Transcript Grassland Plants - cooklowery14-15

Grassland Plants
By: Audrey
This is the Blazing Star. It has purple spikes, it usually
grows to five feet in height. The Blazing Star resembles
something like the Thistle and grows well in full sun.
https://www.directgardening.com/493-bulbs/6213-blazing-starsliatris#/quantity-40
This flower is the Shooting Star. The petals on the
Shooting Star grow backwards and up, away from
center of the flower.
http://www.blm.gov/or/resources/recreation/tablerock/table-rockplants-chaparral.php
Another plant is the Spiderwort. These flowers only
remain open for a day, blooming in the morning and
closing at night.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spiderwort_%28Tradescantia_v
irginiana%29,_Roundhay_Park.jpg
One of the plants on the grassland prairies is the
Rattlesnake Master. The Rattlesnake Master is part of
the yucca family.
http://www.prairiehaven.com/?p=3684
Another plant is Culver’s Root. Culver’s Root is usually
five feet tall and has no branches until you get to where
the flowers are.
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/page/glossary
One plant is the New England Aster. It’s color can range
from lavender to blue and white.
http://www.microscopyuk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopyuk.org.uk/mag/artdec03/bjaster.html
This is the Compass Plant. These plants can grown
to be eight feet tall!
http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/compassx.htm
One plant that I found is the Wild Bergamot. It’s
leaves are commonly used to make mint tea, also
the oil from the leaves can be used to treat
respiratory ailments.
https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/wild-bergamot
This plant is the Stiff Goldenrod. This plant
attracts bees and butterflies.
http://grownative.org/native-plant-info/seedling-identification/stiffgoldenrod/
This is Mountain Mint. It attracts bees, butterflies,
wasps, and moths!
http://www.abnativeplants.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail
/plant_id/72/index.htm
Adaptations
The growing point of most prairie plants is
underground so if there is a fire and it gets
destroyed it can re-grow.
Many prairie plants have roots that grow very
far into the ground to absorb more moisture
in case of a drought.
Brightly colored flowers attract pollinators
such as bees.
Adaptations
Native Prairie plants grow in clumps.
Abotic factors such as soil, sunlight,
and climate
Soil
When a fire breaks out in the prairie the
ashes from other dead plants get returned to
the soil and returning nutrients that the other
plants need. There are 3 main types of soil in
the grassland prairies there is the wet soil, the
mesic soil, and the dry soil. Many plants that
live in the wet soil need the most water, then
the plants in the mesic soil, and finally the
plants in the dry soil need the least amount of
water. The grassland prairies are very fertile
and that’s why so many plants live there.
Sunlight
When fire erupts in the prairie and the tall
grasses die, it gives the sun to hit the black soil
and start growing more grass. There is so
much grass that the sun doesn’t get to hit the
soil very often.
Climate
In the winter the average temperature is
11-15 degrees Fahrenheit. In winter some of
the many grasses in the prairie act like a frog
in the winter, in it’s “body” a form of sugar is
increased in the winter and keeps it warm and
it doesn’t freeze.
Sources
Climate: http://wildmontana.org/blog/winter-arrives-to-montanas-prairiewildlands
Sunlight: http://www.tallgrass.org/plants/
Soil: http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/prairie.htm