28738_01_2010
Photography: John Clayton, Sugar Grove Park District Printing: Allegra Print & Imaging, Aurora, IL Design and Production: Caroline Baty-Barr
Today, the detention basin prairie is known as the Kaneland South (John Shields) Outdoor Laboratory. Local elementary school teachers and students abandon the traditional classrooms to explore hands-on opportunities that can only be experienced in what nature has to offer. Direct interaction in this natural living classroom offers students the sights, sounds, smells and textures of the unique flora and fauna found only on a prairie.
to the most common plants and insects found and photographed in Sugar Grove Park District’s Detention Basin Prairie and Outdoor Laboratory.
A pictorial field guide
Education Winter
Sugar Grove Park District Field Identification Guide Spring/Fall Summer
Earth
“We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.” _ Native American Proverb
Volunteer Park Detention Basin Prairie
A detention basin provides storm water management for hard or impermeable surfaces such as rooftops, concrete sidewalks, and asphalt parking lots. The Volunteer Park basin helps prevent flooding of park district and school district property by directing rains to the basin. The basin’s steeply sloped sides and wet bottom create a unique framework for a variety of native plant species to thrive in one location. Typically, a turf-grass type landscape construction is used in detention basins in our area. By using a native plant landscape design instead, three types of native plant communities or ecosystems can coexist: dry, mesic and wet prairie. Within these ecosystems, plants such as Big Bluestem, Compass Plant, Prairie Dock, Butterfly Weed, Wild Bergamot and Rattlesnake Master thrive in this environment. Many insects have also found suitable habitat among these “microbionetworks” including Dog Bane Leaf Beetle, Chinese Praying Mantis, Monarch Butterfly caterpillars, Blue Dasher and Widow Skimmer dragonflies.
Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa
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Interesting Facts - Plants & Insects Black & Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) Although people are concerned about being bitten by these large spiders, they are not considered dangerous. They may bite when harassed, but apparently the venom does not cause problems for humans. They spin a very distinctive circular (orb) web with a fuzzy, white lightning bolt shape running down the center. When disturbed, the spider might first vibrate the web to try to make its body look bigger, but if that fails to deter a predator, she will drop to the ground and hide.
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Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) This beetle was accidentally introduced as a pest in the United States. It may have arrived as grubs in nursery plant soil imported from Japan. The Japanese Beetle costs the turf and ornamental industry approximately $450 million each year in management alone. Compass Plant (Silphium laciniatum) The common . name derives from the belief by pioneers that the leaves of Compass Plant pointed in a north-south direction. While this is probably true more often than not, it is not always reliable. The resin was used by Indian children as a chewing gum.
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The original design and installation of the prairie was a collaborative effort between resident volunteers, KESA (Kaneland Elementary School Association) Boy Scout Troop 41, the Village of Sugar Grove and Kaneland School District. More than 70 volunteers and 9,000 plants transformed the area into a restored prairie. The prairie also served as the basis for an Eagle Scout Project. The prairie was honored by the first annual United States Environmental Protection Agency & Chicago Wilderness Conservation and Native Landscaping Awards Program. In addition, the Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund awarded a small project grant for a commemorative sign (above). The prairie was also certified and registered as an official Monarch Waystation because it provides food and shelter for monarchs as they migrate through North America.
Awards
Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) As the flower fades and the seeds begin to form, this plant has been given descriptive names such as torch flower, lion’s beard, old man’s whiskers and prairie smoke. Native Americans once boiled the roots to produce a root tea that was used medicinally for a variety of purposes such as wound applications and sore throat treatments. Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) In the past, the dried seed-heads of Rattlesnake Master were used as rattles by Amerindians. Pioneers thought the roots could be used as an effective antidote to rattlesnake bite, hence the common name of this plant. However, this belief was erroneous. Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) Even though it is easy to grow from seed, the Royal Catchfly is on the threatened species list in Indiana and the endangered species list in Illinois and Kentucky. This plant has a calyx that is covered with sticky hairs that trap or “catch” climbing insects, hence the name.
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Hover Fly (Helophilus fasciatus) This gorgeous fly certainly lives up to its Latin name, meaning “sun lover.” From early spring, member species of these large insects are active and basking in sunny areas, or nectaring on dozens of different flowers. Their coloring and movements mimic other species. They are either stout-bodied and covered with hair, resembling a bumble bee, or boldly patterned with yellow, orange and black, resembling wasps or honey bees. Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum) The common name for this plant is Indian Hemp, because native Amerindians derived a strong fiber from the stems, which was used as twine in basketry, mats, and other artifacts. Some early French explorers remarked upon the abundance of this plant in the original prairie, which they referred to as ‘hemp’ in their writings. Dogbane Leaf Beetle (Chrysochus auratus) The body of the leaf beetle is iridescent and changes color depending on the angles of reflecting light. The beetle’s body surface is covered with stacks of tiny, slanting plates that are above a color-producing pigment. At different angles, we see a variety of colors that shine and glisten.
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Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina) This dragonfly looks very similar to a butterfly. Its wings are orangey-yellow in color with dark brown markings hence the Halloween reference in its name. In a common position perched at the tip of a weed stalk, the dragonfly looks like a pennant waving in the breeze.
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Chinese Praying Mantis (Tenodera sinensis) There are 3 types of praying mantis in North America, but the Chinese mantis is the most common. It was introduced around the 1900s as a garden predator in an attempt to control pest populations. Like some other mantids, they are known to be cannibalistic by eating other mantis.
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Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) This is a typical plant of mesic black soil prairies that competes successfully with tall prairie grasses. It has an impressive and unusual appearance, like something out of the Stone Age when Columbian mastodons and other mega-fauna inhabited the prairies of North America.