Prairie Phlox
Prairie phlox or Phlox pilosum
This phlox occurs more often in open prairies and is relatively rare.
Summer Phlox
Summer Phlox or Phlox paniculata
Click on photo for more info
There are different species of wild phlox. Note the 5 petals on the flowers.
Dame's Rocket
For more info on Dame's Rocket click on the photo.
The photos above and on the right are Dames Rocket, an invasive species that is often confused with Wild Phlox. This plant belongs to the mustard family and was brought over from England by the colonists in the 1600s. Dame's rocket grows in clumps like phlox and can grow as high as 5 feet tall. The flowers range from purple to white and are very fragrant.
Phlox or Dames Rocket?
Dames Rocket or
Hesperis matronalis
The way you can tell the difference between Dames Rocket and phlox is that the Dames Rocket leaves are alternate. Though the leaves are off in the photo above, you can clearly see that they are alternate. If you look closely at the flowers you'll see that Dames Rocket flowers have four petals (phlox will have five, matching the number of letters in their names). Dame's rocket leaves are also narrower. The easiest ways to tell that this plant isn’t phlox is by the narrower, slightly toothed leaves and the fact that phlox has 5 petals and dame’s rocket has 4.
How to tell the difference between Wild Phlox and Dame's Rocket
Promega Woods Plants (2013)
Promega Woods Animals (2013)
Site #3A - 2012
Turkey tail fungi
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Site #3B Promega Woods
Site #3C Promega Woods
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Site #3D Promega Woods
Japanese barberry
Berberis thunbergii
A plant whose use dates back thousands of years, wild barberry is today on several "most wanted" lists as a nuisance wild plant. Barberry shrubs act as host plants for a fungus that threatens grain crops. But for herbalists and wild food fans, barberry plants represent a bounty of medicinal botanicals, as well as the raw material for wine, jams, jellies and savory relishes.
Link to Illinois website about barberry - very good habitat information Here's a link about barberry which has more information than you probably want to know! |
Gall wasps
There are over 800 species of gall wasp in North America, several of which use the oak tree as a host in this parasitic relationship. The gall wasp, in our case, probably Neuroterus numismalis, lays it's egg on the underside of the oak leaf. The larvae secretes a chemical that causes the leaf to create a protective "gall", where the larvae will eat and remain protected. The video on the right shows how one species (different from the one we found) creates a gall in the oak's acorn. The ecology is the same, but the type of gall is different. What's interesting is that, even in the protective casing of the gall, the larvae is still susceptible to another type of parasitic wasp.
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List of Organisms Identified (2011-2013)
Kingdom Protista
- Slime molds
Kingdom Fungi
- black knot fungi
- lichen = algae + fungi (mutualism)
- Polyporous squamosus
- Turkey tail fungi
- unidentified white hyphae
- crusty, gray mushroom on log
- black shelf mushroom
- white shelf fungi
- Shaggy mane or shaggy ink cap mushroom
Kingdom Plantae
Angiosperms (flowering plants)
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Trees
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Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Insecta
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Class Arachnids
Subphylum Crustacea
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Class Chilopoda
Class Diplopoda
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Phylum Annelida
Class Clitellata
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
- Forest or land snail (2nd reference)
- Land slug
- Spotted garden or Leopard slug (Limax maximus)
Phylum Chordata
Class Aves (Birds)
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Class Mammalia
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