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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.
Field Guide - Shrubs of the Chicago Region
This guide features a selection of native shrubs and noteworthy non-native shrubs of the Chicago Region.
Field Guide - Goldenrods of the Chicago Region
Use this guide to help you identify common goldenrod species of the Chicago region.
Field Guide - Asters of the Chicago Region
Use this guide to help you identify aster species of the Chicago Wilderness region.
Field Guide - Orchids of the Chicago Region
This guide helps identify orchids of the the Chicago region and provides habitat and flowering information.
Field Guide - Sedges of the Chicago Region
This guide helps identify sedges (Carex spp.) of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana.
Field Guide - A Quick Guide to Thismia Americana
Learn about a flower that baffled experts. The mysterious plant of the genus Saprophyte—plants that have no leaves or chlorophyll but draw their energy from rotting plant matter.
Field Guide - Rice Foundation Native Gardens
Installed in 2016–2017, the sustainable landscaping on the southern terraces of the Museum highlights plants native to Illinois—the same species that grow wild in our prairies and woodlands.
Field Guide - Calumet Botanical Heritage
This guide helps identify rare and important plant species found in the Calumet Region of Indiana.
Field Guide - Flora of Orland Grassland
Use this guide to see selected flora of Orland Grassland with Coefficients of Conservatism
Field Guide - Chicago Region's Ravine and Bluff Vegetation
This guide is a part of a Rapid Assessment tool for the ravine and bluff systems of the Illinois Lake Michigan Watershed, and presents both common and rare plant species.
Field Guide - Chicago Park District Species in Prairies & Savannas
Use this guide to identify common species of the Chicago Park District's natural areas, including plants, butterflies and birds.
Field Guide - Chicago Housing Authority
Use this guide to see plants of the Chicago Housing Authority's Native Plant Garden.
Field Guide - Woodland Flora of the Chicago Region
This guide serves an introduction to the woodland, spring flora of the Chicago region.
Field Guide - Woodland Spring Flora, Alphabetical
This guide is an introduction to the woodland, spring flora of the Chicago region, but in alphabetical order.
Field Guide - Common Plant Families of the Chicago Region
Use this guide to learn about the common plant families found in the Chicago region.
Field Guide - Dunesland Habitat Guide
Use this guide to learn about the native wildflowers found in duneland habitiat.
Blog - Planting the Seeds of Conservation
There’s research suggesting that nature helps us relax and lowers our stress levels. This blog explores seed collecting as an activity to help the environment and lower stress.
Blog - Hitting the Pavement to Save Endangered Plants
“Even though we live in one of the most heavily urbanized parts of the world, there’s rare nature that occurs here and only here,” says Robb Telfer, Field Museum Calumet Outreach Organizer.
Blog - This Flower Only Grows in the Wild on a Single Tiny Island...in Illinois
The Kankakee Mallow (Iliamna remota) is a special little flower. There's only place in the world that it's found and until 2015, it hadn't been seen in over a decade.
You know that part in Game of Thrones where the dragon eggs hatch when they’re put in fire? This is like that, but with a super-endangered flower - the Kankakee mallow (Iliamna remota)
Most of us are familiar with the day lily (Hemerocallis fulva), the all-too-common inhabitant of home gardens, parking lot planters, and roadsides. Meet its graceful cousin, the native Michigan lily (Lilium michiganense).
Prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) makes a striking, low-maintenance, addition to any home garden. If you press a leaf together in your hands the leaves will feel cool, even on a July summer day.
MORE RESOURCES:
Plant Identification | Illinois Native Plant Society
What’s a Native Plant? | Indiana Native Plant Society
The Wisconsin Flora Newsletter | Botanical Club of Wisconsin