Sunday, August 10, 2008

Another unknown




















I encountered this species at Hoosier Prairie in Lake Co., IN a couple weeks ago. I noticed it as I was fleeing the site at dusk due to hordes of bloodthirsty, rhythmically humming mosquitoes. Can anybody help me out? I stayed long enough to snap a couple mediocre photos, then rushed to safety.

6 comments:

  1. Call me crazy, but those pubescent phyllaries remind me of Prenanthes racemosa. That would be my guess.

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  2. That very well could be, Justin. Totally out of the context I'm used to seeing that plant in, and a different developmental stage too. But I think you're on to something after looking at a few pics.

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  3. Justin Thomas is crazy.

    I agree it's a Prenanthes, and it may very well be P. racemosa. What about P. aspera? P. aspera has a pubescent midstem, while P. racemosa is glabrous on the midstems. It's difficult to tell how much of the plant is shown in the photo.

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  4. You may be right, Scott. I shouldn't have ruled out P. aspera. I guess I ignored it because neither USDA Plants nor Voss list it as occuring in Michigan. Perhaps it has since been found or this could be a new record? The stems do appear to have some pubescence, but P. racemosa is pubescent along the main axis of the inflorescence.

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  5. It looks like Brad found this plant in Lake County, Indiana. Both species are known from this county. I think P. aspera is more common in dry prairie, while P. racemosa is more frequent in wet prairie.

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  6. It could be P. aspera, too. That is what I was leaning towards initially, before giving up. I don't recall if the main stem had pubescence or not. The plants were growing in a wet-mesic oak barrens on lacustrine sands, with an unusual group of associates preferring a variety of moisture conditions. The Hoosier Prairie is insane, and I need to go back.

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