Hi, I’m Sam Douglass, Groundswell’s Farm and Land Management Specialist. This is the first of a new, monthly update to share the boots-on-the-ground work Groundswell is doing to steward special places and expand equitable access to land and nature.
Sam Douglass, Farm & Land Management Specialist — Photo by Ben Lam
Each month, I’ll share a bit about what our team is working on in the field. I’ll also include short “hikes” through natural history, as well as stories inspired by the land we care for.
If you want a deeper look into the work we do, and you enjoy learning new things about the plants and land around us, this is for you.
Volunteers get to know prairie plants during a seed collection event at Westport Prairie. — Photo by Mario Quintana
This fall was all about seed collecting. If you attended one of our seed collection events this year, thank you! We could not accomplish this powerful work without the help of our community. This fiscal year, Groundswell volunteers gave an incredible 495 hours to outdoor volunteer efforts, including seed collection.
Seed collection volunteers have noted that seed collecting is a great way to learn to identify prairie plants. It’s hard to forget a plant that you’ve spent an hour or two looking for and interacting with.
Stiff Gentian — Photo by BJ Byers
Because I’ve worked out on our prairies for multiple years, I’m beginning to notice when new plants appear. While perennials like grasses remain fairly constant year over year, the population of annuals and biennials can fluctuate greatly. Populations change in response to environmental conditions. For example, a polar vortex, a wet spring, prescribed fire, or even a tire rut could cause shifts in the makeup of a prairie’s plant species.
This year at Westport Prairie, we had two “underdogs” that really boomed. The first was stiff gentian, a biennial and a favorite of bumblebees. The second was rough false foxglove, a perennial with delicate pink to purple flowers.
I’m always excited to see how our prairies evolve and surprise me. I’d love for you to be a part of creating a new section of prairie. Keep an eye out for an invite to our January seed planting and bonfire event at Westport Prairie. Together with volunteers, we will plant 10 more acres of prairie using the seeds collected this fall.
White Snakeroot — Photo by BJ Byers
Now, allow me to introduce you to another special (and quite common!) plant that I met this year.
You’d recognize white snakeroot. It proliferates in the dank understory of savannas and forests. Walk under the canopy of bur oaks on the drumlin at Westport Prairie, and you will find it in great swaths. This is a plant with a dark history.
When cattle eat white snakeroot plants in late summer and early autumn, their milk and meat are contaminated with a toxin called tremetol. When consumed, this poison is passed on to humans causing tremetol poisoning or “milk sickness.” For over two centuries, milk sickness was a “leading cause of death and disability in the Midwest and Upper South,” with no cure and no known cause.1
Some early settlers blamed witches for the occurrence of milk sickness. It wasn’t until the early 19th century that Doctor Anna Hobbs was told by her Shawnee friend that white snakeroot was toxic.2 Notably, it was too late for Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of Abraham Lincoln, and thousands of others who died of the toxin.
Next month, I’ll have some exciting updates on Westport Farm to share with you. Until then, keep your cows out of the snakeroot patch.