2016 Wildflower Walks

You Might be a Botanist

You Might be a Botanist
an original poem by Illinois Botanizer

If you take the time to identify lawn and garden weeds before pulling them out…

If you know at least a dozen different terms to describe “hairy”…

If you store a dissecting microscope on your kitchen table…

If you have no problem remembering botanical names, but keep forgetting common names…

If you have botany manuals in your bathroom as reading material…

If you tell your family you spent all week looking at plant specimens in the herbarium, and they give you a funny look…

If you go out looking at plants during your day job, and then go out looking at plants on your day off…

If you wear your loupe out in public… (my wife calls it my nerd necklace)

If there are Desmodium seeds on your bath towels, (and you know what Desmodium seeds look like)...

If you open up random books and plant leaves fall out…

If you are terrible at yard work and only mow your lawn once a month…

If your bookshelf is overflowing with plant field guides…

If you pick seeds off your clothes and identify them before tossing them away…

If the book to the flora of your state is always within arms reach…

If you have bags of plants in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator…

If everyone who hears about your occupation thinks you grow marijuana…

If the phrase “scarious margins on the involucral bracts” makes sense to you (and you know what species I might be referring to!)…

If you are out all day collecting plants, and then come home, shower, eat, and then return to looking at plants…

7 Amazing Spring Wildflower Hikes in Southern Illinois

     These 7 amazing spring wildflower hikes in southern Illinois are so impressive they will leave you yearning for more.  All of these areas are open to the public and have good trails for hiking.  And of course they are loaded with spring wildflowers!
     Click on each link to view the hike descriptions from the Guide to Spring Wildflower Hikes in Southern Illinois, produced by the Southern Chapter of the Illinois Native Plant Society and co-authored by Chris Evans and Chris Benda.

Giant City State Park - Trillium Trail

Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge - Rocky Bluff Trail

Ferne Clyffe State Park - Round Bluff Nature Preserve Trail

Cache River State Natural Area - Heron Pond Trail

LaRue Pine Hills Ecological Area - Snake Road Trail

Shawnee National Forest - Rim Rock National Recreation Trail

Little Grand Canyon Ecological Area

Click here to download a field guide to southern Illinois wildflowers covering 80 common species.

Hepatica acutiloba

     The Doctrine of Signatures is a rather bizarre concept that was embraced by herbalists of long ago. The idea comes from a couple of religious Europeans who suggested that God marked his creations with a signature that suggests its purpose to mankind.  Plants that resembled body parts were thought to have been created in order to treat ailments of that body part.  In the days before pharmacuticals, plants were heavily collected and used as medicine.  The idea was that since God is responsible for disease, he must also have created a natural cure for the disease.
     Such is the story behind the plant named Liverleaf (Hepatica acutiloba). In fact, even the scientific name of this plant refers to its resemblance to the liver as "Hepatica" comes from the Latin "epatikos" meaning "affecting the liver."  This plant has leaves that are distinctly three-lobed and in the dormant season they turn liver-colored (brown).  The human liver is also three-lobed and brown, therefore it was once thought that this plant could be used to treat liver disease.  However, this species is in the Ranunculaceae (the Buttercup family), which is a family of plants that are largely toxic!

     Liverleaf is generally distributed throughout Illinois, but is restricted to undisturbed woodlands.  It has no petals as the showy portions of the flower are technically sepals. It is one of our earliest spring wildflowers.

Symplocarpus foetidus

     

     
     The earliest spring wildflower to emerge from dormancy is skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). In fact, this species flowers so early, it could be considered a winter wildflower! Skunk cabbage flowers have the ability to heat up the surrounding snow, which promotes melting so it can poke its fragrant flowers up through the ground. 
     Skunk cabbage has unusual flowers, like all members of the Arum family (Araceae). They consist of a spathe, an outer sheath which surrounds the inflorescence, and a spadix, a fleshy stem on which tiny flowers are produced.
     

Newly emerging leaves

     Many plants that produce flowers at the surface of the ground are brown in color and stink like decaying organic matter. This is to attract pollinators, typically flies, but this also lures in beetles and ants as well. Pollinators are also attracted to the flowers because of the heat they produce which leads to another interesting evolutionary strategy.
     Why flower so early? On the one hand, there are not many pollinators available in the early spring because it is too cold for them to be active or present. However, the few insects that are active and present are looking for food and warmth. The skunk cabbage receives virtually exclusive attention because it flowers when nothing else is available.
     “Symplocarpus” is Greek for “connected fruits” and “foetidus” translates from Latin to “malodorous” meaning “smelling very unpleasant.” From this, the term “fetid” derives.
     These photos were taken in a forest preserve in Cook County on March 18, 2016.  There is a healthy population at this location.

Skunk Cabbage flowers in March

     This is what the site looks like in summer.

Seep filled with Skunk Cabbage in June

Map of Public Lands in Southern Illinois

Click to enlarge

Complete List of Public Natural Areas in Southern Illinois

This is a complete list of all 110 public natural areas in southern Illinois.  Compiled by Illinois Botanizer.

PUBLIC NATURAL AREAS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST NATURAL AREAS - 80 sites

Atwood Ridge RNA/Ecological Area

Ava Zoological Area

Bald Knob Geological Area

Barker Bluff RNA/Ecological Area

Bear Creek Relict Site Botanical Area

Bell Smith Springs Ecological Area

Big Brushy Ridge Ecological Area

Big Creek Zoological Area/Candidate Wild & Scenic River

Brown's Zoological Area

Bulge Hole Ecological Area

Burke Branch RNA/Ecological Area

Cane Creek Botanical Area

Caney Branch Barrens Ecological Area

Cave Hill RNA/Ecological Area

Chimaphila Site Botanical Area

Clear Creek Swamp Botanical Area

Clear Springs Geological Area

Copperous Branch Limestone Barrens Ecological Area

Cretaceous Hills Ecological Area

Crow Knob Ecological Area

Dean Cemetery East Barrens Ecological Area

Dean Cemetery West Barrens Ecological Area

Dennison Hollow RNA/Ecological Area

Dog Barrens Ecological Area

Double Branch Hole Ecological Area

Dutch Creek Chert Woodland Ecological Area

East Fork Oxalis illinoensis Botanical Area

Fink Sandstone Barrens Ecological Area

Fountain Bluff Geological Area

Garden of the Gods Ecological Area

Gibbons Creek Ecological Area

Grantsburg Swamp Ecological Area (Bell Pond)

Greentree Reservoir Botanical Area (Oakwood Bottoms)

Gyp Williams Hollow Ecological Area

Hayes Creek/Fox Den Creek Ecological Area

Hutchison Zoological Area

Jackson Hole Ecological Area

Jackson Hollow Ecological Area

Kaskaskia Woods Ecological Area

Keeling Hill North Ecological Area

Keeling Hill South Ecological Area

Kickasola Cemetery Ecological Area

LaRue-Pine Hills/Otter Pond RNA/Ecological Area

Leisure City Barrens Ecological Area

Little Grand Canyon/Horseshoe Bluff Ecological Area

Lusk Creek Canyon Ecological Area

Lusk Creek North Ecological Area

Lusk Creek Zoological Area/Candidate Wild & Scenic River

Martha's Woods Ecological Area

Massac Tower Springs Ecological Area

Millstone Bluff Ecological Area/Historic Site

Odum Tract Ecological Area

Opossum Trot Trail Botanical Area

Ozark Hill Prairie RNA/Ecological Area

Panther Hollow RNA/Ecological Area

Pine Hills Annex Ecological Area

Pine Hollow Ecological Area

Pleasant Valley Barrens Ecological Area

Poco Cemetery East Ecological Area

Poco Cemetery North Ecological Area

Pounds Hollow Ecological Area

Provo Cemetery Barrens Ecological Area

Reddick Hollow Botanical Area

Reid's Chapel Ecological Area

Rich's Zoological Area

Robnett Barrens Ecological Area

Russell Cemetery Barrens Ecological Area

Saltpeter Relict Botanical Area

Sand Cave Ecological Area

Schwegman Ecological Area

Silvey Pond Botanical Area

Simpson Township Barrens Ecological Area

Snow Springs Ecological Area

Split Rock Hollow Ecological Area

Stoneface RNA/Ecological Area

Sulphur Springs Botanical Area

Teal Pond Botanical Area

Toothless Zoological Area

Whoopie Cat Mountain RNA/Ecological Area

Wolf Creek Botanical Area

ILLINOIS DEPT. NATURAL RESOURCES NATURAL AREAS - 30 sites

Berryville Shale Glade Nature Preserve

Big Grand Pierre Site Nature Preserve

Brown Barrens Nature Preserve

Campbell Lake Nature Preserve

Cave Creek Barrens Nature Preserve

Cedar Bluff Nature Preserve

Chestnut Hills Nature Preserve

Collier Limestone Glade Nature Preserve

Cretaceous Hills Nature Preserve

Cypress Hill Nature Preserve

Cypress Pond Nature Preserve

Deer Pond Nature Preserve

Draper's Bluff Nature Preserve

Fern Rocks Nature Preserve

Fort Massac Nature Preserve

Gibbons Creek Barrens Land and Water Reserve

Guthrie Cave Nature Preserve

Horseshoe Lake and Forest Nature Preserve

Lake Murphysboro Hill Prairie Nature Preserve 

Little Black Slough - Heron Pond Nature Preserve

Lovets Pond Nature Preserve

Lower Cache River Swamp Nature Preserve

Lusk Creek Canyon Nature Preserve

McClure Shale Glade Nature Preserve

Mermet Swamp and Flatwoods Nature Preserve

Ozark Hills Nature Preserve

Piney Creek Ravine Nature Preserve

Round Bluff Nature Preserve

Sielbeck Forest Tract Nature Preserve

SW Kinkaid Route 3 Natural Area