By Sue Crowley, executive director
Have you ever set out on journey to explore a prairie or a forest and then just fell in love with a particular plant? Some plants just resonate with a person because of their color, their texture, and maybe their size. Or perhaps it’s their abundance, or of course, it could be because you just had never seen that plant before. And then the next thing that happens for me is to figure out what the plant is known as. This process can both be frustrating and rewarding at the same time. It also can lead you to find out your plant is known by several different names depending on your location, ethnicity, or whether you are more in tune with scientific names versus common names. I have come to believe all are good ways to identify or know a plant.
In our world today, we have several e-resources to assist us with plant identification, and yet some of the “answers” we get from an app or even our phone camera can leave us wondering, “Is this really what my newly found (to me) plant is called?” I do like to test out these apps and I will resort to using the dichotomous key that a lot of plant ID books
So, my recommendation is to retain great friends and colleagues who love to geek out on all things of nature. You see where I am going here…I love trees and so I am pretty good at tree ID and then you have the friend that is a birder, or bumble bee specialist, or fern fanatic, or a moss whisperer, or sedge sage! The benefit of this community of people is that they usually love to share their knowledge of these wonderful beings in nature.
One of the plants that I am in love with is a bulrush, which is in the sedge family, or the scientific name is Scirpus atrovirens also known as Dark Green Bulrush. However, if you are looking to solidly identify this plant, it closely resembles at least four other bulrush/Scirpus plants. The Minnesota Wildflowers website has great descriptions and pictures to help with this ID.
The reason I am drawn to this plant is the wonderful texture and structure on the ends of its strong stiff stalks. These stems or stalks are roughly three sided. They stand out quite well in our Henry Wetland Preserve just off Woodland Drive. I encourage you to take a hike out there to see for yourself. Birds such as ducks, geese, rails will eat the seed of this plant. Some like this bulrush for nesting material. In addition, several larvae of moth species feed on the plant include leaf minor moths and Gelechiid moth larvae. The root system is fibrous and rhizomatous- which can lead it to form dense groups of the plants. The plant generally enjoys wetlands or wet sites and ditches. It reaches heights of three to five feet.
Well, until the next wandering and wondering– enjoy the lovely colors and textures of autumn. I hope you find an adventure in discovering a new-to-you plant or bird or bug….
Photos by Sue Crowley