Marsh Ecosystem-Scarlet Smartweed

Scarlet Smartweed

Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Polygonaceae

Genus: Persicaria

Species: P. coccinea

General Characteristics: This native perennial plant is about 2–3' tall and sparingly branched. The central stem is more or less erect (for terrestrial plants), swelling somewhat at the nodes where the leaf-sheaths wrap around the stem. These nodes can be brownish and hairy, but are never bristly at the edges. The alternate leaves are up to 8" long and 3" across, and have short petioles. They are usually lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate. Their margins are smooth, although they may curl up and down or twist about. The surface of the leaves (upper and lower) can be either hairless, or have appressed silvery hairs, depending on the local ecotype. The midvein on the underside of each leaf is quite prominent. There are 1 or 2 terminal racemes of flowers at the apex of the central stem. The flowering stalks are quite hairy and often brownish in appearance. The cylindrical racemes are about 2-3" long and densely crowded with flowers. Each flower is about 1/6" across, consisting of 5 petal-like sepals, 5 stamens, and a divided white stigma. The sepals of these flowers are rosy pink or scarlet, and rather showy. The blooming period can occur from mid-summer to early fall, and lasts about 1-2 months for a colony of plants. There is no noticeable floral scent. The black seeds are oval or orbicular in shape, with a shiny surface that may be slightly granular. The root system produces long rhizomes, which enable this plant to form sizable colonies. Habitats include moist meadows or prairies in areas prone to flooding; marshes, swamps, and borders of ponds and lakes, including areas with shallow water; and ditches along roads and railroads. This is primarily a wetland plant that is found in the sloughs of prairies, sometimes growing beside Iris virginica shrevei (Blue Flag Iris).

Special Adaptations: The flowers attract many kinds of insects, especially flies, wasps, and small bees. Other flower visitors include small butterflies, skippers, and beetles. These insects seek nectar primarily. The caterpillars of the moths Lithacodia synochitis (Black-Dotted Lithacodia) and Lithacodia carneola (Pink-Barred Lithacodia) feed on the foliage, while the caterpillars of the butterfly Strymon melinus (Gray Hairstreak) eats the flowers and buds. The seeds of smartweeds are a popular source of food to many kinds of birds, especially those that inhabit wetlands.

Marsh Ecosystem-Physid Snail

Physid Snail

Order: Basommatophora

Family: Physidae

Genus: Physa

Species: Various species

General Characteristics: The snails from this family have a sinistral shell (left turned) and body (lung opening at the left) and a mantle skirt with two lobes embracing the shell at the left and at the right side of the body. 
These snails lay transparant eggs that are embedded in a firm, gelatinous clutch on plants, stones or other objects.

Special Adaptations: The mantle extension enlarges the body surface; probably to enhance the exchange of O2 and CO2 (sort of a gill function), which enables these pulmonates to stay submerged for longer periods.

Marsh Ecosystem-Wild Bergamot

Wild Bergamot

Order: Lamiales

Family: Lamiaceae

Genus: Monarda

Species: M. fistulosa

General Characteristics: Wild bergamot, known by many other common names, is a popular and showy perennial. Clusters of lavender, pink or white flowers, looking like ragged pompoms, bloom atop 2-5 ft., open-branched stems.

Special Adaptations: This showy perennial, frequently cultivated, has aromatic leaves used to make mint tea. Oil from the leaves was formerly used to treat respiratory ailments. The leaves smell minty.

Marsh Ecosystem-Killdeer

Killdeer

Order: Charadriliformes

Family: Charadriidae

Genus: Charadrius

Species: C. vociferous

General Characteristics: Killdeer have the characteristic large, round head, large eye, and short bill of all plovers. They are especially slender and lanky, with a long, pointed tail and long wings. They are brownish-tan on top and white below. The white chest is barred with two black bands, and the brown face is marked with black and white patches. The bright orange-buff rump is conspicuous in flight. Look for Killdeer on open ground with low vegetation (or no vegetation at all), including lawns, golf courses, driveways, parking lots, and gravel-covered roofs, as well as pastures, fields, sandbars and mudflats. This species is one of the least water-associated of all shorebirds.

Special Adaptations: Killdeer spend their time walking along the ground or running ahead a few steps, stopping to look around, and running on again. When disturbed they break into flight and circle overhead, calling repeatedly. Their flight is rapid, with stiff, intermittent wingbeats.

Marsh Ecosystem-Coon-Tail

Coontail (Rigid Hornwort)

Order: Ceratophyllales

Family: Ceratophyllaceae

Genus: Ceratophyllum

Species: C. demersum

General Characteristics: It is a perennial, submerged aquatic, evergreen plant. Its stems are long and trailing. It lacks true roots, may anchor in sediment by modified leaves. The leaf is whorled, stiff, and forks 1-2 times. The edges are toothed with small spine at tip.

Special Adaptations: It can survive in water to greater than 7' deep.

Marsh Ecosystem-Monarch

Monarch

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Nymphalidae

Genus: Danaus

Species: D. plexippus

General Characteristics: Adult butterflies are orange with black wing veins and bodies. Caterpillars are 2-3/4 inches long fully grown, with a pair of black antennae-like appendages (filaments) at either end of the body (2^nd thoracic segment, 8^th abdominal segment). The body is ringed with black, yellow and white stripes. The chrysalis is smooth and light green or blue with gold markings.

Special Adaptations: Caterpillars have chewing mouthparts. Adults have siphoning mouths. Caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed. Adults feed on nectar from numerous wild flowers. The monarch butterflies are distasteful to birds because of chemicals obtained from caterpillar feeding on milkweed leaves.

Marsh Ecosystem-Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Order: Lepidoptera

Family: Papilionidae

Genus: Papiilo

Species: P. polyxenes

General Characteristics: The black swallowtail is a black butterfly with yellow markings near the margins of the forewings and hindwings and more limited blue and red markings on the hindwings. Its wing span can reach 4 ½ inches. Full grown parselyworms or caterpillars can reach 2 inches in length and are smooth and green, marked with black bands and yellow spots. Caterpillars have chewing mouthparts. Adults have siphoning mouths. Host plants of the caterpillar include members of the parsley family (Umbelliferae) including carrot, parsley, dill, fennel and Queen Anne's lace and some members of the Rutaceae (Ruta graveolens and Thamnosma texana).

Special Adaptations: The black swallowtail mimics the bad tasting pipevine swallowtail, Battus philenor (Linnaeus), which are all metallic black-blue on the upper surface of the wings, lacking the yellow and blue markings. Caterpillars feed on pipevines, Dutchman’s-pipe and Virginia snakeroot.

Marsh Ecosystem-Spitting Spider

Spitting Spider

Order: Aransas

Family: Scytodidae

Genus: Scytodes

Species: Various

General Characteristics: The Spitting Spider is a small brown spider with a flecked pattern of spots. The dome-shaped carapace is unusual in that it slopes upwards towards the rear end, whereas the abdomen slopes downwards. It has six eyes arranged in three pairs. It has long stilt-like legs. Body length: male 4mm, female 6 mm

Special Adaptations: They catch their prey by spitting a fluid onto it that congeals on contact into a venomous sticky mass. They sway from side to side to cover the prey in a "Z" pattern. The spider strikes from a distance of 10-20mm. The attack takes under 1/700th of second!

Lowland Forest-Clinton's Woodfern

Clinton’s Woodfern

Order: Polypodiales

Family: Dryopterdaceae

Genus: Dryopteris

Species: D. clintoniana

General Characteristics: Clinton's Wood Fern is a large, leathery, bluish-green-colored fern with leaflets that ascend up the stem in a ladder-like formation. The lowest pair of leaflets are each shaped as a broad-based triangle. Fronds are up to 20 cm wide, 90 - 135 cm long, and are "lanceolate", meaning they are lance-shaped with a long, tapered apex and a short, tapered base. The fronds are also deeply "bipinnatifid", meaning that the leaflets and subleaflets (also called "pinnules") are both deeply lobed. The lower stem is 2 - 4 mm thick and covered with numerous darkish 1-cm long scales. The fruit dots along the back of the fertile subleaflets occur in pairs of 3 - 7 and are borne near the mid-vein.

Special Adaptations: The Clinton’s Woodfern thrives in wet soil.

Lowland Forest-Prickly Ash

Prickly Ash

Order: Sapindales

Family: Rutaceae

Genus: Xanthoxylum

Species: X. americanum

General Characteristics: Prickly ash is an aromatic, spiny, thicket-forming deciduous shrub or small tree that, as the common name suggests, resembles (particularly in leaf) an ash with prickles. It is not an ash, however, but a member of the citrus family (Rutaceae) and is closely related to the also spiny hardy orange, Poncirus trifoliata. Prickly ash is a Missouri native plant that typically occurs on bluffs, upland rocky hillsides, open woods, moist ravines and thickets in most of the State except for the Ozark region (Steyermark). It is most often seen in the wild as an 8-10' tall multi-stemmed shrub. However, it will grow larger and is occasionally seen as a small tree up to 25' tall. Compound, odd-pinnate, dark green leaves (to 1' long) have 5-11 leaflets each. Stems and leaves have sharp prickles to 1/2" long. Male and female flowers appear on separate trees (dioecious) in axillary clusters (cymes) on old wood. Flowers bloom in spring before the leaves emerge. Flowers are greenish-yellow, fragrant and inconspicuous, but are quite attractive to bees. Female flowers give way to clusters of rounded, reddish-brown, berry-like fruits (follicles) which mature in late summer (1-2 shiny black seeds per follicle). Fruits may be the best ornamental feature. All parts of this plant (leaves, flowers, fruit, bark and roots) are aromatic (lemony fragrance).

Special Charcacteristics: Sometimes commonly called toothache tree because Native Americans chewed the bark or fruits (producing a numbing effect) for relief from toothache pain. Native Americans also prepared a variety of medicinal decoctions from the bark and roots for treatment of such problems and fever, coughs, gonorrhea, rheumatism and external wounds

Lowland Forest-Jack-In-The-Pulpit

Jack-In-The-Pulpit

Order: Alismatales

Family: Araceae

Genus: Arisaema

Species: A. triphyllum

General Characteristics: Jack-in-the-pulpit is a spring woodland wildflower usually growing 1- 2' tall. Flower structure consists of the spadix (Jack) which is an erect spike containing numerous, tiny, green to purple flowers and the sheath-like spathe (pulpit) which encases the lower part of the spadix and then opens to form a hood extending over the top of the spadix. The outside of the spathe is usually green or purple and the inside is usually striped purple and greenish white, though considerable color variations exist. Two large green, compound, long-petioled leaves (1-1.5' long), divided into three leaflets each, emanate upward from a single stalk and provide umbrella-like shade to the flower. The fleshy stalk and leaves lend an almost tropical aura to the plant.

Special Adaptations: Flowering plants initially produce only male flowers, but become hermaphroditic as they further age (male flowers on upper part of spadix and female on lower part). Most plants in a colony will vanish by mid-summer (become dormant), but the mature, hermaphroditic flowering plant will produce a cluster of red berries in mid to late summer which becomes visible as the spathe withers. Roots contain calcium oxalate (same chemical as in Diffenbachia or dumb cane) and are poisonous.

Lowland Forest-White-Tailed Deer

White-Tailed Deer

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus: Odocoileus

Species: O. virginianus

General Characteristics: The white-tailed deer is tan or brown in the summer and grayish brown in winter. It has white on its throat, around its eyes and nose, on its stomach and on the underside of its tail. The male has antlers. Males weigh between 150 and 300 pounds and females weigh between 90 and 200 pounds.

Special Adaptations: Adult deer have few predators except for humans, Mountain Lions and wolves, where they still exist. Coyote predation on fawns can be considerable, accounting for as much as 40% of fawn mortality in some areas.

State fish and game agencies regard deer as a renewable, harvestable resource for viewing and hunting. Sport hunters bag about 2 million White-tailed Deer annually.

Lowland Forest-Royal Fern

Royal Fern

Order: Poylpodiales

Family: Osmundaceae

Genus: Osmunda

Species: O. regalis

General Characteristics: The Royal Fern is typically grown in clumps to 2-3' tall, but with constant moisture can reach 6' in height. Broad fronds have large, well-separated pinnae (leaflets) which give this fern an almost pea-family appearance. Fronds typically turn yellow to brown in autumn. Spores are located in brown, tassel-like, fertile clusters at the tips of the fronds, thus giving rise to the additional common name of flowering fern for this plant. Osmunda fiber used in the potting of orchids comes from the fibrous roots of these ferns.

Special Characteristics: Ferns grow mostly in lightly shaded to full shade areas. They prefer moist, richhumus soil with a slightly acidic pH (5.3 to 5.5 pH range).

Lowland Forest-Leafhopper

Leaf Hopper

Order: Hemiptera

Family: Cicadellidae

Genus: Various

Species: Various

General Characteristics: Although many species are easily recognized by their distinctive shapes and color patterns, many leafhopper groups contain numerous species that closely resemble one another and are difficult to distinguish. In some genera, the most reliable morphological features for distinguishing species are the male genitalia, which usually can only be examined after the abdomen has been cleared. Published insect field guides include, at most, only a few of the most distinctive and colorful leafhopper species. Published keys are available for many leafhopper genera, but these are often based only on the male genitalia and are difficult to use. Because they are one of the most common and abundant groups of herbivorous insects, leafhoppers are an important food source for vertebrate predators such as birds and lizards, as well as invertebrate predators such as spiders, assassin bugs, wasps, and robber flies.

Special Adaptations: Leafhopper individuals usually live for only a few months. However, they are members of a very ancient lineage that has changed little since the time of the dinosaurs. The oldest true leafhopper (Cicadellidae) fossils are known from the lower Cretaceous period (125 million years ago). Modern leafhopper genera are known from the Eocene and leafhoppers from Baltic and Dominican amber (35-55 million years old) are virtually indistinguishable from species that exist in those areas today.

Lowland Forest-Bur Oak

Bur Oak

Order: Fagales

Family: Fagaceae

Genus: Quercus

Species: Q. macrocarpa

General chestnut blight, shoestring root rot, anthracnose, oak leaf blister, cankers, leaf spots and powdery mildew. Potential insect pests include scale, oak skeletonizer, leaf miner, galls, oak lace bugs, borers, caterpillars and nut weevils. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, bur oak is generally considered to be a low-maintenance, long-lived tree.Characteristics: The leaves of Quercus macrocarpa are simple, alternate and lobed. It can be distinguished from the other oaks by the blunt lobes, most leaves with a single pair of deep sinuses, corky ridges on the branches, and the fringe along the margin of the acorns. Quercus macrocarpa ranges from Manitoba to Texas, east through Tennesee and West Virginia to Maine and Quebec (absent from the Atlantic coastal states). It is common and distinctive in southern Wisconsin, and is found to a lesser extent throughout the state, although it is apparently absent in Door County, or nearly so. Habitat is most often drier sites, and it is well known for tolerance to fire, but it is sometimes also found on moist sites.

Special Characteristics: Oaks are susceptible to a large number of diseases, including oak wilt.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Box Elder

Box Elder

Order:Sapindales

Family:Sapindaceae

Genus:Acer

Species:A. negundo

General Characteristics: Leaves are compound with 3-9 leaflets, opposite, and deciduous. Boxelder is the only pinnately compound maple in the U.S. Twigs are green to purplish-green with white fuzzy lateral buds. The leaf scars are V-shaped. The bark is gray-brown and grooved. The fruit is a double samara that matures in fall. Boxelder has the widest range of North American maples and is found on a range of sites, usually near rivers, lakes, and swamps, in the east and central U.S. It is intolerant of shade. The wood is soft and used for crates and pulp. The seeds are eaten by birds and small animals.

Special Adaptations: Many species of birds and squirrels feed on the seeds of boxelder.Mule deer and white-tailed deer use it in the fall as a browse species of secondary importance. This tree may be poisonous to livestock.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Pin Oak

Pin Oak

Order:Fagales

Family:Fagaceae

Genus:Quercus

Species:Q. palustris

General Characteristics: Pin oak is a medium sized deciduous oak of the red oak group that typically grows 50-70’ (less frequently to 100’) tall with a broad pyramidal crown. Upper branches are ascending, middle branches are somewhat horizontal and lower branches are descending. In the wild, the lower branches of this tree are often shaded by other trees, eventually dying and breaking off leaving persistent pin-like stubs, hence the common name. Trunk diameter to 3’. Smooth gray-brown bark usually develops ridging with age. This is a tree of lowlands and bottomlands that is primarily native to the Midwest and mid-Atlantic States. Insignificant monoecious yellowish-green flowers in separate male and female catkins appear in spring as the leaves emerge. Fruits are rounded acorns (to 1/2” long), with shallow, saucer-shaped acorn cups that barely cover the acorn base. Acorns are an important source of food for wildlife. Glossy, dark green leaves (to 5” long) typically have 5 bristle-tipped lobes with deeply cut sinuses extending close to the midrib. Leaves turn deep red in fall.

Special Adaptations: Easily grown in average, medium to wet, acidic soils in full sun. Prefers moist loams. Tolerates poorly drained soils. Tolerates some flooding. May take up to 15-20 years for this tree to bear a first crop of acorns.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-White Pine

White Pine

Order:Pinales

Family:Pinaceae

Genus:Pinus

Species:P.strobus

General Characteristics: Eastern white pine is a rapid-growing, long-lived, needled evergreen tree that is native to the northeastern United States and Canada (State tree of Maine and Michigan). Although pyramidal in its early years, it matures to a broad oval habit with an irregular crown. Typically grows 50-80' in cultivation, but will grow to 100' tall in the wild, with records existing to over 200'. Landscape size and shape can be controlled through pruning, however, to the extent that white pine may be sheared and grown as a hedge. Bluish green needles (to 5" long) are soft to the touch and appear in bundles of five. Cylindrical, brown cones ( 4-8" long) are usually not produced until 5-10 years

Special Adaptations: Prefers full sun, fertile soils and cool, humid climates. It is tolerant of a wide range of soil conditions, and intolerant of many air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and ozone.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Green Darner Dragonfly

Green Darner Dragonfly

Order:Odonata

Family:Aeshbudae

Genus:Anax

Species:A. junius

General Characteristics: Green darners are large, showy dragonflies with silvery iridescent wings. Its' body length of 2 ¼" to 3 ½", bulbous compound eyes, emerald green thorax with a stripe of deep garnet running down the middle of its' blue abdomen, make this dragonfly easy to identify. The adults are strong fliers; pattern of movement is fast in a straight line with double backs of "back and forth." Its' wings move in synchronization. This dragonfly can be seen in early spring through fall. They will rest on vegetation near bodies of water.

Special Adaptations: Adults hunt while airborne over sunny fields and meadows, preying on midges, mosquitoes, Caddisflies and other flying insects. Naiads feed on tadpoles, small fish, and aquatic insects.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Black Cherry

Black Cherry

Order:Rosales

Family:Rosaceae

Genus:Prunus

Species:P. serotina

General Characteristics: Black cherry, wild cherry or wild rum cherry is native to eastern North America, Mexico and Central America. It is one of the largest of the cherries, typically growing to 50-80’ (less frequently to 100’) tall with a narrow-columnar to rounded crown. It is perhaps most noted for its profuse spring bloom, attractive summer foliage and fall color. Fragrant white flowers in slender pendulous clusters (racemes to 6” long) appear with the foliage in spring (late April-May). The flowers are followed by drooping clusters of small red cherries (to 3/8” diameter) that ripen in late summer to dark purple-black. Fruits are bitter and inedible fresh off the tree, but can be used to make jams and jellies. Fruits have also been used to flavor certain liquors such as brandy and whiskey. Fruits are attractive to wildlife. Narrow oblong-ovate to lanceolate, glossy green leaves (to 5” long) have acuminate tips and serrate margins. Foliage turns attractive shades of yellow and rose in fall. Mature trees develop dark scaly bark. Bark, roots and leaves contain concentrations of toxic cyanogenic compounds, hence the noticeable bitter almond aroma of the inner bark.

Special Adaptations: Black cherry fruits are important mast for numerous species of birds and mammals. Numerous songbirds feed on black cherries as they migrate south in the fall. Passerine birds that make considerable use of black cherry fruits include the American robin, brown thrasher, mockingbird, eastern bluebird, European starling, gray catbird, blue jay, willow flycatcher, northern cardinal, common crow, and waxwings, thrushes, woodpeckers, grackles, grosbeaks, sparrows, and vireos.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

Order:Passeriformes

Family:Fringillidae

Genus:Spinus

Species:S. tristis

General Characteristics: A small finch with a short, conical bill and a small, head, long wings, and short, notched tail. Adult males in spring and early summer are bright yellow with black forehead, black wings with white markings, and white patches both above and beneath the tail. Adult females are duller yellow beneath, olive above. Winter birds are drab, unstreaked brown, with blackish wings and two pale wingbars. These are active and acrobatic little finches that cling to weeds and seed socks, and sometimes mill about in large numbers

at feeders or on the ground beneath them. Goldfinches fly with a bouncy, undulating pattern and often call in flight, drawing attention to themselves. The goldfinch’s main natural habitats are weedy fields and floodplains, where plants such as thistles and asters are common. They’re also found in cultivated areas, roadsides, orchards, and backyards. American Goldfinches can be found at feeders any time of year, but most abundantly during winter.

Special Adaptations: American Goldfinches breed later than most North American birds. They wait to nest until June or July when milkweed, thistle, and other plants have produced their fibrous seeds, which goldfinches incorporate into their nests and also feed their young.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting

Order: Passeriformes

Family:Cardinalidae

Genus:Passerina

Species:P. cyanea

General Characteristics: The male has a breeding and non breeding plumage. In the breeding plumage the male is blue all over, deepest on head. Occasionally with some brown on back, wing, breast, or under tail, or whitish on belly. Wing feathers are dark, edged in blue. Upper bill blackish, lower mandible blue-gray.

In the non breeding plumage the male is brown with some blue edges to scattered feathers; some birds may be more blue than brown. It is often whitish on lower belly and under tail. There is some black in front of eyes. The bill is whitish to blue-gray. Gape yellowish. The female is all brown with unstreaked or with indistinct streaks on chest. The female has faint buff wingbars, and may have some blue-tinged feathers on wing, tail, or rump. The upper bill is brown to blackish, lower mandible pale. The song is a musical series of warbling notes, each phrase given in twos. The call is a sharp, thin "spit." The flight call is a high buzz.

Special Adaptations: The Indigo Bunting breeds in brushy and weedy areas along edges of cultivated land, woods, roads, power line rights-of-way, and in open deciduous woods and old fields. It winters in weedy fields, citrus orchards, and weedy cropland. The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

Order: Passeriformes

Family:Cardinalidae

Genus:Cardinalis

Species:C. cardinalis

General Characteristics: The Northern Cardinal is a fairly large, long-tailed songbird with a short, very thick bill and a prominent crest. Cardinals often sit with a hunched-over posture and with the tail pointed straight down. Male cardinals are brilliant red all over, with a reddish bill and black face immediately around the bill. Females are pale brown overall with warm reddish tinges in the wings, tail, and crest. They have the same black face and red-orange bill. Northern Cardinals tend to sit low in shrubs and trees or forage on or near the ground, often in pairs. They are common at bird feeders but may be inconspicuous away from them, at least until you learn their loud, metallic chip note. Look for Northern Cardinals in inhabited areas such as backyards, parks, woodlots, and shrubby forest edges. Northern Cardinals nest in dense tangles of shrubs and vines. The song is a loud string of clear down-slurred or two-parted whistles, often speeding up and ending in a slow trill. The songs typically last 2 to 3 seconds. Syllables can sound like the bird is singing cheer, cheer, cheer or birdie, birdie, birdie. Males in particular may sing throughout the year, though the peak of singing is in spring and early summer.

Special Adaptations: Only a few female North American songbirds sing, but the female Northern Cardinal does, and often while sitting on the nest. This may give the male information about when to bring food to the nest. A mated pair shares song phrases, but the female may sing a longer and slightly more complex song than the male.

Moist Woods Ecosystem-Field Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Order: Passeriformes

Family:Emberizidae

Genus:Spizella

Species:S. pusilla

General Characteristics: The Field Sparrow is 5 1/4" (13 cm). The combination of bright pink bill, rufous cap, white eye ring, and unstreaked buff breast distinguishes this from other sparrows. The Field Sparrow is a common, drab sparrow of brushy pastures and old fields. It has a simple, yet distinctive song of repeated clear whistled notes on one pitch that increase in rate until they make a trill. The song is a series of clear whistled notes, increasing in rate until they become a trill, much in the same pattern as a bouncing ball.

Special Adaptations: The Field Sparrow often feeds directly on fallen seeds. It may fly to the top of grass stalks, let its weight carry the stems to the ground, and then begin removing the seed. The male Field Sparrow starts singing as soon as he gets back in the spring. He sings vigorously until he finds a mate, but after that he sings only occasionally.

Maple-Ash Ecosystem

1. Starry Campion

Order: Caryophyllales

Family: Caryophyllaceae

Genus: Silene

Species: S. stellata

General Characteristics:

Silene is clump-forming perennial. It can grow 2-3' tall. White flowers with 5 fringed petals and bell-shaped calyxes appear in loose terminal spikes in early summer. Lance-shaped leaves (to 3" long) appear in whorls of 4. It is native to U.S.

Special Adaptations:

The caterpillars of Anepia capsularis (Capsule Moth) feed on the seed capsules of many members in the Pink family, although it is unclear if Starry Campion is one of the host species.

It is also unclear to what extent deer feed on the foliage of this species in wooded areas. Generally, the foliage and seeds of Silene spp. (Campions) contain varying amounts of saponins and are somewhat toxic to mammalian herbivores. The faunal-floral relationships of Starry Campion are still poorly understood.

2. Bud Light

Order: Urticales

Family: Cannabaceae

Genus: Anheuser

Species: A.buschea

General Characteristics:
Bud Light is a common species found in Indiana. Identification of this species is confusing for some. Bud Light can be observed in it's tall, glassy phase, or it's shorter blue, metallic phase. Some have even spotted Bud Light in a metallic phase similar to the glassy phase, but this is rare. To properly identify Bud Light one must first feel the temperature of Bud Light's body. If it is warm or at room temperature, leave Bud Light alone. If it feels cold, the observer must immediately open Bud Light and taste it. Do not consume the outer skin. This may be harmful.

Special Adaptations:
Bud Light has a special adaptation. If anyone finds a Bud Light and identifies it by taste, that individual will want to find more Bud Lights. Sometimes even six or seven.

3. White Ash

Order: Lamiales

Family: Oleaceaeaceae

Genus: Fraxinus

Species: F. americana

General Characteristics:

White ash is a large tree that reaches 70' to 80' in height. This tree has been known to reach 125' in rare instances. When grown in the open, white ash has round crowns.

The deciduous leaves are compound and oppositely arranged. These leaves are 8" to 13" in length with 7 to 12 leaflets per leaf. Leaflets measure 2" to 4" long and are usually oval shaped. The tops of the leaves are dark green and shiny where the bottoms of the leaves are pale green with tiny hairs. The fruit is a light-brown samara, about 1" long, and often produced in clumps of 10 to 100 samaras. This light gray-brown bark is characterized by having deep, narrow ridges that form a diamond shaped pattern. White ash grows in rich, moist, well-drained soils. This tree may also be found in bottomlands near streams and often on low-sloped areas.

Special Adaptations:

The white ash is a resident of most hardwoods forests. It is found in areas where soils are rich and well drained. It is also found in residential areas since it is an attractive, hardy, and relatively disease free tree.

4. Hawthorn sp.

Order: Rosales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Crataegus

Species: Crataegus sp.

General Characteristics:

Possible species are Crataegus flabellata or Crataegus chrysocarpa. The leaf is highly variable, but generally alternate, simple, 2 to 4 inches long, serrate and lobed (may be unlobed), subtending long thorns, dark green above and paler below. The flower is monoecious; perfect, usually small white flowers, with 5 petals produced in clusters near the end of the twig, appearing in mid to late spring. The fruit is a pome. The pome is generally 1/4 inch in diameter, yellow to red when mature; maturing in the early fall. The twig is slender, gray in color, with true terminal buds that are usually dark, shiny red and round. Most species have obvious, stiff, 1 inch long thorns; leaf scars contain 3 bundle scars. The bark is smooth and gray-brown when young, later turning darker and scaly. Hawthorns are generally very dense shrubs or small trees up to 25 feet.

Special Adaptations:

Douglas hawthorn is an excellent soil and streambank stabilizer. Hawthorns have medicinal value. Many are used to treat heart disease.

5. American Basswood

Order: Malvales

Family: Tiliaceae

Genus: Tilia

Species: T. americana

General Characteristics:

The leaf is simple, ovate to cordate, 5 to 6 inches long, with serrate margins, pinnately veined, base is unequally cordate, green above and paler below. The flower is monoecious; pale yellow, borne below a long, gracefully curving leafy wing in a branched cluster, several inches long, appearing in early to mid-summer. The fruit is a round, unribbed nutlet (1/4 inch) that is covered with gray-brown hair; occur in a hanging cluster with a curving, leafy bract acting as wing on top of the cluster, ripening in the fall. The twig is moderately stout, zigzag, green (summer) or red (winter); terminal bud is false, each very plump with one side bulging out disproportionately. Buds are edible but very mucilaginous. The bark is at first smooth and gray-green, later turning gray-brown and becoming ridged with long, shallow furrows and flat topped ridges. The bark is very fibrous.

Special Adaptations:

Mature sugar maple-basswood forests are very resistant to burning. Decomposition of potential fuels is rapid, particularly on base-rich mull soils. Dense shade reduces the numbers and cover of shrubs and herbaceous species, and therefore very little fuel exists at ground level. The tree trunks are not very flammable, and the open crowns do not carry fire well.

6. Broad Leaved Waterleaf

Order: Solanales

Family: Hydrophyllaceae

Genus: Hydrophyllum

Species: H. canadense

General Characteristics:

Also called the Bluntleaf Waterleaf. Flowers white to pale violet, delicate, with 5 petals and a series of long, projecting stamens. Flowers arranged in a loose cluster arising on a long flower stem from below a leaf, but not exceeding the leaf in length. Stem smooth. Leaves without separate lobes, maplelike, with sharply projecting lobes. Plant 6 to 20 inches in height.

Special Adaptations:

A study of herb-soil relationships at a site in Georgia suggests that the occurrence and abundance of Hydrophyllum canadense is related in part to soil nutrient and moisture characteristics.Hydrophyllum canadense occurs at relatively high pH levels (up to pH 6.6) with low available soil aluminum and iron concentrations and high soil moisture contents. Relatively high soil nitrogen and calcium levels are correlated with the occurrence of H. canadense. Hydrophyllum canadense and co-occurring species may be limited in their distribution by high requirements for several basic cations, nitrogen, and moisture, and low requirements for iron, aluminum, and molybdenum.

7. Woodland Agrimony

Order: Solanales

Family: Rosaceae

Genus: Agrimonia

Species: A. striata

General Characteristics:

Also known as Roadside Agrimony. The agrimony has is an erect perennial, single stemmed or sometimes branching above. Leaves are alternate, pinnate, with up to 16 leaflets. Leaf highlighted above was 20 cm long (including petiole) and 9 cm wide. End leaflet measured to 6.5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Yellow flowers spikes appear in mid July. Flowers measured at 9 mm in diameter, flower spikes measured 6 cm long. Stems and bottom of leaves pubescent with long hairs, top of leaves covered in short hairs.

Special Adaptations:

The agrimony also possesses an astringent. It is frequently used in alternative medicine as an herbal mouthwash and gargle ingredient, and is applied externally in the form of a lotion to minor sores and ulcers. agrimony has also been recommended, as a strong decoction, to cure sores, blemishes, and pimples.