Lynx Prairie

While at the Advanced Naturalist Workshop on Sedges, we visited Lynx Prairie. Here are some of the highlights from this beautiful place.

 Here is one of the field, dotted with pastel pink and white flowers with a smathering of scarlet, for good measure.

The pink and white flowers are that of Shooting Star, Dodecatheon meadii. This is a flower one doesn't see often and certainly not that many at one time. It was breathtaking seeing all of them together in the large field.

The lovely red color is from this parasitic plant, Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja coccinea. It is a hemiparasite, meaning it can draw nutrients from other plants, but can make its own food since it has chlorophyll in its leaves. 



There was another area filled with Indian Paintbrush and the huge leaves of Prairie Dock, Silphium terebinthinaceum.

We found the rare plant Limestone Adder's Tongue fern, Ophioglossum engelmannii. It doesn't look like a typical fern, with only one thick leaf. After spores are produced, the leaf can quickly wither, so it can be difficult to find.

One of my favorites was growing in the middle of the path. I had to stop and take a couple photos. Yellow Star Grass is so cheery-looking, it always makes me smile. The scientific name is Hypoxis hirsuta. Hirsuta means "hairy" and, if it you look closely, you can see tiny hairs on the stems and edges of the petals.

If you have a chance, come this summer and check out Lynx Prairie. There should be many prairie species in bloom at that time and it should make for a great trip.