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MEET OUR NATIVE PLANTS

Native plants have existed in an area for thousands of years and developed important relationships with local birds and native insects, like butterflies and bees. Each of our ecosystems, such as prairies, forests or wetlands, have their own particular types of native species. Over the last 100 years with the increase in transportation, globalization and desire to change our landscape, many plants and animals have been introduced into our ecosystems either on purpose or on accident. Some of these plants do not outcompete our native plants and we call these examples non-native species. However, there are some introduced species that flourish in their new homes and cause great harm to their environment – we call these invasive species. Click through the following Field Guides and blogs to meet the native plant species that have been in the Chicago Wilderness region for a long, long time.