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Minnesota Plant PressThe Minnesota Native Plant Society Newsletter

Volume 23 Number 1 Fall 2003

Monthly meetingsMinnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

Visitor Center, 3815 East 80th St.Bloomington, MN 55425-1600

952-854-5900

6:30 p.m. — Building east door opens6:30 p.m. — Refreshments,

information, Room A7 – 9 p.m — Program, society business7:30 p.m. — Building door is locked9:30 p.m. — Building closes

ProgramsThe MNPS meets the first Thursday in

October, November, December, February,March, April, May and June. Check theWeb site for more program information.

Nov. 6: “Old Growth Trees, a SeedSource for Reforestation andPropagation,” by Lee Frelich, Universityof Minnesota Department of ForestResources; Seed Exchange.

Dec. 4: “Minnesota Wild Rice,” itsbiology, traditional harvest and culturalsignificance, by Darren Vogt. He is withthe 1854 Authority, which is in charge ofwild rice management in the 1854 CededTerritory, the Arrowhead region ofMinnesota. Plant of the Month: to beannounced.

Feb. 5: “Native Plants of Papua, NewGuinea,” by George Weiblen, Departmentof Plant Biology, University of Minnesota.

MNPS Web sitehttp://www.stolaf.edu/depts/biology/mnpse-mail: MNPS@HotPOP.com

MNPS ListserveSend a message that includes the word

“subscribe” or “unsubscribe” and yourname in the body of the message to:mn-natpl-request@stolaf.edu

Projects are restoringwetlands and prairies

Prairie and wetland restoration projects are underway in manyMinnesota locations, but we hear mainly of losses of natural areas.From time to time news of some of the new or successful projectswill be included in the Minnesota Plant Press. Is there a project inyour area that would interest MNPS members? If there is, contactGerry Drewry, editor, at 651-463-8006, or gdrewry@infionline.netOlmsted Countyby Joel Dunnette

If you wonder if you can make a difference, I have an example foryou. Six years ago, with aid of a DNR Conservation Partners grant,we developed a “local origin” seed production nursery in ChesterWoods Park in Olmsted County. It took many hours of effort, manycollaborators and volunteers to establish. Now the nursery is matureand producing seed for harvest. The parks department has built theirown harvester for seeds of grasses and major forbs. To providediversity, we still need to hand-harvest many species of forbs. So wehave volunteers and parks staff hand-collecting seed each summerand fall.

We had already begun developing a prairie management programwith Olmsted County Parks — including prescribed burning and brushcutting. The seed production fits well into this program. To date,Parks has planted more than 30 acres to prairie, adding to the about100 natural acres. Production is going so well that the county isstarting to use the seed for converting lawn areas to prairie aroundthe administration buildings.

We planted a seed of an idea and nurtured it for several years. Nowit is growing on its own and bearing fruit.

Dakota Countyby Karen Schik

A 50-acre wet meadow and wet prairie restoration will be takingplace this fall at the Empire Wastewater Treatment Plant north ofFarmington. With a grant from Metropolitan Council, Friends of theMississippi River and Applied Ecological Services are working onrestoring an existing agricultural field to its pre-settlement condition.Located in Empire Township near the Vermillion River, this project

Continued on page 3

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Plant Loreby Thor Kommedahl

What is Culver’s-root?Culver’s-root, or Culver’s-physic, isVeronicastrum virginicum, in thesnapdragon family.

How did it get it’s name?It was once named Veronicavirginica, but the genus name waschanged to Veronicastrum; the suffix-astrum means false, so this is a“false veronica.” It was named forSt. Veronica who was reputed to havewiped the sweat off of Christ’s face.The roots contain a powerful laxativeand emetic substance, hence thename. Culver or Culvert was said tohave used it in his medical practicein Massachusetts.

What does the plant look like?It is a native perennial, about two tofive feet tall, with leaves in whorlsof three to seven around the stemleading to terminal spike-likepanicles of tiny, usually white, tube-like flowers that bloom from June toSeptember.

Where does it grow?Culver’s-root grows in almost allcounties in the state in moistmeadows, thickets, and woods.

Does it have any medicinal uses?Early colonists learned its uses fromIndians. The Seneca Indians, forexample, used the root as a purgative.Dried roots are used. Fresh roots areviolently laxative. Cotton Mather’sdaughter in 1716 had tuberculosis,and Mather specially requestedCulver’s-root as a treatment (notappropriate for a lung ailment). She

died soon after.

will improve water quality andreduce runoff to the river whileproviding wildlife habitat andconnectivity to other natural areas.

Wet meadows are one of thewetland types most likely to beimpacted by development projectsand least likely to be restored bymitigation projects. Wetlandmitigation projects typically createdeeper emergent marsh wetlands.Wet meadows have becomeincreasingly rare across the state, soit will be a treat to see a sizable onerestored. This project also providesa link in an important greenwaycorridor across Rosemount thatconnects the Vermillion River withthe Mississippi River. Eventually, theMet Council hopes to make this siteavailable to the public for birding andwildlife viewing.

A 30-acre wet meadow and wetprairie restoration is also underwaythis fall at Lock and Dam No. 2, inHastings. Friends of the MississippiRiver is working with the City ofHastings to establish nativevegetation at a former industrial sitethat used to be occupied by numerouspetroleum tanks. The tanks wereremoved in 1995, most of theproperty was donated to the city, andit is now known as Hastings RiverFlats Park. The city has been workingto improve the property and restoreits natural features for publicenjoyment and education. Aninterpretive center and other facilitiesare part of a long-term site plan.

RestorationsContinued from page 1

Symposium tobe March 27

The 2004 Native Plant SocietySymposium has been scheduled forSaturday, March 27, at the BunkerHills Activity Center in Coon Rapids.The topic will be savanna andwoodland ecology — the dominanthistoric plant communities of themetropolitan area.

We will explore details about thesecommunities, their geologic origins,current threats, research andrestoration efforts, and much more.The Bunker Hills building issurrounded by recent native prairieand savanna restorations that mayprovide an opportunity forexploration. Watch the newsletterand Web site for more information.

Members of the symposiumcommittee are Karen Schik, chair ,Shirley Mah Kooyman, and JasonHusveth.

Fall Plant Sale?Various means of raising money

were discussed at the Sept. 4 MNPSBoard meeting, as a $1,000 deficit isprojected for 2003/04 if currentproject funding levels are sustained.

One suggestion was to have a plantsale in September. This sale wouldnot be as extensive as the spring sale.Plants that are left over could betaken home by the grower, or theywould be donated to a public parkrestoration project. Before MNPSattempts a fall plant sale we wouldlike to hear from the members.

1. Would you be interested inpurchasing native plants in the fall?

2. Would you be likely to have anynative plants to donate to such a saleif it were held in September?

Please contact Dianne PlunkettLatham with your response. Call herat 952-941-3542, send an e-mail toPlunkettDi@mn.rr.com or write:Dianne Plunkett Latham, 7013Comanche Ct., Edina MN 55439.

Seed exchange is Nov. 6The annual exchange of native plantseeds will be held Nov. 6. Seedsshould be in individual envelopesand labeled with the common andscientific names, place of collection,original location of the seed source,if known, and type of habitat. DaveCrawford is chair of the exchange.

Equal ProtectionThe MNPS board has endorsed a

California NPS campaign for equalprotection of plant species under thefederal Endangered Species Act. TheESA protects listed animalsanywhere they live, but mostendangered plant species areprotected only on land under federaljurisdiction. The campaign’s goal isto raise public awareness of thisdiscrepancy in federal law.

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Minnesota Native Plant SocietyUniversity of Minnesota250 Biological Sciences Center1445 Gortner Ave.St. Paul, MN 55108

Fall 2003 Issue