Journal archives for June 2019

June 2, 2019

Key to Non-native Taraxacum sections in British Columbia

From Björk, C. R. 2019. Overlooked diversity in exotic Taraxacum in British Columbia, Canada. Botany. Vol. 97, No. 6: pp. 329-346. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2018-0094

Exotic Taraxacum in British Columbia
1a. Plants usually growing in wild vegetation at high elevations or latitudes; bracts sometimes strongly corniculate, the outer ones mostly erect to appressed, sometimes recurved or spreading; leaves mostly either weakly lobed or with simple lobes ................ Native groups, not treated here

1b. Plants mostly in disturbed vegetation, mostly at low to middle elevations and latitudes; bracts not corniculate or with small, inconspicuous horns, the outer ones mostly spreading, recurved, or reflexed; leaves mostly deeply lobed, the lobes in most cases longer than wide and often again lobed ................ 2 (Exotic sections)

2a. Outer bracts erect and appressed, blackish green, ovate, and with blunt apices; plants usually in wet sites; not documented from British Columbia, but to be sought ................ Section Palustria

2b. Outer bracts spreading to recurved, or if appressed, then apices acute to acuminate; habitat various, but usually not in wet sites ................ 3

3a. Inner and (or) outer bracts minutely corniculate; outer bracts mostly <10 mm long, mostly thin and pale,usually pinkish ........ 4

3b. Inner and outer bracts not at all corniculate (though sometimes with 1–2 minute ridges at apex; outer bracts various, but often >10 mm long and usually opaque or dark and without pink tones ........ 5

4a. Cypsela cone slender, scarcely tapered, usually >0.7 mm, cypsela body often red-brown or purplebrown ........ Section Erythrosperma

4b. Cypsela cone stout and upwardly tapered, usually <0.7 mm, cypsela body pink-brown........ Taraxacum
fulvicarpum group

5a. Involucre often distinctly glaucous (alive), blackish green and glossy (dried); outer bracts ovate, lanceolate, or sometimes oblong-lanceolate ........ 6

5b. Involucre rarely glaucous, not appearing blackish or varnished in the pressed state; outer bracts mostly oblong or lance-oblong ........ 8

6a. Leaves mostly olive green, lateral lobes usually 4 per side and hamate; outer bracts comparatively abruptly tapered; pollen present; mostly robust plants ........ Section Hamata

6b. Leaves mostly dark bluish green, lateral lobes usually <4 per side and mostly not hamate; pollen often absent; plants generally small and delicate ........ 7

7a. Leaves not spotted (except often at the internodes, or spotted due only to injury); pollen often lacking; locally common ........ Section Celtica

7b. Leaves purple spotted, the adaxial spots corresponding to abaxial ones; pollen present (ours); rarely encountered ........ Section Naevosa

8a. Outer bracts mostly >10 mm long; leaves mostly crisped and (or) rugose, summer leaves almost always complexly lobed; pollen rarely absent ........ Section Taraxacum

8b. Outer bracts mostly <10 mm long; leaves often not crisped and mostly not rugose; summer leaves mostly weakly lobed or merely dentate; pollen often absent........ 9

9a. Petioles with no wings or wings narrow; summer leaves usually oblanceolate or obovate in outline; capitula usually comparatively small; ligules deep yellow, the outer ones with dark abaxial stripes ........ Section Borea

9b. Petioles with broad green wings to base or nearly so; summer leaves often oblong; capitula usually comparatively large; ligules often comparatively pale, the outer ones often with pale abaxial stripes ........ Section Boreigena

Posted on June 2, 2019 04:27 PM by bouteloua bouteloua | 1 comment | Leave a comment

June 8, 2019

New mascot for the ILBBY

We've got a new mascot for the Illinois Botanists Big Year.

Thanks to Kathleen Marie Garness (@kathleen88) for the use of her illustration of Carex buxbaumii, and to Vanessa Voelker (@vvoelker) for the reference photo from which it was drawn!

Why Carex buxbaumii? IDK, I like it. It's usually found in really nice areas. And its one of the prettiest and most easily identifiable sedges. :)

Posted on June 8, 2019 04:56 AM by bouteloua bouteloua | 1 comment | Leave a comment

June 29, 2019

Sedgeheaven: June Update of the Illinois Botanists Big Year

Stats

It's June 29th, it's summer, it's sedges-are-identifiable season, and the ILBBY 2019's got:


1,485 observers (+495 since last month's update)
20,567 research grade observations of plants (+7,191)
1,140 species (+310)
727 identifiers (+209)

New to following the ILBBY project are @alefringhouse24, @irenejhf, @jhoekstra, @rozhelfand, and @stocksdale. Welcome!

New to observing plants in Illinois on iNaturalist are @alex1093 @anafae @awesomeeagle @brett02 @carrie206 @charitycat @chase1789_xd @chazmw @christianelliott1 @christianpuka @cole65 @dka723 @g10078 @gracecomerford @jayeeinin @jindra @johnlseale @katmuth @kilbourngreenhouse @magnetgrrl @maritzav1 @mcvozenilek @michelle894 @neonicarus @nicole646 @nlee @nrthwoods @redadmiral98 @reedgarnett @scotthorlock @sdelisi @spiderwort91 @yet2019 and @zebulen27, among many others! If you want to stay apprised of Illinois Botanists Big Year updates, you can join the project here.

Since last month's update, seven more botanizers have observed over 100 species of plants in Illinois this year: @andrewstpaul @elfaulkner @grantfessler @jackassgardener @kennedy9094 @ssinn and @whimbrelbirder. Whoo! Just shy of 100 are @d_coulter @psweet @prairiehobbit and @stocksdale. Next time y'all'll all be over the 100 mark I'm sure! :)

On the leaderboard for most research grade species of plants in Illinois in 2019 are:

  1. @wildlandblogger — 564
  2. @dziomber — 457
  3. @sanguinaria33 — 354
  4. @sedge — 349
  5. @johnhboldt — 341
  6. @kkucera — 327
  7. @skrentnyjeff — 316
  8. @bouteloua — 296
  9. @elfaulkner — 223
  10. @missgreen — 221

The most observose species in June 2019 so far have been common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), Ohio spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis / seriously who calls this bluejacket??), yarrow (Achillea millefolium), red clover (Trifolium pratense), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis), crown vetch (Securigera varia), and white wild indigo (Baptisia alba).

On Our Hitlist

As a community we still have somehow not observed these plants yet in 2019. Anyone up for a focused scavenger hunt?

  • fringed heartwort (Ricciocarpos natans)
  • gingko (Gingko biloba) — which occasionally escapes cultivation
  • Canada yew (Taxus canadensis) — some say these are here on iNat but just need to be confirmed
  • juniper haircap moss (Polytrichum juniperinum)
  • grasspink orchids (Calopogon tuberosus) - @sanguinaria33 catch up!
  • colicroot (Aletris farinosa)
  • American sweetflag (Acorus americanus)
  • yellow foxtail (Setaria pumila)
  • barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crus-galli)
  • yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus)
  • rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides)
  • quackgrass (Elymus repens)
  • sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) — easy vegetative ID!
  • tall boneset (Eupatorium altissimum)
  • grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia graminifolia)
  • early, elm, bluestem goldenrods (Solidago juncea, S. ulmifolia, S. caesia)
  • smooth blue aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
  • partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
  • velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti) — this is definitely in someone's garden
  • common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum)
  • American lotus (Nelumbo lutea)
  • spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata)

Plant Pic Picks

Don't forget to favorite observations to highlight good photos or cool finds!

Violet wood sorrel (Oxalis violacea) pretty in purple; its starburst-flavored leaves hidden below by @sanguinaria33 in DuPage County:

Glowy budding quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) by @tararat in McLean County:

Dewy white wild indigo (Baptisia alba) by @skrentnyjeff in Cook County:

Small white lady's slippers (Cypripedium candidum) by @andrewhipp in DuPage County:

Help Identify

As always, please help your fellow botanists, when yr able, to identify/confirm their observations. There are almost 24,000 observations in 2019 that qualify for the project, but haven't been IDed or confirmed yet. Try sorting by "new users" or "random" to mix it up!

New to Illinois on iNat

And keep an eye on these links below for any new documentations in 2019. I commented on a few new ones that folks like @andrewhipp @dziomber @elfaulkner @illinois_joy @johnhboldt @johnlseale @kkucera @lucydugan @owenkathriner @prairiehobbit @sanguinaria33 @sedge @ty-sharrow and @wildlandblogger have found since our last update. Great work!
Posted on June 29, 2019 05:00 PM by bouteloua bouteloua | 1 comment | Leave a comment