14 1995 ERIGENIA NATURAl HISTORY SWVEY MAR 6 1996 Number 14 November 1995 LISRARY Journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society Erigenia Number 14, November 1995 The Illinois Native Plant Society Journal The Illinois Native Plant Society is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and smdy of the native plants and vegetation of Illinois. Erigenia is named for Erigenia bulbosa (Michx.) Executive Committee of the Society Nutt. (harbinger of spring), one of our earliest President: Glen Kruse blooming woodland plants. The first issue was President-Elect: Many Vogt published in August 1982. Past President: George D. Johnson ® Copyright 1995 The Illinois Native Plant Society Treasurer: Jon Duerr (ISSN 8755-2000) Recording Secretary: Ray Boehmer Membership: Loma Konsis Editor, The Harbinger: Ken Konsis Erigenia Staff 20301 E. 900 North Road, Westville, IL 61883 Members-at-large : Editor: Gerould S. Wilhelm John Ebinger Managing Editor: Barbara A. Johnson Cathie Maginel Typesetting and Design: Linda A. Masters Ken Robertson Production: George D. Johnson Guy Sternberg Reviewers for Number 14 Chapter Presidents Roger Anderson Central (Springfield): Reinee Hildebrandt Ed Collins Christopher Dunn East-Central (Urbana): Ken Robertson (acting) William McClain Forest Glen (Westville): Chris Lawton (Peorl^l): Jeff and Givens Robert Mohlenbrock Irene Cull Donna (Naperville): Dan Nickrent Northeast Pat Armstrong Steve Olson Southern (Carbondale): Mark Basinger Phil Robertson John Schwegman Floyd Swink Membership Eric Ulaszek Yearly membership includes a subscription to Erigenia and the quarterly newsletter. The Harbinger. For more information write to: Cover Illustration Illinois Native Plant Society Original drawing of Isotria medeoloides (Pursh) Forest Glen Preserve Raf. by Nancy Hart Stieber, staff artist at the 20301 E. 900 North Road Morton Arboretum. Westville. Illinois 61883 Erigenia Number 14, November 1995 Table of Contents About Our Authors 2 Illinois' Small Whorled Pogonia Orchids John E. Schwegman 3 Thismia americana N. E. Pfeiffer, A History Linda A. Masters 8 The Status of Aster schreberi Nees (Schreber's Aster) in Illinois John E. Ebinger 15 Prairie Restoration on an East-Central Illinois Field Don Gardner 18 Vegetation Analysis of a Prairie Restoration, Ford County, Illinois Don Gardner 32 Effects of Different Fire Regimes on the Ground Layer Vegetation of a Dry Sand Savanna, Hooper Branch Nature Preserve, Iroquois County, Illinois Kenneth C. Johnson and John E. Ebinger 37 Fifty Years of Change in Illinois Hill Prairies Kenneth R. Robertson. Mark W. Schwartz, Jeffrey W. Olson, Brian K Dunphy, and H. David Clarke . 41 Woody Vegetation Survey of Bois du Sangamon Namre Preserve, an Upland Forest in Macon County, Illinois Douglas J. Haug and John E. Ebinger 53 Additions to the Vascular Flora of Illinois Mark A. Basinger 57 New Populations of Rare Species in Southern Illinois Robert Todd Bittner 59 About Our Authors Mark A. BaSINGER found his additions to the flora Kenneth C. Johnson, a restoration and botanical of Illinois as part of his continuing Ph.D. work at consultant in the Chicago area, assists the botany Southern Illinois University on the effects of research group at The Morton Arboretum. He currently disturbance on native flora. Mark has also developed is conducting a plant survey of a ravine in Kane an interest in Illinois lichens. County. Linda A. Masters has been with the Research Robert Todd BITTNER is a restoration biologist Department at The Morton Arboremm since 1986. with The Nanire Conservancy at Nachusa Grasslands. Many also know her as one of the early organizers of His paper reflects part of his Master's work at the aimual Thismia Hunt in Chicago's south side Southern Illinois University. His special interest is in prairies. Linda is currently working on her Master's quantitative monitoring of the habitat requirements of degree in ecology at the UniversitN' of Illinois at native plants. Chicago. H. David Clarke received both his M.S. and Jeffrey W. Olson is a Master' s student in botany Ph.D. degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana- at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His Champaign, working on the tropical American Acacias. continuing interest in the ecology of hill prairies began His is doing a post-doctoral taxonomic study in as an imdergraduate student at the University of Guyana. Minnesota. Brian K. DUNPHY, who is currently a graduate Kenneth R. Robertson, a botanist at the niinois student in plant ecology at Michigan State University, Natural History Survey, recently co-authored the got his undergraduate degree at the University of magnificent book Illinois Wilds. His special interests Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. include the systematics of the rose, amaranth, and morning glory families. He also was a major contributor to the generic flora of the southeastern John E. EBINGER, a mentor to many Illinois United States, published serially in the JOURNAL OF botanists and a frequent contributor to Erigenia, will THE ARNOLD ARBORETUM. retire in December 1996 as head of the Botany Department at Eastern Illinois University. He will, Mark W. Schwartz received his Ph.D. at the however, continue his studies of Illinois forests and the University of Minnesota, where he smdied the factors Acacias of North and South America. He is also known involving the rareness of Torreya. He was with the for his systematic work on the genus Kalmia. Illinois Natural History Sur\'ey for fi\e years as a plant ecologist, and is now with the Section of Plant Biolog>- Don Gardner is a retired demist whose two papers at the University of California at Davis. in this volume of Erigenia relate to prairie restorations that he began in 1974 on his family's farm. See also, John E. SCHWEGMAN has been a frequent the winter 1996 issue of THE ILLINOIS STEWARD for his contributor to ERIGENIA since its mcepiion. .\s he article "A Projectile Point and Prairie Ashes." moves toward retirement from the Illinois Department of Namral Resources, he expects to continue his prolific writing Illinois natural histop. subjects. Douglas J. HaUG is presently serving in the Peace on John has greatly to our knowledge the Illinois Corps in Bolivia as an agriculmral adviser. His survey contributed of flora, and is a principal architect of the natural on woody vegetation, reported here, was done as part divisions map of Illinois and the comprehensive plan of his Master's thesis at Eastern llhnois University. for the Illinois nature preserve system. ERIGEMA, Number 14, November 1995, pp. 3-7 ®1995, Hlmois Native Plant Society Illinois' Small Whorled Pogonia Orchids John E. Schwegman' On Saturday afternoon, October 20, 1973, the late ecology of Isotria medeoloides. This study included the Dr. Julius Swayne of Herrin picked up Mike Homoya Illinois locality as one of his ecological study sites. and Loyal Mehrhoff of Carterville and headed to It is remarkable that the discovery of this rare Randolph County to inspea a traa of land that one of plant is so closely tied to the careers of two botanists his students had offered for sale. Julius was a botanist who are prominent in the conservation of native who taught biology at Rend Lake College. Mike was plants today. Homoya is a botanist with the Indiana a student of botany at Southern Dlinois University, Division of Nature Preserves and recently published and Loyal was a high school student. The goal of the the definitive book Orchids of Indiana. Mehrhoff went trip was to see if Julius wanted to purchase the land. on to get his doctorate in botany at the University of They were impressed by the rugged topography of British Columbia and now works on the conservation the tract, and after locating a stand of ground cedar of Hawaii's endangered flora. {Lycopodium digitatum), which was rare in those days, Julius Swayne visited the site of this orchid they decided to search for other interesting plants. population annually from 1974 until his death in Walking about five meters apart, they were easing November 1994. I joined him for the annual mid-May along a north-facing slope above a sandstone cliff when census visits from 1981 through 1994. Swayne's notes Mehrhoff called out that he "had something interest- included information on which plants emerged each ing." What he had was a stalk about ten inches tall year and what their flowering status was. In some with two orchid capsules at the top! A check of the years he also determined whether seed capsules ma- area revealed three more such stalks, all of which had tured. In 1983 and from 1985 on, I added measure- shed their leaves. ments of stem height to the leaf whorl as a measure of Their speculation in the field was that perhaps it individual plant vigor. was a deformed lady's slipper orchid with two capsules In addition to the spring visits, Swayne made together—that is, until they noticed that the leaf scars sporadic visits in the fall to check for capsule develop- were in a whorl. Back home with manuals at hand, ment and seed set. I established a permanent demo- they readily identified the fruiting specimen as one of graphic monitoring plot in 1986 that included plants North America's rarest native orchids, the small #5, #7, and #8. It was half of a circular plot with a whorled pogonia {Isotria medeoloides) radius of one meter for 180 degrees containing 1.57 Swayne purchased the land, and the discoverers square meters (Schwegman 1986). The plot aided in settled back for a long winter of anticipation over locating the exact spot where each plant within it what the spring would bring. As the year's new should emerge. growth began, the trio began regular visits in search of Using information Swayne and Homoya had given flowering small whorled pogonias, and m mid May me, together with my notes, I pieced together what is they were rewarded with the discovery of four plants.