Fall Prairie Inspiration
Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) stretch up to the sky.
Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata) seedheads along with others punctuate the season.
I have been unable to see our prairie up close until recently and although the flowers are finished the plants are strikingly beautiful. Prairie plants with colorful, showy flowers are forbs. The grass-like plants include grasses, sedges, and rushes and are known as grasses. They have smaller flowers. The forms, seed heads, and colors of all these plants create wonderful compositions.
In the fall some prairie plants are easier to identify than in the summer when thousands of flowers and millions of leaves fill the landscape. A few different identification keys become important. One is leaf color, and another is the seedhead of the spent flower. Sometimes the seeds burst, losing their distinctive shapes; other times they stay whole longer.
At this time of year, big blue stem (Andropogon gerardii) stands above most other plants, and the iconic ‘turkeyfoot’ appearance of its seed stalk says there is a prairie here. The leaves turn bronze. Fall and winter birds use the plant for a lookout. The shorter little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) with red to purplish bronze leaves now is more visible as it does not have to compete with busy forbs. Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans) also rises above the forbs with its burnt orange or reddish leaves. Its seed heads are open and airy and look fuzzy as the seeds disperse.
Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), also known as gray-headed coneflower, continues to be easily identified, but now without the flower. It reminds me of the Coneheads from Saturday Night Live, particularly Jane Curtin in costume. I see purple coneflower with its much larger cone and its trace of orange color from the summer.
But even if the names of the plants do not spring to mind, their fall beauty reminds us that the prairie belongs here and is the year-long home to native wildlife.
Two late season blooming forbs, goldenrod (Solidago sp.) and New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) add yellow and purple to the view.