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| I'm in the middle of a group outstanding in their field among the prairie roses |
As advanced training exclusively for Missouri Master Naturalists, a series of six Saturday hikes featuring some of the state's most unique natural areas was designed in a 40th Anniversary Tour. Mike Leahy, Natural Coordinator for the Missouri Department of Conservation is the leader to discover Missouri's natural features. I participated in two of the six events which at this time are still ongoing with the last one in October. The natural areas are as follows:
March
Engelmann Woods Natural Area , Franklin County. This 1.5 mile trail abounds in early spring wildflowers set amongst huge old-growth oaks, basswood and other hardwood trees.
April
Clifty Creek Natural Area, Maries County. This scenic 2.5 mile trail passes through a microcosm of Ozark natural communities from glades to stream valleys with a natural bridge to see as well as spring birding.
May
Ha Ha Tonka Oak Woodland Natural Area, Camden County. Hike a 4.75 mile trail through some of the best woodlands and glades in the Ozarks. The glade openings should be very showy with wildflowers and abuzz with insect life. My favorite as it is only 30 minutes from my home and I spend a lot of my time here. On this particular day, it stormed with lightening after the first hour and the group hurried along to a safer place. Most of the spring blooms were seen in that first hour but I didn't take many photos as I had done so on previous trips. For more of my experiences here, write in "Ha Ha Tonka" in the "Search" feature on the main page of this blog for specific activities I wrote about.
June
Osage and Little Osage Prairie Natural Areas, Vernon County. This is the most recent event in which I participated. The prairies were alive with wildflowers, birds, and pollinating insects as we wandered across the tall grass prairies named for the Native Americans who once lived here. I have included a couple dozen photos from my experience here.
August
Stegall Mountain Natural Area at Peck Ranch Conservation Area, Carter County. Explore one of the most scenic and rugged Ozark natural areas from the geologic wonder of Rocky Falls to the wide-open views atop Stegall Mountain's glades. I'm still thinking about going on this trip and haven't decided as of this date. It would involve an overnight stay as it is several hours from my home.
October
Paintbrush Prairie Natural Area, Pettis County. Explore the golden hues of the native prairie grasses and look for the deep purple blooms of downy gentian. There may be northern harriers soaring above. This one is closer to my home and is a likely one for my participation.
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After the two hour informative hike at the Osage and Little Osage Prairie Natural Areas, Mike Leahy was also leading another event at the 8th Annual Prairie BioBlitz located about 30 minutes from this site. A couple of us followed him and continued a similar but expanded outdoor class called "Prairie Ecology (soil, geology, plant and animal interactions)." For much more information and photos from this event check out the
Missouri Prairie Foundation. Also you can check out their Facebook page linked from this site where I found over a hundred photos from this event!
On the way home from Vernon County, I stopped at the
Osage Village State Historic Site located north of Walker off Highway 54 east. It is the location where between 1700 and 1775, a group of the Osage lived on a high, open hilltop near the Osage River valley. The village contained 2,000 to 3,000 people and about 200 lodges. It is a good visualization of what it was like to live on a prairie before settlers. After the United States government took control of the Louisiana Purchase territory in 1804, the Osage Indians were gradually forced to retreat to Oklahoma.
I have included many of the photos I took that one day at all three locations. I took many notes and was happy that Mike Leahy provided a 4-page list of the plants we could see along with the common name and scientific name as well as the COFC number which I understand sets a biologic value 1-10 to each plant.
Osage and Little Osage Prairie Natural Areas
(Photos by Beti Pearson)
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| Participants from all over the state came together for a field study led by Mike Leahy |
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| Bigflower coreopsis (Coreopsis grandiflora) 6 |
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| Beard-tongue (Penstemon tubaeflorus) 5 |
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June grass
"Sedges have edges; grasses are round wherever they are found." |
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| Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida) 7 |
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| Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) 8 |
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| Lead Plant (Amorpha canescens) 8 & blackberry |
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| Indian plantain (Amorlossum planyagineum) 8 |
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| Button snakeroot (Liatris pycnostachya) 6 |
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| Sensitive brier (Mimosa quadrivalvi) 6 |
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| Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) 6 |
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| Prairie dropseed group(Sporobolus heterolepis) 6 |
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| Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) 4 |
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| Prairie rose (Rosa setigera) 4 |
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| Prairie rose (Rosa setigera) 4 |
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| White wild indigo (Baptisia alba) 6 |
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| Tall thistle (Cirsium altissimum) 4 - A good thistle! |
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| Mike Leahy & son Jamie |
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Native Slender Bush Clover (Lespedeza virginica) 5
vs
Invasive Sericea Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) 0 |
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| Prairie gentain (Gentiana puberulenta) 9 - September has blue bloom |
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| Prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa) 6 |
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| Slender mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium) 4 |
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| Field milkwort (Poltgala sanguinea) 5 |
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| Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) 5 |
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| Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) 1 - with a little crab spider |
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| Common Lousewort (Pedicularis canadensis) 5 |
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| Soft rush (Juncus effusus ssp.solutus) 5 |
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| Spaddordock bloom |
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| Spaddordock |
BioBlitz at Stilwell Prairie
(Photos by Beti Pearson)
The Missouri Prairie Foundation’s 8th
Annual Prairie BioBlitz was held at Stilwell Prairie, Vernon County. In 1995
the Kansas City Southern Railroad donated 376 acres in Vernon County to MPF. The site is
named for Arthur Stilwell, founder of the railroad that forms the western
boundary of the site. Stilwell Prairie is situated on a ridgetop with views of
the Little Osage River Valley to the north and the Marmaton River Valley to the
south. It contains two state-imperiled community types tracked by the Missouri
Natural Heritage Database: dry-mesic limestone/dolomite and dry-mesic
sandstone/shale prairie natural communities, as well as more than 325 native
vascular plant species, including the federally threatened Mead’s milkweed
(Asclepias meadii). Approximately 117 acres of Stilwell is high quality
prairie, and the remainder is in varying stages of restoration.
Participants at this Bioblitz documented at
least two plant species not previously known to this site–in addition to an
impressive list of grassland birds noted, insects, and much more.
“Ecologists consider temperate grasslands
to be the most endangered, least conserved of any major terrestrial habitat on
earth-so Missouri’s tall grass prairies have global conservation significance,”
Carol Davit, Missouri Prairie Foundation’s executive director, said. “We know
our remaining prairies in Missouri support rich plant and animal life, but
there still is much to learn. We want to see how many different kinds of plants
and animals we can find at Stilwell Prairie, and BioBlitz participants will
help in the effort.”
I did attend another BioBlitz at the LaPetite Gemme Prairie near Bolivar a couple years ago. It had many of the same classes.
