Ghost or Indian pipes

I have seen ghost or Indian pipes in northern Minnesota and in Montana but didn’t know until last year about this time that Fort Ridgely has lots of this unusual plant growing in at least one area of the park. I found it there again this afternoon in the same vicinity but not the exact spots as last year. It is easy to find if you walk up the north trail toward the primitive campsite. It is on both sides of the trail but mainly the right side right before it switches back to go up to the campsites. It is also on the trail going north by the creek on the opposite side of the bridge from the main campground.

For more information: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/indian-pipe

Pollinators are busy

Can you believe this picture of honeybees on a stiff goldenrod? I wonder if the honey production of the hive goes up when the goldenrods are blooming!

We have two hummingbird feeders and the hummingbirds have been active drinking lots of the sugar water (1 part sugar to 4 parts water) that we put in each feeder. I have seen them getting nectar from various flowers too including jewelweed, geraniums, and even fennel. The male is more colorful with the ruby throat coloring from which the only species of hummingbird in Minnesota gets its name (ruby throated hummingbird). I have found that how red it appears depends on the angle at which the sun hits the throat. The picture has a good angle. The body is also a brighter green than the female.

Females have more of a white breast and throat with less bright green plumage. They have both been very active but it looks like the males left to fly south last week. We have not seen the males this week but the females are still here, even active this morning when it was in the 40's for temperature. This is usual from what my wife has read about hummingbirds. Males always fly south earlier than females. The females are glad the males have left so they can have easier access to feeders and flowers. Hummingbirds are very territorial as you can see from the video I am including. There often are several trying to get nectar but one will try to chase the other away. They are amazing in how they can maneuver and zoom right by you if you are outside when they come in. You hear the low pitched hum as they fly by.

These tiny birds fly as far south as Central America to winter. They usually fly 20 miles per day on the way down but can do 500 miles if they have to fly nonstop from Florida to the Yucatan in 18-22 hours depending on the wind conditions.

For more information: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mcvmagazine/issues/2020/may-jun/hummingbird.html

Prairie Grasses

The appearance of the prairie changes over the summer and fall not only by different flowers and insects that have different life cycles appearing at different times. Prairies are famous for their grasses and this time of year many of the taller grasses grow up to 6 feet tall (sometimes taller!) and produce their seed. The picture below shows the mixture of flowers and grasses in a healthy prairie.

For more information: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/biomes/prairie.html#:~:text=Prairies%20are%20defined%20as%20extensive%20areas%20of%20flat,high%20on%20the%20bluffs%20of%20the%20Minnesota%20River.

One of the easiest grasses to recognize this time of year is big bluestem. It is often taller than people as you can see in the picture with my wife Becky (she is 5' 8" tall). You can recognize it when it goes to seed as the top of the grass has a three pronged, turkey toe like seed pattern. This year the grass has been darker and more of a purple color than I have noticed in the past. Becky has purple hair so we were joking about the purple tops of the bluestem too.

For more information: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/grass-sedge-rush/big-bluestem

Another tall grass that is at its maximum height now is Indian grass. As you can see in the picture below it can be 6 feet tall or more. In many prairie areas in Fort Ridgely Park there is a mixture of big bluestem and Indian grass that are going to seed right now. As you can see the seed packets are longer and more like a tuft.

Both big bluestem and Indian grass have longer root systems than the plant above the ground. The diagram below shows this clearly. Both are shown to have roots that go 8+ feet into the ground. Kentucky bluegrass, which most of us have in our lawns, is shown on the left in the diagram and as shown the roots only penetrate a few inches into the soil. This is good for taking up turf in rolls and transferring it to a new location. It is not good if there are drought conditions as both the grass and its root system will dry out quickly. These two prairie grasses' roots will seldom all dry out even in serious drought. They will come up again the next year from the deep roots.

For more information: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/grass-sedge-rush/indian-grass

Another tall grass that is seen in some areas of the prairie at Fort Ridgely is Canada wild rye grass. It is 3-4 feet tall and has a long plume of seeds that develop from a blue-green color and dry out to the tan color shown in the picture. The grass leans over as shown also. It is native to Minnesota and most other states in America. The picture was taken along the path through the new prairie below the chalet.

For more information: https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/grass-sedge-rush/canada-wild-rye

A nice looking non-native grass that is found on the north end of the small pond northwest of the museum is Chinese silver grass. The name describes it well as the hairy ends where the seeds are formed is white and somewhat silvery looking as it sways in the wind as you can see in its picture.

For more information: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/grasses/amursilvergrass.html

In wetter and swampy areas there are tall bulrushes and sedges. The leaves of both are wider and stiffer than grasses and they have an assortment of seed pods. The one in the picture is a bulrush and its seed pod is called a cattail. Rushes have round stems.

For more information: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/aquatic_plants/emergent_plants/bulrushes.html

Sedges are related to rushes but have the distinction of having edges to their stems and the column is triangular in profile. The one shown in the picture is a smaller variety