Minnesota Plant PressThe Minnesota Native Plant Society Newsletter

Volume 22 Number 2 Winter 2003

Monthly meetingsMinnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

Visitor Center, 3815 East 80th St.Bloomington, MN 55425-1600

952-854-5900

6:30 p.m. — Building east door opens6:30 p.m. — Refreshments,

information, Room A7 – 9 p.m — Program, society business7:30 p.m. — Building door is locked9:30 p.m. — Building closes

ProgramsThe MNPS meets the first Thursday in

October, November, December, February,March, April, May and June. Check theWeb page for more program information.

Feb. 6: “Harvesting impacts onunderstory plant composition in aspenforests,” by Alaina Berger; Plant of themonth: Cardinal flower, by Steve Eggers.

March 6: “Invasive species inMinnesota,” Plant of the month: Poisonsumac, both by Peter Djuik; Boardmember election.

April 3: McKnight Foundation’s“Empracing Open Space” program, byWhitney Clark; Plant of the month:Dwarf bilberry, by Robert Dana.

May 1: “Native Rain Gardens,” by FredRozumalski; Plant of the Month:Bloodroot, by Shirley Mah Kooyman.

June 5: Plant sale; speaker to beannounced.

April 26: Symposium, Plymouth CreekCenter, Plymouth

MNPS Web sitehttp://www.stolaf.edu/depts/biology/mnpse-mail: MNPS@HotPOP.com

Prairies provide a newstimulus in rural areas

After a hundred years of being destroyed or ignored, Minnesota’sprairies are becoming known for a new reason — for economicdevelopment. A new 32-page booklet by the state Department ofNatural Resources, A Guide to Minnesota’s Prairie Passage Routeand Sites, is one of the tools being used to increase awareness of theseareas by tourists and businesses. Its excellent photos and maps showthe diverse plants and other attractions in 39 important prairie remnants.

Prairie Passage began in 1993. That year the Federal HighwayAdministration gave funding to the departments of transportation inMinnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas to form apartnership to protect and plant native grasses and wildflowers alongroadside rights-of-way and to promote awareness of prairie-relatednatural and cultural resources.

A Prairie Passage route was created to pass through prairie remnantsfrom Minnesota to Texas. In Minnesota, Prairie Passage goes fromthe Wallace C. Dayton Conservation and Wildlife Area in the northwestcorner, south to Blue Mounds State Park, and east along I-90 to theShooting Star Wildflower Route and Scenic Byway. From there itturns south into Iowa and generally follows I-35 to the Gulf of Mexico.

“One goal of Prairie Passage is to development awareness of ourprairie heritage. It can be a community builder — ecologically andsocially,” said Kathy Bolin, who has had the primary responsibilityfor developing Minnesota’s Prairie Passage for MnDOT. “We hopecommunities will respond.” She would like to see Prairie Passageintegrated into schools and other organizations. Prairie Passage fitswith the recent trend for vacationers to visit areas close to home, shesaid. As prairies grow in popularity, small businesses will start tosponsor prairie tours and other activities. There are many other prairieremnants near the route that could be included in planned tours.

MnDOT has installed Prairie Passage signs along the roads and atsites. The next step is up to the communities, Kathy said. “There is alot of interest in prairies. Communities along Hwy. 32, includingFertile, Gary, Twin Valley, and Hitterdal, are planning to promote

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Symposiumto be April 26

“Native Shrubs in yourLandscape” is the topic for thisyear’s MNPS symposium. Itwill be held Saturday, April 26,in conjunction with the City ofPlymouth’s Yard and GardenExpo at the Plymouth CreekCenter, 14800 34th Ave. N.,Plymouth.

Janet Larson, the society’sbuckthorn expert, is organizingthe symposium, which willinclude a variety of informationon native shrubs. One of thesessions will includelandscaping after buckthornhas been removed. Informationon speakers and registrationwill be posted on the MNPSWeb site, and members willreceive a brochure in the mail.

Environmentalistswin two metro-areaelection victories

Dakota and Hennepin countyenvironmentalists were victorious inin the Nov. 5 election.

Dakota CountyIn Dakota County, 57 percent of

voters approved a bond issue topreserve natural areas and farmland.This is the first Minnesota county-wide program of this type. TheDakota county board has started theprocess of implementing the newprogram. A citizen committee willbe appointed to advise them.

The county will sell $20 million inbonds that will be repaid over a 10-year period. A typical homeownerwill pay about $17 per year for 10years. Half of the funds are to be usedto preserve natural areas, and half foragricultural land. Much of themoney will be used to purchasedevelopment rights, but some naturalareas may be purchased outright.

Participation in the program isvoluntary, and land offered mustmeet criteria that have been set bythe county board. Natural areas musthave one of the following: biologicsignificance, wildlife habitat,adjacency to a river/lake/stream, orprovide environmental benefit suchas water quality protection or floodcontrol.

Requirements for farmland to beaccepted into the program includehigh fertility, already enrolled in theag preserves, and located outside ofthe 2040 Metropolitan Urban ServiceArea (MUSA). In addition, the firstparcels of farmland that are acceptedmust be within 1/2 mile of a river orlake and adjacent to a natural area.After that land has been accepted,adjacent qualified farmland may beincluded. The program is the resultof a four-year project that involved

Spring wildflowerwalk will be inLouisville Swamp

Saturday, May 31, enthusiasticbotanists and MNPS board membersJason Husveth and Douglas Mensingwill lead a spring wildflower walkfrom 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in theLouisville Swamp portion of theMinnesota Valley National WildlifeRefuge.

They will explore varied habitats,including a floodplain forest, maple-basswood forest, wet meadows anddry prairies. Participants will seesome of the lesser-known flora of thevalley as well as more commonspring wildflowers, shrubs and trees.

Attendees are encouraged to bringtheir own wildflower guides, handlenses, magnifying glasses, a sacklunch and water. The walk is co-sponsored by the society and therefuge. There is no charge.

The tour will start promptly at 9a.m. at the main Louisville Swamptrailhead, which is about 4.5 milessouth of Shakopee. Take Hwy. 169and exit onto 145th St. W. Followthe road past the main entrance to theRenaissance Festival and over thenext set of railroad tracks. TheLouisville parking lot is located onthe left.

To register or for more information,contact Jason Husveth atjason.husveth@ttemi.com or DougMensing, dougm@appliedeco.com

nine organizations and about 1,200county residents.

Hennepin CountyA proposal to terminate the

Hennepin Conservation District wasdefeated with 74 percent voting “no.”When the district was founded in1949, it had an agricultural focus.Now it serves an urban community.Its areas of expertise includeconducting natural resourceinventories for use as planning tools,advising and implementingrestoration projects, and conductingstudies on water resources.

Think Native administrator is neededThe Think Native Program is solely sponsored by the MNPS. It assists

homeowners with starting native gardens via information packets and grantsof plants. The Think Native Program is starting its third year, and it is timeto solicit individuals to apply for the program administrator position.

The program administrator assists grant applicants with starting a nativeplant garden at their residences. Contact Deborah Strohmeyer for moredetails: destrohmeyer@yahoo.com or call 952-943-9743.

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Dennis Hageman — aprairie champion is lostby Nancy Sather

October 14, 2002. A cold autumnday on Devils Lake. A strong wind.A boat of duck hunters capsizes.

In this accident, prairieconservation lost an ardentchampion, Dennis Hageman ofEstherville, Iowa. This gentle, softspoken prairie advocate isresponsible for introducing dozens oflocal landowners to the prairie jewelsin their native pastures. In spring hewas out there leading them to pasqueflowers; in midsummer he wasshowing off the differences betweenthe species of sunflowers; in late fall;when the landscape looked like animpressionist painting in buff andmaroon; he led farm families to thesecret homes of blue gentians.

Dennis was not a trained botanist.But he had the essential eye—the eyethat notices the difference betweenthis plant and that plant. Nor was hean ecologist; but this Dean of SocialSciences at Iowa Lakes CommunityCollege had a knack for walkingright to the gentle concavity on a hillwhere a rare plant might grow, orspotting a fen at a distance of aquarter mile. His friends andneighbors in Estherville may knowhim for his famous ability to spotmorels in the forests; but theMinnesota conservation communityknows him by another measure.

I first met Dennis Hageman in1986 on Red Rock Ridge near JeffersPetroglyphs in Cottonwood County,Minnesota. I was studying the lifehistory of prairie bush clover, afederally threatened plant. Denniswas exploring a little prairie acrossthe road. As I watched that lanky,black haired stranger bend down overplants in the middle of a hayfield,

nearly crawling through the longgrasses, I realized he wasn’t a typicalfarmer out checking the hay. “Whatare you looking for?” I asked, andwas astounded at his reply. He wassearching for prairie bush clover.Trained as a botanist and working fora state agency, I thought prairie bushclover was a little-known plant—buthere was a citizen looking for it!

As it developed, I was the one whowas a stranger in those parts, andDennis was on home ground. Hislove of prairie was as native as theprairie itself. It’s a short way fromComfrey, Minnesota, where he wasraised, to the prairies he studied inhis latest years. Many of thoseprairies were the same ones wherehe’d helped his father bale hay in hisyouth. Every place I asked about onthe road between Springfield andEstherville, he already knew. Heknew where the dry prairies were andhad a hunch where mesic prairiesmight be.

In 1986, when I met him, he didn’tknow the scientific names of theplants he sought, and there weremany of those plants he couldn’t yetrecognize; but his insatiable curiositydrove him ever deeper into botanicalknowledge and prairie ecology.When the Minnesota CountyBiological Survey was hunting for aperson to conduct surveys in thesouthwestern part of the state,Dennis was one of the region’sleading amateur botanists.

During the past two decades,Dennis Hageman was responsible forthe documentation of 58 dry prairies,65 mesic prairies, 63 locations of rareplants, and 29 populations of thefederally threatened prairie bushclover (45 percent of knownlocations in the state). He logged

thousands of miles on foot throughpastures, roadsides and railroadrights-of-way. Ever since the firstday that he and Florence Roefer andI walked what is now Prairie SkyScientific and Natural area nearSanborn, Minn., Dennis has been avolunteer interpreter of prairies. Hehad a special fondness for the JeffersPetroglyphs Historical Site and ledtrips there as a volunteer naturalist.

Dennis is the one who first sataround scores of kitchen tablesexplaining conservation easements toowners of retired pastures; who spentyears bringing to a landowner in anursing home wild flowers from herprairie, always urging her to thinkabout conservation as the best andhighest use for her land. He’s the onewho called The Nature Conservancy,the USFWS, or the DNR wheneverprairie land was up for sale. He’s theone who bought 14 acres of his ownto do a personal prairie restoration.He encouraged young peopleinterested in prairie and networkedwith every regional group involvedin prairie management andinterpretation.

Dennis retired about a year ago andlooked forward with zest to spendingmany years in prairie biology andadvocacy. His untimely death leavesa huge vacuum in prairie energy insouthwest Minnesota, but he was notalone. The region is alive with localprairie enthusiasts who understandand appreciate this natural heritage,not only for its historical value butas an opportunity for a newecotourism industry of the future.

Our greatest tribute to this modestman will be to carry forth his visionof a functioning prairie landscapethat extends unbroken from the Iowaborder to Windom and beyond.

Memorial checks may be madeout to the Minnesota HistoricalSociety and sent to JeffersPetroglyphs, 27160 Co. Rd. 2,Comfrey, MN 56019.

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Wildlife InterpretiveTraining Offeredby Judie MillerPublic Affairs Officer, MinnesotaValley National Wildlife Refuge

Have you ever noticed that somepeople just seem to be naturalstorytellers? Others seem to haveways of handling people that makethem comfortable. Still others areable to explain just about anythingto anybody in ways that make sense.All of these abilities and much moreare involved in the art ofinterpretation. Some people are justnatural interpreters. The rest of uscan learn enough about interpretivetechniques to improve the way wecommunicate with others.

Minnesota Valley National WildlifeRefuge (Refuge) and the NationalAssociation for Interpretation (NAI)are sponsoring a 32-hour CertifiedInterpretive Guide Course March 20-23. We’ll introduce you to the basicprinciples of interpretation and coachyou in the application of thoseprinciples. By the end of the course,you’ll have a good understanding ofwhat makes interpretation differentfrom delivering a memorized speechand why an interpretive approachmay be more effective forcommunicating with your audiences.

You’ll have opportunities todemonstrate what you’ve learned asthe session progresses. If thosedemonstrations meet certain criteria,your efforts will be recognized andyou’ll become a NAI CertifiedInterpretive Guide (CIG).Certification, course materials, anda one-year membership in NAI cost$145.00. This training opportunityis limited to 15 participants.

Financial assistance is available forstudents who demonstrate a one-yearcommitment to the Refuge. Call EdMoyer at 952-858-0710 forregistration materials or moreinformation.

By Dr. Keith Prussing(abstract of Nov. 7, 2002 talk)

Located less than two miles westof downtown Minneapolis, with astunning view of the cityskyscape,Cedar Lake Park hasexperienced native landscaperestoration since the '70s, with amajor acceleration in the mid-'90s tothe present. The park contains avariety of ecosystems, includinglake, emergent lakeshore, wet forest,oak woodland, oak savannah, prairie,maple-basswood, cattail marsh,lawn, hardscrabble, streets andbackyards. There are foxes, minks,badgers, bobcats, muskrats, and amyriad of birds.

The curious thing is that most ofthis landscape was under water priorto the coming of the railroads in the1870s. James J. Hill pushed a railcauseway across the northern part ofthe lake on his way to the greatNorthwest, and rail operations,including machine shops andswitching yards, continued into themid-1980s.

The lake level is down 8 -11 feetfrom pre-settlement times, due to theopening of the canal to Lake of theIsles in the early 1900s. In addition,enormous volumes of fill materialwere deposited around the lake. Thisincluded a public works dump nearthe east shore from 1905 into the '60s,which created 60-foot elevations.

Cedar Lake Park is the result of thework of a partnership among the Cityof Minneapolis, Minneapolis Parkand Recreation Board, HennepinCounty, state and federalgovernments, and the community asrepresented by the Cedar Lake ParkAssociation. These efforts haveresulted in the rescue of 47 acres ofland from development; the creationof the national-award-winning CedarLake Trail with prairie restoration;

two Conservation Partners matchinggrants with the state for native plantrestoration; the planting of thousandsof native trees, shrubs, forbs, fernsand fungi; and the removal of exoticssuch as buckthorn, honeysuckle,wormwood, garlic mustard, and leafyspurge.

Cedar Lake Park is a work inprogress. It is largely a volunteereffort. We welcome your help.Donations of time, monies, andnative plant materials areappreciated. For more informationabout the park, visit on the Internetat www.cedarlakepark.org, or callCLPA at 612-377-9522.

economic development andsustainability as a result of thisprogram. A Prairie Passage prairiegives communities something to bragabout — being part of a nationaleffort.”

For additional information, callKathy Bolin, Prairie Passagecoordinator, at 651-284-3765, orsend an e-mail to her at:kathy.bolin@dot.state.mn.us. Singleor multiple copies of the booklet maybe obtained at no cost from the DNR.

Cedar Lake Park — restorationof an urban native landscape

Board members tobe elected in March

The Minnesota Native PlantSociety Nominations Committee hasbeen identifying potential boardmembers. Outgoing members areMeredith Cornett, Ethan Perry, andEsther McLaughlin. The boardmeets quarterly, and its membersserve three-year terms. Linda Huhnis chair of the nominationscommittee, and interested membersshould contact her. The election willbe held at the March 6 meeting.

Prairie Passage guideContinued from page 1

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American bladdernut is auseful plant in shade and sunby Mike ZinsAbstract from Dec. 5, 2002, Plantof the Month talk

Is it any wonder that the commonname of Staphylea trifolia, Americanbladdernut, challenges the gardeningpublic’s perception of a very usefulplant for our landscape? In today’ssanitized world, bladdernut conjuresup thoughts of medical problems andanatomical features we would rathernot discuss, let alone be planting outin the yard. But beyond the shadowof a common name that has as littlemarketing appeal as pluggedfreeways to rush-hour commuters, isa native plant with many desirablefeatures. It just needs some goodpress and promotion.

American bladdernut is asAmerican as apple pie. It occursnaturally from western Quebec toOntario, western New England toMinnesota, and south to SouthCarolina and Missouri. It usuallyfrequents moist, wooded areas andravines in the southern part ofMinnesota, as far north as RamseyCounty and westward to the NewUlm area. The genus Staphylea hasabout eight species found growing innorth temperate areas, two of whichare native to North America, theAmerican bladdernut, Staphyleatrifolia, being the most prominent.

Usually thought of as a shrub to 10feet tall, American bladdernut can begrown as a small tree attainingheights of over 15 feet. The nationalchampion is a Goliath standing 36feet tall, with an equal crown spread.Perhaps more surprising is the factthat this champ is growing inMacomb County, Maine.

The Arboretum had a nice treespecimen growing in the small treecollection. It was moved to thiscollection in 1965 and persisted until1990, cause of death unknown. It

reached a height of about 12 feet andflowered and fruited heavily formany years.

American bladdernut has severalnice qualities that make it anattractive plant for our landscapes. Inspring the oppositely arranged,nearly round buds open, giving riseto pinnately compound leaves, eachconsisting of three leaflets. The darkgreen leaflets, with their trifoliolatearrangement, account for the speciesname trifolia. After the leaves haveexpanded in early May, the plantproduces an abundance of perfect,greenish white, half-inch-long, bell-shaped flowers borne on two-inch-long panicles.

Heavy flowering provides a nicecontrast of white on green. Soonafter, the flowers develop into theinflated capsules, or bladders, fromwhich the name is derived. Thethree-lobed, greenish white capsulesare 1 – 1.5 inches long and remindpeople of Chinese lanterns inmidsummer. By August the maturingcapsules start turning brown as thesmall, brown seeds also mature. Thecapsules often persist through thewinter, if squirrels and deer leavethem alone. At this point, they makeeffective rattles. The bark on theolder stems is attractive with its linearwhite fissures against a greenish graybackground.

Culturally, Staphylea can be grownas a small tree — single or multiplestem — or as a large shrub. Theplants are capable of colonizing byproducing suckers, and one plant onthe University of Minnesota St. Paulcampus has made a very nice massplanting to fill in a corner area. Likemost plants, Staphylea does well infull sunlight, but it is surprisinglytolerant of shade as well. I have seenit growing in very dense shade in theVermillion River bottom in Hastings,where it was too dark to take a

picture. With too much shade aconcern of many gardeners,Staphylea could be used more.

It prefers moist, well-drained soilsbut seems to get along fine on mostsites. A poorly drained, wet, clay-based soil would not bode well, andI suspect that is what eventually laidlow our specimen in the Arboretum’ssmall tree collection, where heavyclay soils abound. Soil pH does notseem to be a factor unless high pH isencountered.

American bladdernut will neverbecome a standard household wordin the horticulture world of woodylandscape design, but it is aninteresting plant that can certainlyhelp enhance many landscapes. Theoutstanding visual aspects are thedark green foliage and interestingbark patterns. The curious aspectcertainly would be the fruitingcapsules, or bladdernut fruitstructures. The shade tolerance is adefinite asset to shady gardens.Perhaps best of all to some people isthe fact that it is native. So bepatriotic, plant American —bladdernut that is!

Searchers are neededVolunteers are needed to help look

for Minnesota dwarf trout lilies thelast week of April and the first weekof May, and for Western prairiefringed orchids in mid-July. ContactNancy Sather at 651-297-4963, ornancy.sather@dnr.state.mn.usLeave your e-mail address, phonenumber and mailing address, and youwill receive more information.

Native seed quality workshopThe third annual Native Seed

Quality Workshop will be held Feb.25 and 26 in Omaha, Neb. Topicsinclude native seed testing,conditioning, production andresearch. Participants will tourStock Seed Farms, a producer ofprairie grass seed. Contact Mid-WestSeed Services, Inc. at 605-692-7611;or go to www.mwseed.com

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Plant Loreby Thor KommedahlWhat is red-osier dogwood?

Dogwood is the name for speciesof Cornus, and red-osier dogwood isthe name for C. stolonifera, butrecent taxonomic works call it C.sericea.

What do these names mean?Cornus is the Latin name for

“horn,” alluding to the hardness ofthe wood. Dogwood refers to“dogs,” which is the name forskewers made from the hardwoodstems. And stolonifera, of course,means bearing stolons as a means ofreproduction. But sericea meanssilky-hairy (sometimes implyingChinese) in reference to sparse,appressed hairs on lower leafsurfaces and stems.

Where does this dogwood grow?Red-osier dogwood is one of six

species native to Minnesota and isfound in nearly every county in thestate, frequently along stream banks,bogs, and in moist woods. It oftenforms thickets.

What does the plant look like?It is a shrub from 1 to 3 meters tall

with red stems, white flowers,opposite leaves, and is the onlydogwood in our area with whiteberries and white pith.

What is the reference to Chinese?Cornus is one of about 120 genera

that occur in eastern Asia and easternNorth America. Linnaeus noted thissimilarity, and Asa Gray discussedthis similarity with Charles Darwinin correspondence during the 1850s.Current explanations refer to platetectonics and continental drift. Graydemonstrated statistically that therewas greater similarity in flora of NewEngland with Asia than with Europeor even western USA.

Does red-osier dogwood have anyeconomic value?

American Indians prepared“kinnikinnik” from wood scrapingsand smoked it, with or withouttobacco. They also used the barkinfusions as an emetic. Sometimesthis species was used instead offlowering dogwood, the roots ofwhich were once used as substitutefor quinine. Cultivars are used inlandscape plantings and can bepropagated by cuttings and grafting.

Winter botany walk combinesfun with tree, plant informationby Doug Mensing

On Nov. 9, MNPS sponsored awinter botany walk at the Refugeheadquarters. Approximately 12people showed for the outing. JanetLarson, a professional arborist/nativelandscape designer and MNPS boardmember, provided an overview of thesociety and gave some generalinformation on winter plantidentification. She then led the groupoutside to observe and discuss thenative and introduced vegetation aswe went.

First stop was the restorationproject behind the Refuge building.Janet has been working with theMNPS and the Refuge for manymonths on restoring and enhancingthe native vegetation found in this“bird feeding” area. We learned howto identify common buckthorn(Rhamnus cathartica) in the winterand discussed the ecological impactsof this invasive European shrub.Some of this area and other forestedareas within the Refuge had recentlybeen cleared of buckthorn, so it willbe exciting to follow the restorationefforts in the coming years.

Our walk through the woods andalong the paths led us to many nativeand non-native trees, shrubs,wildflowers, and grasses. Janet, withinput from Doug Mensing, another

MNPS board member, and others inthe group, helped to point outdiagnostic tools useful in winteridentification of vegetation, such asbark, branching patterns, fungalinfections, buds, seed heads, etc. Weidentified bur oak (Quercusmacrocarpa), northern pin oak(Quercus ellipsoidalis), basswood(Tilia americana), hackberry (Celtisoccidentalis), cottonwood (Populusdeltoides), silver maple (Acersaccharinum), black ash (Fraxinusnigra), red-osier dogwood (Cornussericea), cherries (Prunus spp.), theinvasive exotic shrub Tartarianhoneysuckle (Lonicera tatarica), andnumerous wildflowers, grasses, andweeds. In the more degraded areasthere was a conspicuous lack ofnative understory trees, shrubs, andgroundcover vegetation.

We walked through the prairierestoration just outside the Refugebuilding and were able to identifyabout half a dozen common prairiespecies. Along the trailside bluffprairie we encountered severalbutternut trees (Juglans cinerea), aMinnesota species of “SpecialConcern.” Most of these trees weredead or dying due to butternutcanker, an exotic but now commonfungal infection of these trees. Wepoked down into the wetter lowlandsand identified several wetland-edgespecies, as well as discussed thephenomenon of invasive/aggressivestrains of otherwise native species,such as giant reed grass (Phragmitesaustralis). Many questions wereanswered regarding the vegetationcommunities of the river valley.

Overall the walk was informativeand fun, with many questions andmuch enthusiasm from the group.The MNPS plans to host a springbotany walk at the Louisville Swampunit of the Refuge on May 3. Wehope to see you there!

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDMinneapolis, MNPermit No. 2233

Minnesota Native Plant SocietyUniversity of Minnesota220 Biological Sciences CenterSt. Paul, MN 55108

Winter 2003 Issue