and Missouri have shown that hens will move
chicks to soybean fields, but I don’t think it is because bean fields are good
brood habitat. When the Missouri prairie-chicken recovery team did night
hen and brood captures in Kansas (2008–2010), we wondered if we would
find any in soybeans. It would have been difficult to net them in the tall
beans, and we didn’t want to damage our host’s beans. As it turned out,
we found them exclusively in grazed prairie pastures or an idle wheatfield
even though soybean fields were available. Given the choice, it seemed
they prefer grazed native pastures or fallow fields, which probably had
greater insect diversity. When we tracked the hens and chicks that we
had brought back to Missouri, we found them almost exclusively in patchburned, grazed prairie. We sometimes found them in a neighbor’s fescueclover pasture, but rarely in soybeans or current-year burned and idle
prairie. Current-year burns were good early, but were often too dense for
easy movement by early July.
All grasses had a higher frequency of use if they were high-clipped
the fall prior to an average height of 14 to 15 inches. High clipping helped
ensure the grasses would remain upright through the winter, making the
cover more attractive to nesting hens and better for hiding the nest.
BOB GILLESPIE
Differences in Some Cool-Season and
Native Grasses for GPC Nesting Cover
Yours for better grasslands,
Steve Clubine
Controlling Invasive Plants
L
DAN TENAGLIA, MISSOURIPLANTS.COM, BUGWOOD.ORG
ROB CHAPMAN
Sericea lespedeza It will soon be time to treat sericea lespedeza
(Lespedeza cuneata), a.k.a. Japanese bushclover. Sericea is an
ever-spreading menace that you can never completely eradicate
because of regeneration from hard seed in the soil, rain runoff carrying seeds from nearby infestations, and ingress from
animal (most likely small rodents) transport. Adult plants are
fairly easy to kill with spot herbicide treatments of Pasturegard
(triclopyr and fluroxypyr), triclopyr (Garlon 4 or Remedy and
several generics), or metsulfuron methyl (Escort/Cimarron or
generics). Treatment with Pasturegard can start in late May or
early June when plants are a minimum of ten inches tall and
not protected from other vegetation. Pasturegard can be used
effectively until late August. Treatment can begin with Remedy
and generic triclopyrs in late June (plants have to be a little
larger to imbibe enough triclopyr to kill the roots) and as late
as September. Escort/Cimarron is slightly more effective than
triclopyr once flowering begins in late August and is cheaper
per acre than the other two choices, but is a little more difficult to use in backpack or ATV sprayers because it tends to gel
without continuous agitation. Never use 2,4-D with any other
herbicide, or herbicides that contain 2,4-D, such as Crossbow,
on sericea. 2,4-D will cause sericea to shut down before it
absorbs enough effective herbicide to kill the roots.
Whatever you use, be careful not to mistake slender lespedeza or other native legumes for sericea. Once you get an
eye for sericea, it is easy to spot and differentiate from other
legumes. Spot treatment is recommended over area broadcast
spraying unless the infestation is too dense and widespread to
spot spray. Count on spraying the same area at least every other
year for many years. Young plants sheltered by older plants or
other vegetation will not be killed and may not be large enough
until the following year to flower and produce seed so check
treated areas annually. Early mowing or grazing can remove
other vegetation, making sericea easier to spot and treat. Don’t
mow too late in the summer or regrowth may not be adequate
in surface area to kill the larger root system.
BOB GILLESPIE
andowners must constantly be alert for a number of
invasive plant species. Most were introduced from other
continents and a few, like eastern red cedar and honey
locust, are native. Some can be controlled by practicing healthy
grassland management, but a few are pervasive regardless of
management, requiring constant vigilance and methods in
addition to grazing and burning. We’ve covered these before in
the Missouri Prairie Journal, but it pays to keep alert. For sake
of space, I will limit my focus in this issue to sericea lespedeza,
teasel, and Old World Bluestems.
Prompt recognition of sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), at top, is
essential to combating its invasive spread. Note that sericea is similar
in appearance to the native slender lespedeza (L. virginica), but look for
these differences: straight/herringbone leaf venation pattern for sericea
(leaf on left, above), but curled/closed venation for slender (leaf on right,
above). Also, sericea’s creamy white flowers (above) have two purplishrose streaks on the upper petal, while the flowers of slender are all pink.
Once you develop an eye for sericea lespedeza, you see it
seemingly everywhere–roadsides, neighboring property, pastures, woods, and field borders. Most people don’t recognize it
as the aggressive menace that it is and make no effort to control
it. It has been considered for noxious weed listing at least twice
in the Missouri legislature, but has not been listed while other
invasive species, for example, teasel, have been. At least a couple
Missouri citizens claim that listing would interfere with them
growing it for their goats.
The cost of controlling it would also be huge for county
weed boards, and state and federal landholding agencies
such as the Department of Transportation, Department of
Conservation, Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and National Park
Service. Some state and federal agencies treat it to the extent
that their budgets allow. Listing doesn’t ensure effective control
because hard seed will continue to produce new plants where
old ones have been killed and no one has come up with a way
to kill the seed in the soil.
Noxious weed listing can result in problems for native
plants because many private landowners will not take the time
to indentify the noxious species, determine if or where they may
have a problem, or spot spray. They will simply broadcast spray
31
Native Warm-Season Grass News • SPRING 2015
A Landowner’s Guide To Wildlife-Friendly Grasslands
or call their local chemical applicator to spray everything to
ensure they aren’t fined by county weed boards. This is what has
happened in Kansas where sericea lespedeza is listed as a noxious
weed and the impact on the floral and faunal diversity of thousands of acres of Kansas’ native prairies has been devastating.
There has been a small effort to find a biological control,
namely by Dr. Thomas Eddy at Emporia State University,
in Kansas. Eddy studied the effect of a native webworm on
sericea, but it was not very effective. No one has looked at the
plant’s native origin, Japan, for biological controls, in large part
because, even if something were found, it would not be allowed
to be brought to the United States because sericea lespedeza is a
registered forage by the USDA. It reportedly is used for hay by
a few southeastern U.S. farmers, and the USDA doesn’t want
to introduce something that could spread to these producers’
fields and to southeastern seed companies that produce and sell
seed for forage and wildlife cover to unwitting individuals.
So the problem is complex and not likely to get better. It is
becoming more widespread and scattered colonies are becoming larger, merging together and becoming more common. As
far as I can tell, sericea has not yet become herbicide-tolerant
like pigweed and other annual cropfield weeds have to glyphosate. That may someday happen, but takes much longer for
perennials than annuals. Treat it the best you can on your land
and encourage your neighbors to do likewise. Ask your county
weed department if you can spray the roadsides near your property if they won’t. Change herbicides from time to time to help
slow sericea from developing herbicide resistance.
MDC
SCOTT LENHAULT PHOTOS
weevils and is not very competitive if grasslands are healthy and
well managed, teasel will crowd out other herbaceous vegetation and has no known biological control. Effective control is
mainly by chemicals. Rosettes may be treated in the fall with
2,4-D or triclopyr or when it bolts in spring or summer with
Milestone. Milestone can be expensive for an individual so
you may want to share the expense with friends or neighbors.
However, be sure to keep it in the original container with the
appropriate label. Read and follow label directions. Highway
right-of-way managers can reduce the spread of teasel by timing
mowing before teasel sets seed.
Teasel is a biennial and, while it resembles thistle species (in
the Asteraceae family), it belongs to the Dipsacaceae family
of plants. Teasel is a state-listed noxious weed in Missouri so
individuals and government entities must control it and may
not transport hay that contains teasel seed. Unlike musk thistle,
which has been substantially reduced by the head and rosette
Vol. 36 No. 1
Caucasian, Plains, and Other Old World Bluestems (OWB)
were introduced from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa where
they survived severe grazing abuse for centuries, even several
millennia, supposedly to treat severe management problems
in the United States. Problems are that grazing animals prefer
not to eat them (when they do, individual animal performance
is not as good as on native warm-season grasses); they produce lots of seed; readily spread; and severely suppress other
vegetation. Infestations usually came from contaminated seed
in plantings or contaminated hay or nearby planted pastures.
The USDA, University of Missouri Agriculture Department,
and MU Extension agronomists still promote them for livestock forage. A couple of Missouri seed companies and several
Oklahoma and Texas companies produce and sell seed.
Control is very difficult because there are no selective herbicides, and OWB have the same growth cycles as native warmseason grasses. A non-selective herbicide like glyphosate must
be used for a couple years. Consequently, it’s very important to
spot OWB early so you don’t create large bare areas that could
erode and produce unusable forage or lack of cover.
Past Events
I
attended the joint Longleaf Pine Conference and Eastern
Native Grass Symposium in Mobile, Alabama, last
September. Pat Keyser, University of Tennessee, and his
students made several presentations on native grass seedings
for pasture and habitat. UT houses the Center for Native
Grasslands Management, and leads the nation in native grass
studies. I will summarize Keyser’s and others’ presentations in
the summer issue. Go to the Center website at http://[email protected] for the location of the 2016 Eastern Native
Grass Symposium for more information.
It was my first opportunity to meet the Longleaf Pine
Alliance folks—they are studying a fascinating, threatened ecosystem. Longleaf pine savanna is described as prairie with trees.
I also learned from an old Tennessee friend, Clarence Coffey,
that there is a fledgling Shortleaf Pine Alliance and so shortleaf
pine, native to Missouri, may be getting long overdue attention.
During the trade show/poster social, Coffey and I were
talking about books we had read. One was Forgotten Grasslands
of the South: Natural History and Conservation by Reed F. Noss.
Noss was one of the plenary speakers at the 2014 Society for
Range Management meeting in Orlando and the 2014 Wildlife
Society annual meeting. I missed his presentation at the SRM
meeting because I was staffing an exhibitor’s booth, but several
folks told me about it, one even bought a freshly signed copy
of the book, one of the few Noss had with him. I ordered a
copy as soon as I got home and finished it a few months ago.
A few minutes after Coffey and I had finished our discussion,
he came back over to me and said, “I have someone I want you
to meet.” To my very pleasant surprise, it was Mr. Noss! We
had a great discussion about the book and the many endangered native grasslands he
described. A review follows.
Forgotten Grasslands of
the South: Natural History
and Conservation by Reed F.
Noss. Many of us are well
aware of the Midwest and
western prairies—tallgrass,
midgrass, and shortgrass—
but we rarely think that
prairies extended to the Gulf
and the Atlantic, even to
the Northeast. Noss opens
the door for us to the many
varied and diverse prairies
throughout the South, some
containing the same species with which we are familiar in the
Midwest, but often containing more and different species.
Some found nowhere else, some perhaps being refugia for species found elsewhere, but threatened by development, invasive
species, and ocean rise from global warming—it is estimated
that more than a third of Florida and its coastal prairies will be
under the ocean by 2100.
These coastal prairies were probably recolonized by these
species when the last ice age lowered the oceans, but the refugia
for these species may no longer exist due to shopping centers
and housing developments on the adjacent higher ground.
Noss acknowledges the importance of frequent fire and herbivory in developing and maintaining these native grasslands and
savannas and the role Indians played in increasing fire frequency and occurrence while simultaneously decreasing the role of
large herbivores by exterminating some. He takes exception
with Charles C. Mann’s (his books are 1491: New Revelations
of the Americas Before Columbus and 1493: Uncovering the New
World Columbus Created) contention that Indians were a major
reason for grassland in the south by increasing fire extent and
frequency (I disagree with Noss on this point). A good read,
well worth the cost.
Upcoming Events
• 31st Prairie Grouse Technical Council. Missouri hosts
the biennial meeting in September 2015 in Nevada, MO.
Registration and associated information is available online
through the North American Grouse Partnership: http://
www.grousepartners.org/pgtc/. Questions may be directed to
Max Alleger, 660-885-8179 or [email protected]. If
you do not currently participate in the PGTC List-Serve, you
may sign up via the link on the web page referenced above.
Future announcements regarding the 31st PGTC will be
shared via the list-serve rather than by contacting individuals
who have participated in the past.
• The Multistate Patch-Burn Grazing Working Group meets
in the Red Hills of south-central Kansas the week of August
10. Ed Koger’s ranch, in Pratt, KS, is the feature site but we
may also visit one of Ted Turner’s ranches nearby. We will
see prairie restoration including cedar removal, burning and
grazing in a very scenic part of Kansas. Contact Sherry Leis at
[email protected] for more information.
33
Prairie Postings
News from Feaster Glade
CÉCILE LAGANDRÉ
Late fall and winter always give me an
opportunity for a far less obstructed view
of Feaster Glade’s bare ground: I spent
a few weekends bruising my knees and
photographing some surprising life forms.
The pitfall about pictures is the need
to keep track of them and name them.
Thanks to many people and to my own
use of floras and guides, a large number
of species (and/or only genus) of fungus,
nonvascular and vascular plants, insects,
spiders, mammals, and birds now crowd
our survey!
Cataloguing is one of my favorite
occupations; another is implementing
strategies to fulfill our conservation goals,
an activity for which we are still fledglings.
Among the unusual life
We face all the difficulties reserved
forms more apparent in fall
to small landowners who are restoring
and winter at Feaster Glade
or maintaining native species: mixing a
is this dog lichen, Peltigera
five-gallon solution of an herbicide, whose
praetextata, the most comdilution instructions are given in Imperial
mon of the six species of this
genus that occur in Missouri.
Units for a batch twenty times larger,
The reddish brown saddleis no small challenge. To avoid having
shaped structures at the tips
to add an ultimate shaky tablespoon of
of the raised lobes are called
a crucial ingredient, I decided, at long
apothecia—they contain
last, to acquire small and large measuring
spores of the fungus component of the lichen. Dog
containers graduated in the International
lichens have a cyanobacteSystem of Units which divides like a
rium—formerly called blue
breeze.
green alga—as their other
This whole despicable operation can
component, which allows
still
be fraught with all kind of errors. This
them to fix atmospheric
nitrogen, much as legumes
past growing season, some spayed sericea
do with their root bactelespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) plants still
ria. Lichens grow—very
went
to seed despite their sickly appearance
slowly—when moisture is
…
Sometimes,
I rediscover the pleasure
adequate in spring, summer,
of
pulling
an
invasive
plant straight out
and fall.
of sandy or muddy soil. Several multiflora
rose (Rosa multiflora) plants met their end this way. The thickened hooks
at the tops of their tap roots spoke of a hypogeal seed germination many
moons ago—a delicious lesson in plant physiology.
Even sunglasses have an unforeseen impact on conservation since
my ability to see whatever I am spraying is greatly diminished when
puffy cumuli block sun rays. An accidental little cloud of another kind
landing on my bare face, followed by a 20-minute eyewash, taught me
the wisdom of never leaving home without two pairs of safety-colored
glasses: a yellow one, perched like a crown under my hat and a dark
one on my eyes, or vice versa!
—MPF member Cécile Lagandré and her husband Dave Van Dyne
have the privilege of calling Feaster Glade their own. Cécile shares
tales of its restoration in the Missouri Prairie Journal.
Vol. 36 No. 1
Call for proposals for MPF’s
2015 Prairie Gardens Grant
Gardening and conservation groups, parks, schools, and other entities
are invited to submit proposals to MPF’s Prairie Gardens Small
Grants Program. In 2015, MPF would like to award $500 to help
fund the establishment of a prairie garden or planting. Gardens must
be available to the public and must incorporate native prairie species.
Matching funds are not required, but proposals with secured matching
funds may be evaluated higher than others. Visit www.moprairie.org
for an application form. Applications will be due March 20, 2015.
Questions? Call 888-843-6739.
Amazon will donate 0.5%
of the price of your eligible
AmazonSmile purchases to the Missouri Prairie Foundation
whenever you shop on AmazonSmile. AmazonSmile is the same
Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
Visit http://smile.amazon.com for details. Thank you for supporting MPF when you shop with AmazonSmile!
Planned Giving for Prairies
Your annual membership and other gifts to MPF are vital to our
ongoing prairie conservation work. By establishing a planned
gift to MPF as well, you can also ensure that we can continue
our work well into the future. Below are several ways to make
a planned gift:
• Create a charitable remainder trust. You will receive fixed
payments for the rest of your life and have a charitable
deduction. Charitable remainder trusts offer payment rates
that are more attractive than many other investments, with
the rate amount determined by your age. In addition, you
have the satisfaction of knowing that the remainder of your
gift will benefit MPF.
• Give appreciated stock or bonds. You will provide a larger
gift to MPF—and avoid capital gains liability.
• Put a bequest in your will or trust (cash, specific property,
or a share of the residual estate). You will make a gift for
MPF’s future that doesn’t affect your cash flow or portfolio
now, but will provide an eventual estate tax deduction.
Those wishing to make a bequest to MPF may find the
suggested wording helpful:
I bequeath ___% of my residuary estate (or $___) to the Missouri
Prairie Foundation, a nonprofit conservation organization, with
its address at P.O. Box 200, Columbia, MO 65205 for its ongoing
programs in prairie acquisitions, stewardship, and education.
If you have already made a planned give to MPF, or plan to,
please let us know. For more information contact us: Missouri
Prairie Foundation, P.O. Box 200, Columbia, MO 65205, tollfree phone: 1-888-843-6739, or email at [email protected].
Honorariums and Memorials
50th
In Honor of Robert Barnhardt
MPF would like to thank John and Janese
Barnhardt, and Martha Barnhardt, for their gifts
in honor of Robert Barnhardt’s birthday.
MPF
ANNIVERSARY
CAMPAIGN MEMBERSHIP GOALS
To broaden its membership support, which
will increase MPF’s prairie protection
capacity and also strengthen the collective
voice for prairie conservation, MPF has
established the following membership goals
by 2016:
In Honor of Carol Davit
SUSAN LORDI MARKER
MPF would like to thank Pat and Bob Perry for
their gift in honor of MPF Executive Director Carol
Davit, and specifically her work to distribute free
native plants for monarch butterflies in 2014.
In Honor of Margo Farnsworth and
Jim Pascoe
MPF would like to thank Jean and Jim
Shoemaker for their gift in honor of MPF board
member Margo Farnsworth, and Mark and Carol
Hunt for their gift in honor of Margo and her
husband Jim Pascoe.
In Memory of Richard Glass
In Honor of R. E. Fullerton
In Memory of Clair Kucera and
Don Christisen
MPF would like to thank Michelle Anderson for
her gift in honor of R. E. Fullerton.
In Honor of Martha Harris
MPF would like to thank John Harris for making
a gift in honor of his sister Martha Harris.
In Honor of Mike McDaniel
MPF would like to thank Francine Glass for her
gift in memory of her husband Richard Glass.
MPF would like to thank Jim and Suzanne Lehr
for their gift in honor of prairie conservation
pioneer Clair Kucera and MPF’s co-founder Don
Christisen.
In Memory of Larry G. Maher
MPF would like to thank Stephanie Sigala and
Jane Schaefer, who each made gifts in honor of
Sharon Pedersen’s birthday.
MPF would like to thank Betty and Jim Grace for
their gift in honor of long-time MPF member
Larry G. Maher, who died on January 3, 2015.
Maher was a math and science teacher and a
committed steward of his family’s farmland in
northwestern Missouri, which he restored and
managed as prairie.
In Honor of Paul Ross
In Memory of Dr. Stephen Morris
MPF would like to thank Jessica Taggert for her
gift in honor of Mike McDaniel.
In Honor of Sharon Pedersen
MPF would like to thank Gretchen Ross for her
gift in honor of Paul Ross.
In Honor of Jean and Jim Shoemaker
MPF would like to thank Dr. Lee Hammons
and Emily Loeb for their gift in memory of Dr.
Stephen Morris.
MPF would like to thank MPF board member
Margo Farnsworth and her husband Jim Pascoe
for their gift in honor of Jean and Jim Shoemaker.
In Memory of Merrill Myers
In Honor of Jon Wingo
MPF would like to thank Junette Gist for her gift
in honor of MPF board member Jon Wingo.
In Memory of G. Andy Runge
In Memory of Angela K. Davis
MPF would like to thank William and Arlene
Davis for their gift in memory of their daughter
Angela K. Davis.
In Memory of Helen Elwell
MPF would like to thank Mary B. Fink for her gift
in memory of Helen Elwell.
MPF would like to thank Elizabeth Myers for her
gift in honor of Merrill Myers.
MPF would like to thank Winnie Runge Stribling
for her gift in memory of her late husband G.
Andy Runge, who served two terms as president
of MPF.
In Memory of Bernice E. Young
MPF would like to thank MPF board member
David Young and his wife Judy for their gift in
memory of David’s mother Bernice E. Young,
who passed away January 14, 2014 at the age of
100 years, 4 months, and 14 days.
• Grow membership to 2,000 or more by 2016.
• Welcome 50 or more new lifetime members
by 2016.
• Recognize 30 or more lifetime members
as Crawford & Christisen Compass Society
Members in 2014, in 2015, and in 2016.
YOUR MEMBERSHIP MATTERS!
Member support is crucial to MPF’s work.
If you are not a member, please send your
membership dues today. If you are a current
member, please note that your expiration
date is printed above your name on the
back cover. Prompt renewal helps our
conservation work. If you are able, please
consider increasing your membership level.
To become a new member, renew your
membership, give a gift membership, or
make an additional donation outside of
annual membership, please send payment
and address information to
c/o Martinsburg Bank, P.O. Box 856
Mexico, MO 65265-0856
You may also contribute on-line at www.
moprairie.org/Donate.
If you have any questions about your
membership, please contact Jane Schaefer,
who administers MPF’s membership
database, at [email protected] or
call 1-888-843-6739.
Membership Levels
(individual, family, or organization)
Regular and gift memberships: $35; Friend:
$50; Supporting: $100;
Contributing: $250; Sustaining: $500; Life (no
membership expiration): $1,000; Crawford
& Christisen Compass Society: Annual Gift
of $1,000 or more from lifetime members
(cumulative or lump sum in a year)
See www.moprairie.org, Donate, for
contributor benefits.
35
MISSOURI
PRAIRIE
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Columbia, MO
Permit No. 286
FOUNDATION
Protec ting Native Grasslands
P.O. Box 200
Columbia, MO 65205
[email protected] • 1-888-843-6739 • www.moprairie.org
PLEASE NOTE that your
MPF membership expiration date
is now printed with your address.
Renewing promptly will save MPF costs
of mailing renewal reminder letters.
To renew, see page 35.
Calendar of Prairie-Related Events
Missouri Prairie Foundation Events
Saturday, March 28, 2015—
Grow Native! Plant Sale hosted
by Runge Conservation Nature
Center, 2901 W. Truman Blvd.,
Jefferson City, MO 65102. 10:00
a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Grow Native!
Professional Members Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery, Forrest
Keeling Nursery, Pure Air Natives,
and Gaylena’s Garden will be
selling native wildflowers,
grasses, sedges, vines, shrubs,
and trees at this annual sale. You
may preorder from: Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery: 573-4963492 or [email protected]
and Forrest Keeling Nursery: 314719-9248 or elovelace@fknursery.
com. All vendors will be donating
a portion of their sale proceeds to
support the MPF’s Grow Native!
program.
The United Nations has declared
2015 as the International Year of
Soils, to recognize the vital role
soil plays in sustaining life on
earth. MPF pays tribute to this
special designation by highlighting
the importance of prairie soil to
the prairie ecosystem and as a
guideline for environmentally
beneficial management practices
for agriculture. At MPF’s 6th
annual Prairie BioBlitz on June
6, 2015 (at right), soil scientists
from the University of Missouri–
Columbia will sample soil and give
a presentation. Watch for a prairie
soil microbe article in the fall/winter
issue of the Missouri Prairie Journal,
and details on other activities
currently being organized.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015—
Introduction to Missouri’s Raptors.
Join birder and MPF technical
advisor Jeff Cantrell as he shares,
through photographs and life
history, information and helpful identification tips about
these majestic Missouri birds.
Springfield Conservation Nature
Center, 4601 S. Nature Center
Way, Springfield, MO 65804-4920.
Ages 12 and up. Registration
begins March 3. Free. Call 417888-4237 to RSVP. This is a joint
MPF and Missouri Department of
Conservation event.
Saturday, April 11, 2015—
Presentation by Justin R. Thomas,
Director, Institute of Botanical
Training, LLC: “Plant Interactions
on the Grasslands; The Good, The
Bad, and The ‘Calendar’ Prairie,”
hosted by MPF at 10:00 a.m. at
All Souls Unitarian Universalist
Church, 4501 Walnut Street,
Kansas City, MO 64111. Free and
open to the public. The MPF
Board will then hold its quarterly
meeting (after an 11:30 lunch)
from noon until 3:00. Members
and others interested are welcome to attend the meeting.
Lunch is available for non-board
members attending the Board
meeting for $15. RSVPs for lunch
must be received by Wednesday,
April 1 to Josi Neilsen at [email protected] or
call 314-690-3620.
We are celebrating 15 years
for Grow Native! MPF and its
Grow Native! Committee are
organizing and promoting many
events throughout the year to
recognize the anniversary of the
program, our Grow Native! professional members, and
the vital importance of choosing native plants for the
built environment and altered landscapes. Many events
are planned—see page 28 for a list of events to date.
April 18 and 25, 2015—Annual
MPF Native Plant Sales, City
Market, 5th and Walnut, Kansas
City. Both Saturdays: 8:00 a.m.
to 1:00 p.m. Native plants for a
variety of growing conditions will
be available. On April 18, Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery and Forrest
Keeling Nursery will supply
plants, vines, shrubs, and trees;
on April 25, Missouri Wildflowers
Nursery and Applied Ecological
Services will supply plants,
shrubs, vines, and trees. To preorder for April 18 sale: contact
Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
at 573-496-3492 or mowldflrs@
socket.net or Forrest Keeling at
314-719-9248 or email elovelace@
fknursery.com. To pre-order
for April 25 sale: contact Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery at 573-4963492 or [email protected]
or Applied Ecological Services
at 785-594-2245 or [email protected]. A portion of sales
will benefit MPF conservation
work. Cash, check, or credit card
accepted. To volunteer at the sale,
please contact MPF President
Doris Sherrick at djsher@fairpoint.
net or 816-716-9159.
May 2, 2015—MPF Native
Plant Sale at Town and Country
Whole Foods Market® 1160 Town
and Country Crossing Drive,
Town and Country, MO 63017.
A fabulous selection and quantity of choice native perennials,
grasses, sedges, vines, shrubs,
and trees supplied by Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery will be available outside the entrance of the
store from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
To pre-order, contact Missouri
Wildflowers Nursery at 573-4963492 or [email protected].
A portion of the proceeds will
benefit MPF’s conservation work. June 6, 2015—Sixth Annual
Prairie BioBlitz at MPF’s La Petite
Gemme Prairie in Polk County.
New this year: a petit picnique
lunch prior to the main BioBlitz
events and a presentation on
prairie soils. La Petite Gemme
is accessible by car and also by
bike via the Frisco Highline Trail.
Registration for this free event
will be open in mid-spring. Watch
e-news and www.moprairie.org
for details, or call 888-843-6739.
June 13, 2015—Dedication of
Linden’s Prairie, purchased by
MPF in 2014. Lawrence County.
Watch for postcard invitation.
June 21, 2015—Dedication
of Pleasant Run Creek Prairie,
purchased by MPF in 2014.
Vernon County. Watch for
postcard invitation.
E-news alerts provide MPF members with news about more events. Send your e-mail address
to [email protected] to be added to the e-news list. MPF does not share e-mail addresses with other groups.
Events are also posted at www.moprairie.org.

2015: Volume 36, Number 1 - Missouri Prairie Foundation

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