Fall transplants; upland boneset

Upland boneset (Eupatorium sessilifolium) is a species listed as Special Concern in Wisconsin. It is a savanna specialist that is found mainly in open shade. It is found only in a few counties in southern Wisconsin. It has the very high C value of 9. Strangely, it is not listed in the Cochrane/Iltis Atlas of Prairie and Savanna Plants, although it is in the well-known list of savanna indicator species of Brian Pruka.

We have a small native population of this species, and have been raising plants for transplant into other parts of the Conservancy. Unfortunately, seed germination efficiency has been low, so we have had difficulty getting a lot of plants for transplant. As a final effort to get plants, in early May Kathie sowed a good layer of seeds in soil and put the flat alongside our driveway at home. We kept the flat watered all summer and were pleased to have a large number of seedlings developing. By the end of summer, the flat was full of plants (about 30). As the photo to the left shows, the root structure was well developed.

Since fall is a good time to transplant native species, we used a hiatus in our seed collecting work to get these plants in the ground.