Iowa Native Plant Society

NewsletterDecember 1999 . Vol. 5, No.4

Woodland Herbaceous Layer Restoration At Camp Dodgeby Larissa Mottl

Numerous woodlands in Iowa have suffered through det­rimentalland use practices through which very few na­

tive woodland herbaceous species have been able to persist.Woodlands invaded by exotics, choked by speciesmonocultures, and devoid of many pollinator species andseed-dispersing birds and mammals are neither ecologicallyhealthy nor inviting. Nonetheless, opportunities exist forprivate landowners and public agencies to revive past andpresent informal and formal initiatives to restore the func­tioning and beauty of these understories. Woodland herba­ceous layer restoration can be accomplished with great re­ward and within a short time.

PROJECT INITIATIONWhile working on a floristic inventory at Camp Dodge

Army and National Guard Military Reservation in Johnstona few years ago, Dr. Donald Farrar and Camp Dodge envi­ronmental personnel Mary Jones and Curt Madsen recog­nized the importance ofrevegetation at newly acquired farm­steads and the potential for research into ecosystem restora­tion methods in these areas. In the early 1990's Camp Dodgepurchased several farmsteads bordering the post on all sides,including one referred to as the "Betz farm" after the previ­0us owners. The Betz farm forms a portion of thesouthernmost boundary of Camp Dodge, along NW 70thAvenue. Camp Dodge itselflies within a floodplain throughwhich Beaver Creek meanders about a mile west of the farm.

r In this IssueWoodland Herbaceous Layer Restoration At

Camp Dodge 1Book Reviews 3Websites of Interest 3Eddyville Dunes - An Update 7The INPS Annual General Meeting 7Iowa's Very Own VI 8Field Trip Schedule for 2000 10

The Betz farm included the homestead of about sevenacres with a farmhouse surrounded by a young grove ofgreen ash, black walnut and hackberry. The trees createnearly complete canopy cover over a gentle, southwest-fac­ing slope ofwell-drained, sandy loam. The Betz farm area isan ideal location for attempting new restoration techniques,including the creation of a diverse woodland understorybeneath a developing stand oftrees, and savanna, sand prai­rie' and tallgrass prairie in surrounding areas. The longtermgoal for Camp Dodge is to create a complex of ecosystemsin the Betz farm area for research, education, and recrea­tion.

My involvement with Camp Dodge and the Betz farmsite began in January of 1998. At this time, Camp Dodgewas awarded a grant from the u.s. Dept. ofDefense ForestryReserve Program. The grant was given for the purpose ofreforestation and understory plantings at the farm site. Be­cause there was already canopy cover at the site, the focus ofmy master's research was to determine how to reassemblean understory rich in native herbaceous species commonlyfound in central IA woodlands.

LITERATURE ON WOODLAND HERB LAYERRESTORATION

There is an incredible lack of published informationdescribing how to restore woodland understories. The hand­ful of references I've encountered are from the United King­dom. This is not to say that other experimentation has notbeen done, but that there is no readily available publishedinformation. I am sure that many of you have done someexperimenting of your own with transplanting and seedingwoodland wildflowers, grasses, and sedges and I hope thatafter reading this article, you will share some of your expe­riences with me. A good source of antecdotal informationcan be found in the journal Restoration and ManagementNotes under "woodlands" or "forests". The journal title hasbeen recently changed to Ecological Restoration.

Continued on page 4

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President: Ed Freese120 Sixth Ave. S.W.Waverly, IA 506n

Vice-President: Mary JaneHatfield, 2505 Tullamore Lane,Ames, IA 50010(515) 232-7555

Secretary: Unda Scarth,1630 Wildwood Drive NE, CedarRapids, IA 52402(319) 366-6817Iscarth@mmc.mtmercy.edu

Treasurer: Mary Brown330 Windsor Dr.Iowa City, IA 52245(319) 338-3875mlbrown@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

Issues/Action Committee:Jane Clark9871 Lincoln Ave.Clive, IA 50325(515) 223-5047jrclark@radiks.net

Program Committee:

Chairman: Mark Leoschke2212 East Rose Ave. #13Des Moines, IA 50320-2613mleosch@max.state.ia.us

Mary Brown (see above)

Judy Felder335 Beldon Ave.Iowa City, IA 52246(319) 351-n18rfelder@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu

Tom RosburgP.O. Box 234Colo, IA 50056(515) 3n-2930thomas.rosburg @drake.edu

William C. WatsonP.O. Box 281Cedar Falls, IA 50613

Historian: Deborah Q. LewisDept. of Botany, ISUAmes, IA 50011-1020(515) 294-9499

Editor: Charlie ButterworthDept. of BotanyISU, Ames, IA 50011(515) 294-4035cbutter@iastate.edu

Printed on recycled paper

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Leaves from the President'sNotebook...Another field season has come and gone. There were record floods in some areas ear­lier this year which were followed by near record drought over most of the state. But,the plants grew, flowered, and provided photo opportunities for nature lovers. Now it'stime to enjoy the holidays, remember the summer colors, and think about next spring.

We all had an enjoyable hike at Cedar Bluffs Natural Area State Preserve on Au­gust 14th. Temperatures were in the 70's and we had Perry Thostenson as our tour­guide. The sandstone cliffs were tall and impressive, and home to spikenard, walkingfern, liverworts, and hornworts. At the base of the cliff was a very large population ofGoldie's fern. Along the trail we saw doll's eyes, yellow giant hyssop, giant swallowtailbutterflies, and a few walkingsticks.

The annual meeting was held at Iowa Lakeside Lab during the weekend of Sep­tember 11th. We enjoyed fall-flowering plants at Silver Lake Fen, Cayler Prairie, FredaHaffner Kettlehole and Fen Valley Wildlife Management Area. Some of the plants thatwe saw included grass of parnassus, Kalm's lobelia, beaked rush, downy gentian, andNew England aster. There were presentations on prairie butterflies, grass taxonomy,photography, and wetlands.

On September 13th, 1 visited Gitchie Manitou State Preserve for the first time.The combination of the late summer grassland flowers and pink Sioux quartzite out­crops made the visit worthwhile. Brittle cactus grew both in large clumps and as singlestems in small cracks. Golden aster was in full bloom, but the fameflower did not open.Spike moss, lichens, and moss also grew on the rocks. Amongst the nearby prairiegrasses, I found downy gentian and aromatic aster. We are fortunate that the area wasprotected from further quarrying and did not become construction material.

The Program Committee has alreadystartedplanning next year's field-trips. Theseshould provide good opportunities to see spring woodland flowers such as yellowladyslipper orchids and prairiesmoke, and summer prairie flora. See you next year......

EditorialThe end of another year......and with it a bumper issue of the Iowa Native PlantSociety Newsletter - ideal reading for those long winter nights. As part of theongoing series "Iowa's Very Own", Tom Lammers has produced an interestingarticle on the prairie moonwort, an elusive fern discovered as recently as 1982. Wealso have an update on the situation at Eddyville by Glenda Buenger and PatMcAdams, and to show that things are not all 'doom and gloom', Larissa Mottl'sarticle on woodland restoration should inspire those with degraded woodlandareas to undertake restoration projects of their own.

Christmas is just around the corner, and for those who don't know what theywant, how about the books reviewed by Mark Leoschke and Ed Freese? Mark hasalso put together a tentative schedule for field-trips for the year 2000 - something tolook forward to once spring rolls around again.

The year 2000 will be a significant year, not only for the new millenium, butalso because the INPS newsletter will be going electronic! For those who are com­puter minded, the newsletter will be available in Adobe PDF format, ultimately tobe downloadable from a planned INPS website. Until then, and to test the elec­tronic format, please email me and I'll send you a copy by return email. Commentsare welcome. In order to'view PDF files on your computer you'll need either AdobeAcrobat or the Adobe Acrobat Reader. The acrobat reader is free and can bedownloaded from the Adobe web-site at: www.adobe.com.

INPS Newsletter Vol. 5, No.4

Book Reviewsby Mark Leoschke and Ed Freese

Wildflowers and Other Plants of Iowa Wetlands bySylvan T. Runkel and Dean M. Roosa. Iowa StateUniversity Press, Ames, Iowa. Coypright 1999. $25.00.ISBN 0813821746. Reviewed by Mark J. Leoschke.

Runkel and Roosa, two of Iowa's best known natural­ists, have produced another fine book in the Iowa State Uni­versity Press series on the species found in Iowa's plant com­munities. They begin their opus with a good, extensive in­troduction that provides an overview of Iowa wetlands.Different types of wetlands are described, some with adja­cent photographs, and characteristic species are mentioned.The introduction then proceeds to a section on thelandforms ofIowa and the types ofwetlands found on them.A more extensive list of characteristic plants is provided foreach type of wetland and specific locations are providedwhere examples of these wetlands can be visited.

The main text on individual species is divided into sec­tions on Terrestrial Flowering Herbs (plants found in wetto saturated soil); Ferns, Fern Allies and Lower VascularPlants; Trees, Shrubs and Vines; and Herbs Growing in Wa­ter: Emergent, Floating or Submerged, making it easier touse the book for the identification of plants observed inwetlands. Color photographs are provided for each species,along with information on habitat, the distribution of thespecies in North America and Iowa, a description of theplant, related species and the medicinal use of the plant byNative Americans and European settlers. Besides coveringcommon and rare species, Runkel and Roosa provide pho-

tographs and information on some species of sedges, plantsthat are often overlooked in more general plant guides. It isnot easy finding pictures of sedges, so Runkle and Roosaare to be commended for providing them!

This is a good reference book for those interested inIowa's wetlands and wetland plants. It will occupy a worthyplace on your bookshelfnext to Wildflowers of Iowa Wood­lands and Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The UpperMidwest, titles also published by Iowa State University Press.

An Illustrated GuideTo Iowa Prairie Plants by PaulChristiansen and Mark Muller. University of IowaPress, Iowa City, Iowa. Coypright 1999. $23.00. ISBN0877456615. Reviewed by Ed Freese.

If you enjoy exploring prairies, then this new book byPaul Christiansen and Mark Muller should be on your per­sonal holiday gift list. Paul has included useful characteris­tics to identify plants to family, genus and species. The beau­tiful, detailed drawings by Mark of leaves, flowers, and inmany cases, entire plants bring Paul's descriptions to life.Having this book on your shelf is equivalent to having PaulChristiansen's prairie expertise at your fingertips.

Websites of Interestby Linda Scarth and Deb Lewis

Winter Botanizing on the WWW. Here are several websites which may be of interest on a cold winter evening in front of thecomputer:Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center http://www.wildflower.orglWild Ones Home Page http://www.for-wild.com/Midwestern Wetland Flora http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/plntguid/plntguid.htmPlant Conservation Alliance http://www.nps.gov/plants/Wisconsin Vascular Plants http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/herbarium/American Environmental Photographs 1891-1936 Images fr9m the University of Chicago http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award97/icuhtmllaephome.html Do a geographic search for Iowa photographs.

Anna Gardner has the ISU Botany Department's Ada Hayden Herbarium website now ready for browsing:http://www.public.iastate.edu/ herbarium/

Also, the official website for the North American Prairie Conference, which will be held in Mason City, July 16-20:http://www.niacc.cc.ia.us/-napc/index.html

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December 1999 3

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Continued from cover

PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONSIt became clear rather quickly that a tremendous

amount could be learned about woodland herb layer assem­blage at the Betz farm. The term "woodland" is used be­cause the tree canopies are not completely closed. I chose toexplore several of the practical considerations a land ownerwould have while attempting to restore the understory of awoodland or forest . First, woodland and forest herbaceousspecies seem to be limited to growing in a very low-lightenvironment, one that is too limiting for many other spe­cies. However, every so often, a person can find a woodlandspecies past the edge of a tree line and tucked right in nextto prairie species. Are the woodland species truly inflexiblein their light requirements or are they simply outcompetedby"light-loving" species in areas without canopy cover? If aland owner is starting from square one in an area by plant­ing trees, at what time would it be feasible for them to workon establishing an appropriate woodland herb layer? Ifcom­petition could be controlled, could the woodland speciespersist if introduced early on?

Another practical consideration, given an establishedcanopy cover, is the method of introducing the species. Gen­erally, most people are familiar with the site preparation andseeding ofprairies, with a few species added occasionally asplants. Can a woodland herb layer be seeded? Could I seeddirectly into existing vegetation? What kinds of site prepa­ration would be necessary? Where could I obtain wood­land species seed? Were there any nurseries able to collectand store the few, large, fleshy fruits produced by some spe-

Woodland, awaiting herbaceous restoration

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cies such as jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), falsesolomon's seal (Smilacina racemosa), solomon's seal(Polygonatum biflorum), or blue cohosh (Caulophyllumthalictroides)?

An alternative to seeding would be to tranplant nurs­ery-grown seedlings or transplant from establishedpopulations in nearby woodlands. Ion Exchange in Harp­er's Ferry, IA provides a good selection ofwoodland speciesthat can be purchased as plugs and in pots. The nearestsources ofwoodland plants in Camp Dodge are the terracesand bottomland associated with Beaver Creek. Transplant­ing species from these areas has the advantages ofprovidinglocal ecotype and shortening the time for the plants to reachreproductive maturity. Many species may otherwise requireseveral years to flower after starting from seed. For thisproject I was able to find large populations with hundreds ofindividuals ofjack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) ,wildginger (Asarum canadense), Pennsylvania sedge (Carexpensylvanica) , Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllumvirginianum), and wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) to trans­plant from within the boundaries of Camp Dodge. How­ever, I would not otherwise advise anyone to collect plantsfrom established woodlands.

PROJECT GOALS AND DESIGNMy research goals at Camp Dodge evolved to focus on

two practical considerations for woodland herbaceous layerestablishment. One consideration is the effect of the avail­able light (canopy cover) on the survival, growth, and re­productive effort of several woodland species. The secondconsideration is the method of introduction. Is seeding or

transplanting better for estab­lishing ground cover relativelyquickly and for decreasing thetime required to have indi­viduals flowering and contrib­uting additional seed to anarea.

My project design in­cludes eighteen 20 m2 plotswhich were distributed acrossthe Betz site in areas havingdifferent amounts of canopycover. With the help of DebChristensen and Becky Mack,Iowa State graduate students,we planted 13 plots with seed­lings purchased from Ion Ex­change, transplants from do­nor populations in CampDodge, and plants startedfrom seed at Iowa State and

INPS Newsletter Vol. 5, No.4

seeded five plots. We planted atotal of26 herbaceous species in­cluding over 3000 plants. Eachplanted plot contains between 9­13 species and 12-20 plants ofeach species. Three to four spe­cies are planted in a 1m2 area fora maximum density of 16 plantsper m2

• I mapped the location ofeach plant to allow me to followthe longterm survivorship, veg­etative spread, and flowering ofeach individual. We seeded fiveplots with 25 species, includinghand-harvested seed of 8 springephemerals. (Spring ephemeralseed cannot be stored and mustbe sown fresh.) Nine species wereincluded in both the seeded andplanted plots for comparing themethod of introduction.

All of the plots were sprayed with glyphosate (Round­Up-) in May of 1998 to remove the existing vegetation. Theexisting vegetation consisted mostly of sweet cicely, sting­ing nettle, bedstraw, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy. Theplots were planted and seeded during a cold, rainy week inJune of 1998. The weather was perfect for transplanting seed­lings, but not so enjoyable for the planters!

Light reaching the plots was measured for one sampleday in the summers of 1998 and 1999. The unit ofmeasure­ment of light useful to plants is termed photosyntheticallyactive radiation (PAR),which includes the visible light wave­lengths of 400-700 nm. A mean percent full sun value wascalculated for each plot. As it turned out, the canopy coverchanged dramatically at the Betz site on June 29,1998 withthe"mesocyclone" that swept through much of Polk County.Treefalls and broken branches increased the amount of so­lar radiation reaching several ofmy plots and even decreasedthe amount for a few plots. Light readings were taken afterthis significant and catastrophic canopy alteration. I alsocollected soil samples from each plot to determine soil pH,% organic matter, and plant available P, K, and N.

I have monitored all of the plots periodically throughtwo growing seasons and followed every plant of 15 speciesfor survival, growth, flowering, insect damage, fungal dam­age, and browse by rabbits and deer. I hope to add a thirdyear of monitoring in 2000.

PROMISING RESULTSThe results of the planted plots after two years are re­

warding. Nine of the 15 monitored species have over 75%survival and seven species are over 90%. All of the species

December 1999

Restoration involves hard work.Larissa Mottl (left), Deb Christensen (right).

potted and transplanted from locations in Camp Dodge hadover 90% survival, exceptA. triphyllum at 77%. In addition,all of the species have flowered, except the Jack-in-the-pul­pit transplants of which I expect some to produce flowersnext year. Vegetative spread ranges between 5-50 cm and ispronounced for green-headed coneflower (Rudbeckialaciniata) ,Virginia waterleaf,wild ginger, Pennsylvania sedgeand wild geranium (Geranium maculatum).

Insect larvae damage was mostly problematic in the first2-3 weeks after transplanting the nursery seedlings. Someplants were completely defoliated but rebounded. Virginiawaterleaf and the coneflower show susceptibility to mildewand culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum) , tall bellflower(Campanula americana), and wild phlox had high occur­rences of leaf spot. I have also observed rabbit and deerbrowse. Blue wood aster (Aster cordifolius) and calico aster(Aster lateriflorus) are rarely allowed to grow above 25 cmin height. Deer browse drastically reduced the number ofasters flowering in 1999. Other species that were browsedinclude white lettuce (Prenanthes alba), bottlebrush grass(Hystrix patula) , Pennsylvania sedge,jumpseed (Polygonumvirginianum), and Culver's root.

In the seeded plots, 16 of 22 species produced seed­lings and 8 species flowered in 1999. The species that flow­ered include green-headed coneflower, great blue lobelia(Lobelia siphilitica), tall anemone (Anemone virginiana),yellow giant hyssop (Agastache nepetoides), bottlebrushgrass, Virginia wild rye (Elymus virginicus), tall bellflower,and brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba). These species

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Restored herbaceous layer at Camp Dodge

may be an important addition to seeding mixes of wood­land species for first year cover and the aesthetic aspect ofhaving flowering individuals the year following seeding. Ialso observed germination in the spring ephemerals falserue anemone (Isopyrum biternatum), rue anemone(Anemonella thalictroides) , bloodroot (Sanguinariacanadensis), and the early flowering summer perennial wildginger (Asarum canadense). I did not observe germinationin trout lily (Erythronium albidum). Seed maturity uponcollection and storage in moist soil prior to seeding in theplots may be factors contributing to the observed lack introut lily germination.

A special consideration with introducing springephemerals as plants or seed is their method of colonizingan area. Seeds of ephemerals have elaiosomes, white fleshyappendages, which attract ants for dispersal. Ants haul awaythe seeds, which are otherwise dropped at the base of theplant, and effectively plant the seeds in their tunnels wherethey eat the nutritious elaiosomes. At some point, I wouldlike to sample the Betz site for ants to determine if theephemerals requiring ant-dispersal of their seed can be ex­pected to spread from the plots and colonize other areas.

Analyses looking at the effects ofthe light environmentsof the plots on plant growth and flowering are forthcoming.A preliminary analysis using the light data and flowering ofgreat blue lobelia in 1998 indicated an increase in averageflower production per plant in plots receiving more light. Asignificant response to light may indicate that a species pre­fers edge or open habitats, as with great blue lobelia. Fur­ther investigation is needed.

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I feel that I can con­clude from my seeded andplanted plots that mostwoodland species can beassigned to three catego­ries: (1) species with highgermination and establish­ment potential-targetsfor seeding (2) species withpoor germination and ex­acting stratification re-quirements-targets fortransplanting (3) speciesthat both establish quickly.from seed and respondwell to transplanting-tar­gets for the more cost­effective and less time-con­suming method ofseeding.To create a diverse wood­land herb layer, it may benecessary to employ a

combination of seeding and transplanting.In summary, I have been able to answer a few questions

relating to the practical issues ofwoodland herb layer resto­ration through my research at Camp Dodge. However, thereare many more questions remaining to be addressed in or­der to expand the applicabilityofwoodland restoration tech­niques to different types of woodlands, areas with differinglanduse histories such as grazing, and to deal effectivelywithexisting invasive shrub and herbaceous species in woodlandand forest understories. I cannot stress enough that the op­portunities exist for private landowners and public agen­cies to revive and restore the functioning and beauty of Io­wa's woodland understories. Woodland herbaceous layerrestoration can be accomplished with numerous and re­markable rewards in only a few years. The longterm rewardsare truly beyond imagining.

'Larissa Mottl is a graduate student in the botany de­partment at Iowa State University. She's originally from westcentral MN where she earned a B.A. in biology at the Uni­versity of MN, Morris in 1996. Since 1996 she has pursuedher love of restoration ecology at Iowa State under the di­rection of Dr. Donald Farrar. She will be completing a mas­ter's degree in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB)program in the spring of 2000. Looking back, she wouldnever have imagined herself diving into graduate researchwhere she needs to sign in with people wearing camouflageat a military reservation prior to driving to her research site.Larissa can be reached via email at anderslm@iastate.edu orby mail at Iowa State University, 353 Bessey Hall, Ames, IA50011. Phone: 515-294-3522 (campus) or 515-232-7884(home).'

INPS Newsletter Vol. 5, No.4

The Iowa Native Plant Society Annual General Meetingby Linda Scarth

The annual meeting of the Iowa Native Plant Society wascalled to order at 8:55 pm, Saturday September 12, 1999

at Lakeside Laboratoryby President Ed Freese. Twelve mem­bers were present. Minutes ofthe 1998 annual meeting weredistributed. Mary Brown, Treasurer, reported a balance of$2541.65 in the society's treasury as of September 11,1999.There are 119 paid members. Mary also reported that it isexpected that the society will soon have tax exempt status.Mary Jane Hatfield presented the slate of officers who werere-elected and will continue their tenure. Judy Felder re­ported that the society's display has been used at several ven­ues in eastern Iowa including the Prairie Preview and SpringInto Summer at Pinicon Ridge Park. Christine Kirby hasmaintained the display. A new volunteer is being sought towork with the display. The meeting was adjourned so thatmembers might join in a discussion with members of thePrairie Network and The Nature Conservancy.

First Impressions - Iowa is a big state. Even after liv­ing here for seven years, we are still having "first time" expe­riences. The joint meeting of the INPS, TNC and the PrairieNetwork was filled with firsts beyond the joint efforts ofthesethree grass roots (pardon the pun) organizations.

It was the first time we had been to Lakeside Labora­tory, which in itselfwas fun. In the midst ofall that lakeside

development is this patch of land dedicated to teaching andlearning about the natural world. It was also the first timewe had visited the excursion sites.

Somehow fens on a prairie seem incongruous but eachtime we visit the trembling earth of one like Silver Lake Fen,these unique self-contained environments strewn across theIowa landscape remind one that little in nature should betaken at face value. The large group exploring the fen cre­ated a Jurassic Park experience where it was necessaryto waitto photograph small plants until the ground stopped quak­ing.

Our stop at Caylor Prairie was brief but conveyed thesense of prairie and place which more typifies what is ex­pected. We promised ourselves to return early the nextmorning but the afternoon exploration of Freda HaffnerKettlehole Preserve changed those plans. Instead we re­turned early Sunday to look again at the gentians beforeheading down to the Fen ValleyWildlife Management Area.

The speakers, trip leaders and meeting organizers alldeserve a hearty thank you for planning and facilitating agreat weekend experience for all who attended. The week­end produced a lasting impression of what cooperativeefforts can do and represent the results of future efforts onbehalf of all Iowa habitats.

Eddyville Dunes and Wetlands - An Updateby Glenda Buenger & Pat McAdams

The Eddyville Bypass saga continues. In recognition ofthe many important values and functions provided by

wetlands, federal policy requires replacement when they aredestroyed by a federally-funded project.Aside from the ques­tion ofwhether wetland destruction at the Dunes should beavoided by using a different bypass route, one of the prob­lems we're dealing with now is the mitigation proposed forthe Near EastAlternative. The IDOT proposes to replace raresidehill seeps at the Dunes by constructing a couple of shal­low ponds in Monroe County. This off-site,out-of-kind miti­gation is unacceptable. The Monroe County mitigation sitesare also compromised by the fact that an IDNR administra­tor is part owner of the property.

On-site, in-kind mitigation does a better job of replac­ing .wetland losses, and can restore existing degradedwetlands. The IDOT currently owns property in the Duneswhere this can be accomplished. In late November we metwith the Corps, IDNR, and IDOT at Eddyville to visit possi-

December 1999

ble wetland restoration sites. There are five on-site and in­kind mitigation prospects on and near the Teno propertyadjacent to the Eddyville cemetery. Four of the sites are de­graded seeps at the base of the Dunes which could be re­stored. The fifth is a farmed wetland in an interdunal swale.

If the mitigation plan is substantially changed, theCorps is likely to withdraw the Public Notice of the 404 per­mit. Then the Corps would issue a new Public Notice de­scribing the revised mitigation proposal, and we'll gothrough the public comment process again. It is difficult tosay how long revising the mitigation plan will further delaythe bypass project. In the meantime, Eddyville residents areextremely concerned about safety, especiallyfor their school­children, and the IDOT has done very little to provide in­terim safetymeasures.No matter which bypass route is built,it will be at least another 2-3 years before it is completed.

Thank you, INPS members, for your continued sup­port.

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Iowa's Very OwnVI. Prairie Moonwort, Botrychium campestre W.H. Wagner & C.R. Farrar

by Thomas Lammers

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One would have thought that by the 1980s, the plants ofIowa would be pretty well known. As much as we love

the Hawkeye State, we have to admit that its flora is not ter­ribly diverse when compared to tropical nations, or even tostates like California. Furthermore, we've had our share ofhard-working, talented botanists who have scoured the statein an attempt to discover all the species that grow here. Thereare occasional additions to the list - plants common else­where that have escaped detection until recently. But whoever would have thought that an entirely new species, some­thing never before named or described, would be discov­ered here in the 1980s? One hundred and fifty years aftersettlement, Iowa surely could not harbor a plant new to sci­ence. Or could it?

The Loess Hills bordering the Missouri River in west­ern Iowa are of special interest because of the many prairiespecies found there that are more typical ofareas farther west,e.g., Spanish bayonet (Yucca filamentosa) and prickly-pear(Opuntia fragilis). To foster interest in this region, the LoessHills Prairie Seminar was founded in 1976 by the WesternHills Area Education Agency in Sioux City, with assistancefrom the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and theMonona County Conservation Board. The group meetsannuallyon the first weekend after Memorial Dayat the LoessHillsWildlife Area in Monona County, for three days oftalksand field trips covering all aspects ofthe region's natural his­tory and archaeology.

During the 1982 Seminar, a group of naturalists wastouring a prairie tract that had been torched the previous

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The Prairie Moonwort, Botrychium campestre

8

autumn. With several years of leaf litter burned away, thefresh green shoots springing up stood out vividly againstthe charred background. One little shoot caught the eye ofsomeone near the head of the column. Emerging from thecharcoaled sod among the rapidly expanding grasses andforbs was a tiny fern, barely two inches tall. Its slim fleshystalk bore a single frond divided into a lobed oblong greenportion an inch-and-a-half long and a grape-like cluster ofspore-producing structures which was slightly longer. Thelittle oddity was plucked and passed down the line, with acomment on how unusual it was to see ferns on the prairie.

Farther back in the line of march was Dr. Larry Eilers, aplant taxonomist and professor of biology at the Universityof Northern Iowa. Eilers had spent almost a quarter cen­tury studying the flora of Iowa and was as knowledgeableabout the subject as anyone. As the culmination of this ca­reer ofresearch, he was then working on an annotated check­list of the plants known from the state. (This book, co­authored with Dean Roosa, was published in 1994 as TheVascular Plants of Iowa.) When the diminutive plant washanded to him, Eilers was brought up short, for he knew thatnothing like it had ever been reported from western Iowa.

Eilers right away recognized that the mystery plant wasa moonwort, a member of the genus Botrychium in theOphioglossaceae (Adder's-tongue Family). But only onespecies of that genus, B. virginianum (Rattlesnake Fern) isknown to occur in western Iowa, and that species usuallygrows in woodland, has roughly triangular fronds, and isusually far larger. However, four other members of the ge­nus (B. dissectum, B. matricariifolium, B. multijidum, andB. simplex) grow in eastern Iowa, sometimes in prairie-likehabitats. Thinking the plants might represent an importantrange extension for one ofthese species, Eilers gathered andpreserved additional examples of the plant.

But when Eilers examined his specimens later, he wasunable to equate them with any of these species. He sentthem on to Dr. Donald Farrar, a professor of botany at IowaState University and a pteridologist, i.e., a specialist in thesystematics and ecology of ferns and their relatives. ButFarrar likewise was unable to identify the mystery fern. Hewas amazed to discover that its underground portions boregemmae, tiny bead-like structures that make possible veg­etative reproduction. Such organs had never before beenreported from ferns (though they were subsequently foundto occur in several other moonwort species by Farrar andhis student, CindyJohnson-Groh) . Suspecting thatthe LoessHills plants represented a previously undescribed species,

INPS Newsletter Vol. 5, No.4

he forwarded the specimens to Dr. Warren "Herb" Wagner,professor of botany at the University of Michigan.

Wagner is widely acknowledged as the dean ofAmeri­can pteridologists, having studied ferns intensely since thelate 1940s. His reputation has even reached Hollywood. Inthe 1971 film comedy A New Leaf, Elaine May suspects thata tropical tree-fern she collected on her honeymoon is a newspecies ofAlsophila. To be certain, she tells Walter Matthau,"I sent it to Wagner at the University of Michigan:'

And just as Wagner pronounced the cinematicAlsophilaa new species, so too was the Prairie Moonwort anointed.Wagner found that it most resembled B. minganense, a spe­cies ofnorthern North America, but differed significantly inthe shape andcut of its leaves, its smaller spores and diploidchromosome number. In a 1986 issue of the American FernJournal, Wagner and Farrar christened the new fernBotrychium campestre. The specific epithet they chose means"plains" or "fields", Latin's closest approximation to prairie.

But how, in such a well-botanized region, could so dis­tinct a species go undetected and unnamed for so long?Finding new species in the poorly explored tropics surprisesno one, but isn't it highly unusual for a plant to escape de­tection in the United States for so long?

The answer to the last question, amazingly, is no. In thelast 25 years, over 1200 new species, subspecies, and varie­ties of vascular plants have been described from the conti­nental United States and Canada, as well as five new genera.

Despite the widespread perception that the North Ameri­can flora is thoroughly known, in truth, much remains to bedescribed. In the specific case of the Prairie Moonwort, itseems that its diminutive stature and ephemeral nature(shoots appear inApril and die back bymid-June) conspiredto keep it hidden for so long.

Once they knew what they were looking for, Wagner,Farrar, and others began to search suitable sites for B.campestre. By the time the plant was formally named anddescribed in 1986,several additional populations in the LoessHills of western Iowa and in southwestern Minnesota hadbeen discovered. (In fact, the type was a specimen collectedbyWagner at a prairie in Plymouth Co., Iowa, and depositedin the University of Michigan Herbarium, which highlightsthe fact that the type is not necessarily the first specimenfound.) Furthermore,Wagner had searchedvarious herbariafor earlier collections and turned up previously un- ormisidentified sheets ofthe new species from Nebraska, NorthDakota, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Later, B. campestre wasdiscovered in dunes along Lake Superior in northern Michi­gan. Thus, Prairie Moonwort is not restricted to westernIowa, but rather is widely distributed in central NorthAmerica, which makes the late date of its discovery all themore remarkable.

The moral of the story? Next time you take part in anIowa Native Plant Society field trip, keep your eyes open.

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IDecember 1999 9

Field Trip Schedule for 2000by Mark Leoschke

This is the tenative schedule. I have not listed potential field trip leaders since not all of them have been contacted yet. All fieldtrip dates should be Saturdays:April

29th Lamson Woods and Woodthrush Woods State Preserves, Jefferson CountyMay

13th - Searles Cave State Preserve, Jones County and private forest, Clinton CountyJune

3rd - Split Rock County Park and Schroeder Preserve, Chickasaw County10th - Sedge Identification Workshop, Muscatine County24th - Woodside Prairie and Highway 92 ROW, Adair County

July15th - Cemetery Prairies, Crawford County

August12th - Steele Prairie State Preserve, Cherokee County

September9th - Fens, Cerro Gordo County

October14th - Annual Meeting, Tama County28th - Work Day? Location to be determined

ITowa Native Plant Society10 Deb Lewis

Department ofBotanyIowa State UniversityAmes, fA 50011-1020