Every five years, the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board’s (IESPB) Illinois Endangered Species Technical Advisory Committee (ESTAC) meets to discuss potential changes to the status of Illinois plants and makes recommendations for state listing, delisting, or status changes.
We had a fantastic year at the Horn Prairie with abundant rainfall all summer long. The entire 40 acre site was burned in March of 2019, and the prairie ALWAYS blooms better after a good burn. We hosted two prairie tours for INPS this past season with great turn out both times. We were very…
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Students, citizen scientists, conservation groups and institutions are alerted to consider applying for a grant ranging from $500-$1500 to fund one-year projects. The grant is for research-focused studies on Illinois native plants such as life history, reproductive biology, demography, genetics, comparative site inventories, community ecology, as well as research on threats to native plants and…
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June 26-28, 2020 Each year the members of the Illinois Native Plant Society come together for several days of exploring natural areas and learning about the native plants of the region, with food, fun, and fellowship. This year the Annual Gathering will be hosted by the Grand Prairie Chapter. Details to follow!
Southern Chapter 2019 Holiday Dinner and Award Ceremony Save the date, Dec. 7, and join the Southern Chapter of the INPS for our 2019 Holiday Dinner and Awards Ceremony. All proceeds from the dinner will benefit our conservation fund, which will be dedicated towards conservation projects in southern Illinois. Click Here for more information
Better start out with a definition of ‘weeds’ first. That means something quite different, whether you are an industrial farmer or a lawn obsessed suburbanite. Even polling our readers might yield wildly different definitions! One of my few favorite Facebook pages is ‘Illinois Botany’. Some visitors to the site barely know the difference between dandelions…
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After a hiatus of several years I have again be collecting seeds for the Chicago Botanical Gardens SOS Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. They issued a priority list but were looking for other species as well. Apparently, there have been few collectors for the Southern Illinois Tillplain Region. Not all species are easy to collect, for…
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The Illinois Native Plant Society Research Fund was developed to promote the conservation of Illinois native plants and communities through scientific research. llinois is nicknamed “The Prairie State,” but many woodland species also make their home here, visible in our forest preserves and other natural areas. One of these species is starflower (Lysimachia borealis), an…
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What ecological potential can a former steel processing site hold? The answer is being explored at Big Marsh Park in the Calumet Region on Chicago’s Far Southeast Side. Dr. Lauren Umek, an ecologist and project manager with the Chicago Park District, gave an overview of the site’s history and possible future during the INPS Northeast…
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Sixteen participants had the great privilege of visiting Montrose Beach Dunes on July 16 under the guidance of its longtime and very knowledgeable site steward. Montrose Beach Dunes development began in the early 1990s when Lake Michigan’s water level dropped to a historic low, creating a much wider beach soon colonized by plants such as…
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