Palouse Prairie Field Guide by Buffalo Girls Design

Palouse Prairie Field Guide An Introductory Guide to Native Plants, Agricultural Crops and Invasive Weeds for the Curious Dave M. Skinner Jacie W. Jensen Gerry Queener

Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Palouse Prairie Field Guide An Introductory Guide to Native Plants, Agricultural Crops and Invasive Weeds for the Curious Dave M. Skinner Jacie W. Jensen Gerry Queener

The primary purpose of this field guide is to make people more aware of their surroundings and to appreciate the wonderful plants we have on the Palouse Prairie. We hope to see many a dog-eared copy on the trail.

Published by Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm ÂŠ 2016 Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Dedication

Table of Contents

This Palouse Prairie Field Guide is dedicated to David M. Skinner, our wonderful friend, with whom we had the pleasure to work with until his death on January 28, 2016. He was a botanist and farmer in heart and practice. Dave provided most of the native plant information and many of the photos for this guide. His extensive knowledge of Palouse Prairie plants, agricultural crops and plants in general made a daunting task much easier. We will remember him for generously sharing his knowledge with all who expressed an interest in plants, especially native plants.

Preface................................................... v Plant identification drawings..................vi Plant indentification by color of flower White.................................................. 2 Cream............................................... 24 Yellow............................................... 26 Salmon............................................. 48

Dave was always approachable and encouraging to others when they had questions about growing and using native plants. He strongly promoted the use of natives in our private home and public building landscapes, as well as maintaining and restoring native Palouse Prairie. Plants were Daveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, and our world is a richer, more diverse place because of him and his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work. Each time we use this guide, we will fondly remember him. We hope you will, too.

Pink.................................................. 48 Red................................................... 60 Purple............................................... 64 Blue.................................................. 76 Green................................................ 86 Agricultural field crops..................... 92 Invasive weeds................................. 98 Glossary............................................. 108 The authors........................................ 110 Credits................................................ 112

JWJ

ii | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Palouse Prairie Field Guide

iii

Consortium of the Pacific Northwest Herbariums for the scientific plant’s names of family, genus and species. Each plant is described as it looks both above and below ground. This description is for education only; please do not dig up the plants! For the purpose of this guide we define Palouse “native” plants as plants that were here when Lewis and Clark explored the region in the early 1800s. Our section on “non-native” agricultural crops are the ones most commonly grown in the region. Near the end of the book you will find pictures and descriptions of some “invasive non-native” plants that inhabit the Palouse. While these flowers may be showy, they are often invaders that crowd out native species. We think, in addition to knowing the “good guys,” you should be aware of the “bad guys.”

Figure 3. Composite flower head anatomy (sunflower family)

Ray flower

Disk flower Bract

Figure 4. Inflorescences

Plant identification drawings Figure 1. Flowerhead anatomy Corolla Petal

Stigma

Umbel

Compound umbel

Anther Stamen

Style Pistil

Filament

Ovary

Sepal Raceme

Calyx

Spike

Figure 2. Pea flower anatomy

Banner Sepal Wing Keel

vi | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Cyme Panicle

Palouse Prairie Field Guide

vii

Northern bedstraw

Northern bedstraw Galium boreale (GAY-lee-um

Madder family (Rubiaceae)

bor-ee-AY-lee)

Perennial forb from rhizomes Numerous small, white, aromatic flowers are in a cluster on a central stem. Plant is erect, 12-18” tall, with square stems. Stems often have secondary branches without flowers. Basal leaves are deciduous before flowering. Stem leaves are in whorls of 4, linear to lance-shaped, 0.5-1.75” long, somewhat leathery, and not sticky. Fruit is 2 small nutlets, usually with curved hairs but not hooked hairs. Habitat: widespread variety of mesic habitats, north hillsides and open forests on the Palouse Native range: Eurasia and North America Bloom period: early to late June Notes: The reputation for weediness of the related G. aparine (Sticky bedstraw) has been unfairly transferred to other members of the genus. G. boreale and G. triflorum are not deserving of that label. Similar species: G. aparine, G. triflorum DMS

Miner’s lettuce

Miner’s lettuce Claytonia perfoliata (klay-TONE-ee-a

per-foh-lee-AY-tuh)

Miner’s lettuce family (Montiaceae) Annual forb from a taproot Flowers have 5 white or pink petals less than 0.25” long and are much smaller than the conspicuous disk leaves. Stems are 2-13” tall, ascending to erect, unbranched and rise from the base. Stem leaves are opposite, usually grown together to form the conspicuous disk around the stem. Basal leaves are few to numerous in a rosette, have petioles and are triangular to spatula-shaped with the blade often tinted red. Fruit is a capsule with round or egg-shaped seeds, black and shiny with a white elaiosome (a fleshy structure). Habitat: vernally moist and often partly shady places Native range: British Columbia to Baja California, east to Colorado and Montana Bloom period: early May to mid-July Notes: Leaves and stems were widely used for greens by native peoples, miners, and early settlers. Ants carry the seed to their nest where they eat the elaiosome and leave the seed in a good germination environment.

10 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Similar species: none on the Palouse Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Palouse goldenweed

Pyrrocoma liatriformis

Smallhead goldenweed Sunflower family (Asteraceae)

(pie-ro-KO-ma lie-a-tri-FOR-mis)

Perennial forb from a taproot and often a caudex The 13-21 yellow ray flowers are 0.25 to 0.5” long. The yellow disk flowers are numerous and with several to many heads in an open inflorescence. Stems are 12-24” tall, often branched, covered with long, soft hairs. Basal leaves are 2.75-10” long, have petioles, and are reverse lance-shaped to narrowly elliptic, the margins coarsely toothed to entire. Stem leaves are somewhat reduced and lack petioles towards the top. Fruit is a long, brown, spindle-shaped, flattened achene with a pappus of brownish, unequal, hair-like bristles. Habitat: grasslands Native range: the Palouse Bloom period: Mid-July to mid-August Notes: A rare plant found on the Palouse. Similar species: P. carthamoides TH

DMS

Twin arnica

Arnica sororia

Foothills arnica Sunflower family (Asteraceae)

(AR-ni-ka so-ROR-ee-uh)

Perennial forb from rhizomes Yellow disk and ray flowers are single or in a cluster (cyme). Erect forb is 12-20” tall. Basal and lower leaves are 2-5” long, alternate, reverse lance to elliptical shaped with petioles. The leaf margins are entire. Stem leaves are opposite, lance-shaped, and reduced upward. Leaf axils sometimes have dense tufts of white hair. Fruit is an achene 0.2” long, spindle-shaped, black, and hairy. Pappus is usually white with tiny barbs. Habitat: open meadows and grasslands Native range: western North America Bloom period: mid-May to mid -June Notes: Rocky Mountain elk may graze the plants. Similar species: A. fulgens, A. cordifolia

44 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Common camas

Camassia quamash

Small camas Asparagus family (Asparagaceae)

(kuh-MAS-ee-uh KWA-mash)

Perennial forb from a bulb Pale to purplish blue (rarely white) flowers on a 2-10” long, unbranched spike known as a terminal raceme. Each flower has 6 narrow lance-shaped tepals 0.5-1.5” long. Plant stem is 12-20” tall. Basal leaves are dark green, shorter than the inflorescence stalk, narrowly lance-shaped with entire margins. Leaves are sheathed (wrapped) around the stem. Fruit is an egg-shaped capsule about 0.5” long. Seeds are black, shiny, and about 0.25” wide. Habitat: vernally moist to wet meadows which later dry out Native range: southern British Columbia to California, east to Utah, Montana, and Wyoming Bloom period: mid to late May Notes: Bulbs are edible and an important component of the diet of native peoples in the Northwest. GQ

Long-flowered bluebells Mertensia longiflora (mer-TEN-see-uh

Similar species: none on the Palouse

Long-flowered bluebells lon-jee-FLO-ruh)

Small bluebells Borage family (Boraginaceae) Perennial forb from a shallow, thickened, tuber-like root

76 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Blue tubular flowers in a congested, many-flowered cluster at the tip of a stem 4-8” tall. Style nearly as long to slightly longer than the tube. The few unbranched stems are hairless or with stiff, flattened hairs. Basal leaves are often lacking, but elliptic and petiolate when present. The few stem leaves are reduced below, alternate, about 2” long, entire-margined, blunt-tipped and mostly without petioles. Fruit is a cluster of 4 brown, wrinkled nutlets. Habitat: sunny, open places with early spring moisture in shrub-steppe, meadow-steppe, and open pine forests Native range: east of the Cascade Mountains from British Columbia to California and east to Nevada and Western Montana Bloom period: mid-April to late May Notes: Flowers edible raw and leaves edible but best cooked. No medicinal uses. Similar species: none on the Palouse Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Barley

Barley Hordeum vulgare

Grass family (Poaceae)

(HOR-dee-um vul-GARE)

Annual grass from fibrous roots An erect green cool-season grass that is 16-30” tall, depending on the variety. Slim, single-stalk stems are round and hollow between nodes. At each node a clasping leaf develops becoming long, flat and grass-like. In many varieties the leaves are coated with a waxy, chalk-like deposit. On the spike, inconspicuous self-pollinating flowers mature into the grain kernel (seed). Barley varieties are classed as spring or fall planted, as well as 2-row or 6-row, referring to the row of kernels on the spike. Awns, up to 12” in length, have rough or “barbed” (bearded) or nearly smooth edges. An “awnless” barley is also grown. Bloom period: mid-June to mid-July Harvest period: usually August Notes: Barley can usually be differentiated from wheat by the longer and straighter beard or awns, a finer seed head, fewer seeds per head, a lighter green color in the growth stage and lighter gold color at harvest time. Barley seed has a hull, wheat does not.

Wheat Triticum aestivium

Similar species: Triticum aestivium (wheat)

Wheat Grass family (Poaceae)

(TRIT-i-kum es-TI-vum)

Annual grass from fibrous roots An erect bluish-green cool-season grass that is 18-32” tall depending on the variety. Plant has a slim, singlestalk with long grass-like leaves. Stems are round and hollow. The 2-6 inconspicuous flowers are grouped together in a spikelet and 10-30 spikelets are gathered in a 2-5” spike. The flowers are self-pollinating and produce grain kernels (seeds). The fruit is the kernel, dark red to tan, egg-shaped 0.25-0.4” in length depending on variety. Bloom period: mid-June to mid-July Harvest period: usually August Notes: Varieties differ according to seed size, shape, color, hardness vs. softness, protein and winter or spring planted. Winter wheat planted in the fall will grow about 4-6” tall before the first freeze. After that the plants stop growing, or become dormant, until spring. Winter wheat has more time to develop a deeper root, so yields higher bushels per acre than spring wheat.

92 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Similar species: Hordeum species (barley) Palouse Prairie Field Guide

White bryony

Bryonia alba

Wild Vine, Wild Hops, Snakeweed, Devil’s Turnip Cucumber family (Cucurbitaceae)

(bry-OH-nee-yuh Al-ba)

Dame’s-rocket

Dame’s-rocket Hesperis matronalis (hes-PER-is

Perennial vine from a root up to 6” wide and 18” long Greenish-white flowers, usually 8-10 in a cluster, are about 0.5” wide with 5 petals. Vine grows up to 60’ long and likes to climb structures and neighboring plants and shrubs. Leaves up to 5” long are alternate, dark green, shiny, with petioles. Leaf shape is palmate with 3-5 lobes. A long, unbranched tendril grows from each leaf axil. Fruit is a green berry maturing to blue-black, about 0.25” in diameter, containing 3 to 6 flattened, oval to oblong seeds. Habitat: shrub thickets, windbreaks, fence rows, and road banks Range: Introduced from Europe and N. Iran, it is invasive and listed as noxious in OR, ID, MT and UT. Bloom period: May-June Notes: The vine smothers and kills the supporting plant it climbs. Birds eat the seeds (berries) and are the most common dispersal agent. Berries are poisonous to humans. Similar species: no similar Palouse native

Phlox, Sweet-rocket, Dame’s-violet, Damask violet Mustard family (Brassicaceae)

may-tron-AL-is)

Biennial or short-lived perennial forb from a taproot Fragrant, pale purple, rose to white flowers are on a long inflorescence. The 4 petals are 0.75-1.” The 4 erect hairy sepals are about 0.25” long. The leafy, hairy stems are sparingly branched, 20-36” tall. The many leaves are alternate, lance-shaped to narrowly egg-shaped, 0.5-8” long. Basal leaves have long petioles. Fruit is a long, narrow cylindrical pod (silique) with small round seeds. Habitat: pasture, grasslands, mountain meadows, roadsides, riparian areas and open areas Range: A European native, it has invaded Asia, Africa, North and South America. Bloom period: May-June Notes: Escaped as a garden ornamental and persists becoming highly invasive, crowding out native species. Seeds remain viable for long period.

98 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Similar species: May be confused with non-native Phlox species, but Phlox have opposite leaves and 5 flower petals instead of 4. Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Glossary Achene - a small, dry, one-seeded fruit that does not split and release the seed when mature, e.g. sunflower Alternate - arranged first on one side, then on the other at a different level (Fig. 7) Annual - having a life cycle of a single year Anther - the part of a flower that contains pollen (Fig. 1) Awn- slender bristle at the tip of a grass seed Axil - the angle formed between a leaf and the stem (Fig. 7) Axillary - located in or arising from an axil Banner - the upper and usually largest petal of a pea family flower (Fig. 2) Basal leaves - arising from the base of a stem (Fig. 7) Biennial - a plant which lives two years, flowering in the second year Bract - a modified leaf or scale, typically small, with a flower or flower cluster in its axil, like an artichoke (Fig. 3) Bulblet - a bulb-like structure above ground on a plant, usually in a leaf axil Calyx - the sepals collectively (Fig. 1) Capsule - a dry fruit that releases seed through splits or holes Caudex - the woody base of a perennial plant Composite flower - composed of ray and/or disk flowers, found in the sunflower family (Fig. 3) Compound leaf - a leaf that is divided into two to many leaflets Corm - a short, solid, vertical underground stem Corolla - the part of a flower formed by the petals (Fig. 1) Cyme - a broad or flattened inflorescence (Fig. 4) Deciduous - falling off, as in leaves of a plant Disk flower - a tubular flower in the center of the flower head on sunflower family plants (Fig. 3) Drupe - a fleshy fruit that encloses a seed, e.g. cherry Elaiosome - fleshy structure attached to a seed Entire - a smooth margin or edge Filament - the anther-bearing stalk of a flower (Fig. 1) Floret - a small flower or one flower of a cluster Follicle - a dry fruit that opens on one side only to release its seeds Forb - a non-woody plant (herb) other than a grass 108 | Palouse Prairie Field Guide

Gland(s) - an appendage which secretes sticky or oily substances Hip - the fleshy fruit of a rose plant Host plant - a plant which is a required vegetative food source for a larval insect species, e.g. caterpillar Inflorescence - arrangement of a flower on a stem (Fig. 4) Invasive - an aggressive non-native plant that displaces native species Keel - the two united lower petals of a pea family flower (Fig. 2) Leaflet - a leaf-like segment of a compound leaf (Fig. 7) Lobe - a projecting segment as on a leaf (Fig. 6) Margin - the outside limit or edge of a leaf or flower (Fig. 6) Mesic - referring to a moist environment Native - a plant established in an area before human disturbance Noxious list - non-native plants considered by law to be harmful to land or animals Nutlet - a small fruit similar to a nut Opposite - leaves on either side of the stem at the same level (Fig. 7) Palmately divided - having lobes on a leaf, or leaflets on leaf, radiating from a common point, like fingers of a hand (Fig. 7) Panicle - a pyramid-shaped cluster of loosely-branched flowers (Fig. 4) Pappus - an appendage on the top of an achene that aids in dispersal of the seed Perennial - having a life cycle of more than two years Petiole (Petiolate) - a stem that supports the blade of a leaf (Fig. 7) Pinnately - (of a compound leaf) having leaflets arranged on either side of the stem, typically in pairs opposite each other Pistil - the female organ of a flower (Fig. 1) Pod - a single cavity dry fruit that splits along a seam at maturity to release its seed(s) Pome - a fleshy fruit with an outer thickened fleshy layer and a central core with usually five seeds enclosed in a capsule, e.g. apple Raceme - an arrangement of flowers on short stalks of about equal length at equal distances along an elongated, unbranched stem (Fig. 4) Palouse Prairie Field Guide

109