Scutellaria — or skullcap — species can be found in a variety of habitats in northeastern Illinois. These perennials belong to the mint family (note their opposite leaves); more than…
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Somewhere in a lake near you, in a shallow bay, grows a floating plant with pouchlike sacs on its leaflets. The sacs each have a “spring- loaded” trap door that…
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Glossary text by Gerould Wilhelm & Laura RerichaGlossary illustrations by Kathleen Marie Garness An excellent new illustrated botanical glossary was recently published by the Conservation Research Institute and Indiana Academy…
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Ageratina altissima, or white snakeroot, is the only species of its genus found in the Chicagoland region, but it is widespread, even weedy. (The more than 300 species in the…
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When visiting prairie fens, oak savannas, and woodlands this time of year, you may encounter flowering Maianthemum stellatum (previously Smilacina stellata); its common names include star-flowered lily-of-the-valley and starry false…
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The Illinois Native Plant Society offers sincere congratulations to the awardees of the 2020 Research Grant Program…
The INPS Board of Directors at their February meeting approved the increase of award amounts for the 2021 grant cycle. Competitive Research Grant awards will be available both the Research…
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The curled up fingers of a dried compass plant leaf, moody blue-gray clouds hanging low over yellowed grasses, a formation of sandhill cranes migrating across a partly cloudy sky. These…
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Small but formidable, frustrating the manicured lawn gardener and the native plant enthusiast alike: it’s the genus Viola, the violets. More than two dozen violet species have been recorded in…
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Four and a half years ago I ran into Ken Klick, restoration ecologist for Lake County Forest Preserves, at Illinois Beach State Park. Ken was headed up to do some…
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