Seed collecting: a popular activity

Yesterday was our major fall seed-collecting day. The weather was outstanding following a week of outstanding weather.

We have been running this event for the past five years. This year we had the biggest turnout ever (19 people at Pleasant Valley Conservancy; 21 at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie). Some people came for only the morning at PVC, some for only the afternoon at BE, and some came for both. Among others, we had 8 UW-Madison students from the Wildlife Ecology department. They were a great pleasure to have.

Lunch was served at noon.

This is peak time for the seeds of a lot of prairie species and we had a great haul. The table below gives the results:

Latin	Common	Source	Notes
Anemone cylindrica	Prairie thimbleweed	BE	Lots!
Asclepias tuberosa	Butterfly weed	BE
Asclepias verticillata	Whorled milkweed	BE
Asclepias viridiflora	Short green milkweed	BE	Rare
Echinacea pallida	Pale purple coneflower	PVC
Eryngium yuccifolium	Rattlesnake master	PVC/BE	Lots!
Eupatorium perfoliatum	Common boneset	PVC	Wet/Lots
Eupatorium sessilifolium	Upland boneset	BE
Gentiana alba	Cream gentian	PVC	Lots!
Hasteola suaveolens	Sweet Indian plantain	PVC	Wet
Hypericum pyramidatum	Great St. John's wort	PVC
Kuhnia eupatorioides	False boneset	BE	Lots!
Lespedeza capitata	Round-headed bush clover	PVC	Lots!
Liatris aspera	Rough blazing star	BE
Liatris cylindracea	Dwarf blazing star	BE
Lilium philadelphicum andinum	Prairie lily	BE	Rare
Lobelia siphilitica	Great blue lobelia	PVC	Wet
Monarda fistulosa	Wild bergamot	PVC
Pedicularis lanceolata	Lousewort	PVC	Wet/Lots
Polygonatum biflorum	Smooth Solomon's seal	BE
Pycnanthemum virginianum	Common mountain mint	PVC
Ratibida pinnata	Yellow coneflower	PVC/BE	Lots!
Rosa sp.	Rose	BE	Lots!
Schizachyrium scoparium	Little bluestem	BE	Lots!
Silphium integrifolium	Rosinweed	PVC
Silphium laciniatum	Compass plant	BE
Solidago missouriensis	Missouri goldenrod	PVC
Sorghastrum nutans	Indian grass	PVC	Lots!
Verbena hastata	Blue vervain	PVC	Wet/Lots
Vernonia fasciculata	Common ironweed	PVC	Wet/Lots
Veronicastrum virginicum	Culver's root	PVC	Wet