Mesic Sand Prairie Plant List

Graminoids

  • big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
  • blue-joint (Calamagrostis canadensis)
  • Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
  • poverty grass (Danthonia spicata)
  • rushes (Juncus canadensis and J. tenuis)
  • little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
  • Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
  • prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

Forbs

  • colic root (Aletris farinosa)
  • thimbleweed (Anemone cylindrica)
  • spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium)
  • tall green milkweed (Asclepias hirtella)
  • butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
  • white false indigo (Baptisia lactea)
  • wild indigo (Baptisia tinctoria)
  • Indian paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)
  • bastard-toadflax (Comandra umbellata)
  • tall coreopsis (Coreopsis tripteris)
  • common rockrose (Crocanthemum canadense)
  • showy tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense)
  • flat-topped white aster (Doellingeria umbellata)
  • rattlesnake-master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
  • flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
  • northern bedstraw (Galium boreale)
  • bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
  • tall sunflower (Helianthus giganteus)
  • alum root (Heuchera americana)
  • false dandelions (Krigia biflora and K. virginica)
  • round-headed bush-clover (Lespedeza capitata)
  • blazing-stars (Liatris aspera, L. scariosa, and L. spicata)
  • pale spiked lobelia (Lobelia spicata)
  • wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)
  • wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
  • balsam ragwort (Packera paupercula)
  • prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa)
  • field milkwort (Polygala sanguinea)
  • old-field cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)
  • common mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)
  • black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
  • stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida)
  • smooth aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
  • prairie heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)
  • Missouri ironweed (Vernonia missurica)
  • arrow-leaved violet (Viola sagittata)

Fern Allies

  • smooth scouring rush (Equisetum laevigatum)

Shrubs

  • American hazelnut (Corylus americana)
  • winged sumac (Rhus copallina)
  • pasture rose (Rosa carolina)
  • northern dewberry (Rubus flagellaris)
  • prairie willow (Salix humilis)
  • meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)

Citation

Cohen, J.G., M.A. Kost, B.S. Slaughter, D.A. Albert, J.M. Lincoln, A.P. Kortenhoven, C.M. Wilton, H.D. Enander, and K.M. Korroch. 2020. Michigan Natural Community Classification [web application]. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University Extension, Lansing, Michigan. Available https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/communities/classification. (Accessed: April 20, 2024).