Dry Sand Prairie Plant List

Graminoids

  • big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
  • fork-tipped three-awned grass (Aristida basiramea)
  • three-awned grass (Aristida purpurascens)
  • wavy hair grass (Avenella flexuosa)
  • Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
  • slender sand sedge (Cyperus lupulinus)
  • poverty grass (Danthonia spicata)
  • Scribner’s panic grass (Dichanthelium oligosanthes)
  • fall witch grass (Digitaria cognata)
  • purple love grass (Eragrostis spectabilis)
  • rough fescue (Festuca altaica)
  • June grass (Koeleria macrantha)
  • rice grass (Piptatherum pungens)
  • little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
  • sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus)

Forbs

  • pale agoseris (Agoseris glauca)
  • smooth pussytoes (Antennaria parlinii)
  • wormwood (Artemisia campestris)
  • clasping milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis)
  • butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
  • green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora)
  • harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)
  • Hill’s thistle (Cirsium hillii)
  • common rockrose (Crocanthemum canadense)
  • prairie cinquefoil (Drymocallis arguta)
  • flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
  • wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
  • prairie-smoke (Geum triflorum)
  • western sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis)
  • long-bearded hawkweed (Hieracium longipilum)
  • long-leaved bluets (Houstonia longifolia)
  • hairy bush-clover (Lespedeza hirta)
  • rough blazing-star (Liatris aspera)
  • cylindrical blazing-star (Liatris cylindracea)
  • northern blazing-star (Liatris scariosa)
  • hoary puccoon (Lithospermum canescens)
  • hairy puccoon (Lithospermum caroliniense)
  • wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)
  • wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
  • horse mint (Monarda punctata)
  • blue toadflax (Nuttallanthus canadensis)
  • prickly-pear (Opuntia humifusa)
  • hairy beard-tongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
  • prairie phlox (Phlox pilosa)
  • jointweed (Polygonella articulata)
  • early buttercup (Ranunculus fascicularis)
  • black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
  • old-field goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis)
  • prairie heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum oolentangiense)
  • silky aster (Symphyotrichum sericeum)
  • goats-rue (Tephrosia virginiana)
  • birdfoot violet (Viola pedata)

Shrubs

  • bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
  • New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus)
  • sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina)
  • sand cherry (Prunus pumila)
  • Alleghany plum (Prunus umbellata)
  • northern dewberry (Rubus flagellaris)
  • low sweet blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)

Trees

  • jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
  • red pine (Pinus resinosa)
  • white pine (Pinus strobus)
  • white oak (Quercus alba)
  • northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)
  • black oak (Quercus velutina)

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: December 12, 2024).