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Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants

Updated 12/06/2007

Picture of Front Cover of: Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants

About the Guide:

The goal of this guide is to help identify native plants at various stages of growth.  Color photos illustrate seed, seedling, juvenile, and flowering stages, in addition to a distinguishing characteristic. Brief text provides additional identification help.  Images of the seedling stage depict the appearance of a single cotyledon (first leaf) in grasses and a pair of cotyledons in broadleaved plants, followed by photos of the first true leaves within three weeks of growth in a controlled environment.  Images of the juvenile stage portray the continued development of a seedling with more fully formed leaves within the first eight weeks of shoot development.  Images of the distinguishing characteristics show a specific biological feature representative of the plant.  Please note that seed images do not represent the actual size of the seed. The scale is in 1/16-inch increments.
 

Download the Guide
You may need a free copy of Acrobat Reader to view this file:

Elsberry Plant Materials Center and Missouri Department of Conservation.  Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants.  USDA-NRCS Elsberry Plant Materials Center, Elsberry, MO.  October 2005.  91 p. (2.4 MB)  Photography by Don Kurtz

Printing Instructions:

To conserve paper and have it easier to read, print 4 to a page at a zoom of 136%.  Your printer setups may vary.  Below is a sample.

  1. Within Internet Explorer, click the Printer icon within Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is nested inside Internet Explorer.
  2. <select your printer>, Properties, Layout
    • Orientation = Landscape
    • Pages Per Sheet = 4
    • Advanced, Graphic, Scaling = 136%
  3. OK, OK to close out of dialog boxes.
  4. Page Handling, Page Scaling = Fit to Paper
  5. OK to print and close out of dialog box.

Species List

(Click here to go to web pages on MO Dept. of Conservation Web Site)

Big Bluestem – Andropogon gerardii
Black-Eyed Susan – Rudbeckia hirta
Blue Lobelia – Lobelia siphilitica
Butterfly Milkweed – Asclepias tuberosa
Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis
Compass Plant – Silphium laciniatum
Culver’s Root – Veronicastrum virginicum
Flowering Spurge – Euphorbia corollata
Foxglove Beard Tongue – Penstemon digitalis
Golden Alexanders – Zizia aurea
Gray-headed Coneflower – Ratibida pinnata
Illinois Bundleflower – Desmanthus illinoensis
Leadplant – Amorpha canescens
Little Bluestem – Schizachyrium scoparium
New England Aster – Aster novae-angliae
Obedient Plant – Physostegia virginiana
Ohio Spiderwort – Tradescantia ohiensis
Oxeye False Sunflower – Heliopsis helianthoides
Pale Purple Coneflower – Echinacea pallida
Partridge Pea – Chamaecrista fasciculata
Pitcher Sage – Salvia azurea		 Prairie Blazing Star – Liatris pycnostachya
Prairie Coreopsis – Coreopsis palmata
Purple Coneflower – Echinacea purpurea
Purple Prairie Clover – Dalea purpurea
Rattlesnake Master – Eryngium yuccifolium
Rough Blazing Star – Liatris aspera
Rough Dropseed – Sporobolus compositus
     (asper)
Round-headed Bushclover – Lespedeza capitata
Royal Catchfly – Silene regia
Sensitive Briar – Mimosa quadrivalvis var. nuttallii
Showy Goldenrod – Solidago speciosa
Showy Tick Trefoil – Desmodium canadense
Sideoats Grama – Bouteloua curtipendula
Slender Lespedeza – Lespedeza virginica
Slender Mountain Mint – Pycnanthemum
     tenuifolium
Stiff Goldenrod – Solidago rigida
Virginia Wildrye – Elymus virginicus
White Prairie Clover – Dalea candida
Wild Bergamot – Monarda fistulosa

Seeds Per Pound

Common Name

Seeds/Lb

Common Name

Seeds/Lb
Big Bluestem
Black-eyed Susan 
Blue Lobelia
Butterfly Milkweed
Cardinal Flower
Compass Plant
Culver’s Root
Flowering Spurge
Foxglove Beard Tongue
Golden Alexanders
Gray-headed Coneflower 
Illinois Bundleflower
Leadplant
Little Bluestem
New England Aster
Obedient Plant
Ohio Spiderwort
Oxeye False Sunflower
Pale Purple Coneflower
Partridge Pea 		130,000
1,500,000
7,320,000
7,000
4,800,000
10,600
12,000,000
160,000
2,000,000
176,000
625,000
60,000
123,000
225,000
1,300,000
240,000
128,000
103,900
106,000
50,000 		Pitcher Sage
Prairie Blazing Star
Prairie Coreopsis
Purple Coneflower
Purple Prairie Clover
Rattlesnake Master
Rough Blazing Star
Rough Dropseed
Round-headed Bushclover
Royal Catchfly
Sensitive Briar
Showy Goldenrod
Showy Tick Trefoil
Sideoats Grama
Slender Lespedeza
Slender Mountain Mint
Stiff Goldenrod
Virginia Wildrye
White Prairie Clover
Wild Bergamot 		149,000
136,000
200,000
115,000
275,000
177,770
191,000
1,500,000
159,000
368,000
38,400
1,675,200
88,000
190,000
160,000
6,048,000
656,000
75,000
292,992
1,200,000

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