Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Friday - March 26, 2010

From: Kenosha, WI
Region: Midwest
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources
Title: How to find out which native plants grow in your particular area
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I'm doing an ecology project (prairie restoration) PLEASE RESPOND A.S.A.P MY PAPER IS DUE SOON!!!! Any native plants of Kenosha, WI?

ANSWER:

Sorry, we don't do homework!

However, we can tell you how find out these things on your own. Go to the USDA Plants Database and choose "Advanced Search". On that page in "Part A: PLANTS Core Data" you can pick out your county and state under "1. Distribution." You have other choices under "2. Taxonomy" that you can make. Then under "3. Ecology" you choose "L48" under "Native Status". You don't need to make any choices in Part B. This should give you a list of native plants growing in Kenosha County, Wisconsin. They won't be exclusive to Kenosha County, but this is probably the best you can do unless your state has done a survey and has a list of plants endemic to various Wisconsin counties. You'll have to check with state authorities to find that out. Note: You have to check 'Display' next to a topic in your search to see any data that is of interest to you.

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Friday - March 26, 2010

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