The distance from the Lake Michigan shore at the Wisconsin-Illinois border to the Union Pacific railway tracks is roughly one mile. In that mile lies 10,000 years of the Earth’s history, from the last glacier’s retreat to today’s ridges and swales—and you can walk it in less than half an hour. The railway tracks, dug…
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This Memorial Day, the Northeast Chapter joined a group of volunteers that have gone on a plant walk at Illinois Beach State Park for the past 35 Memorial Days. It’s a fantastic tour of a fantastic natural area every year. This year we had over 60 people attend. That’s not a typo—over 60 people! Due…
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Northeast Chapter members who joined site steward, John Balaban, and North Branch Restoration Project volunteer, Katie Miller, at Harms Woods Forest Preserve on June 8 were rewarded by a generous abundance of sedges. Thirty-one Carex species were identified during the outing, including one state-endangered and one state-threatened species (not listed here). The woodland wildflowers also did…
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Botany enthusiasts from throughout the Chicagoland region converged in Oglesby, Illinois last month at the 2019 INPS Annual Gathering. The highlights of Friday evening’s mixer, in addition to reconnecting with old friends from throughout the state, were the research updates provided by several 2018 research grant award winners and the keynote presentation on the Dixon…
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The Chicago Botanic Garden contacted me again this spring about collecting seed for their SOS [Seeds of Success] seed-banking program. I had done so some 5 years ago. One of my first collections was Oxalis violacea, a fairly common plant in our woodlands and barrens communities. When the sun shines, it is very showy with…
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Registration is open for the 2019 Annual Gathering June 21–23, 2019 An Examination of the Plants and Ecosystems of the Hennepin Bend Area Join us for the 2019 INPS Annual Gathering, June 21-23, 2019. You can find details and register HERE.
Quality items are sought for the Silent Auction at the Annual Gathering! Items (books, art work, alcohol, etc.) should be of reasonable condition and value. Services such as help with herbicide treatments, or other restoration work, botanical surveys, etc. can be offered but details need to be clearly described with no guarantees of work by the…
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The Illinois Native Plant Society is pleased to announce four awards from the 2019 Research Grant Program. Awards are made after a successful review of the projects by a panel of scientists and conservation professionals. All four awardees are graduate students at their institutions. The Research Grant Program was developed to support the study of…
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Reports from the eight 2018 research grant awardees have been received and each awardee has submitted newsletter-type articles describing their project results. These articles will appear in The Harbinger, or in newsletters of INPS Chapters or other conservation organizations and will be linked to this website. In-depth research articles based on these projects are also…
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Crunchy brown leaves, drab gray skies, and a lot of snow didn’t stop Illinois plant enthusiasts from botanizing this past winter. The Illinois Native Plant Society has run the Illinois Botanists Big Year competition each year since 2016, using the iNaturalist.org platform. Anyone may participate, from professional botanists to plant identification novices, by uploading photographic…
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