When my parents moved to Northbrook in 1951, the entire area between Crabtree Lane and Dundee Road was prairie and unchanneled west fork of the north branch of the Chicago…
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Dune willow (Salix syrticola) is an Illinois Endangered species found at only a few lakeshore sites in northeastern IL. David Johannesen, a Plants of Concern volunteer, raised an alert in…
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The Morton Arboretum is iconic for many reasons. And I’m not sure founder Joy Morton had any idea that his grand idea would evolve into an international center for tree…
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While researching an article for Erigenia, the peer-reviewed journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society, I ran across a notation about a “Mrs. Chase.” Since she was the only woman…
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Tall goldenrod (Solidago altissima) is an aster family species native to a large portion of North America and introduced to Europe and Asia. This species has the beautiful golden-yellow flowers…
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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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Ask a pair of whooping cranes that found a new home along a restored wetland along an Illinois River. A flock of 60 whooping cranes that usually migrated through had…
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