Elmhurst Great Western Prairie

The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie is a subsection of the Illinois Prairie Path in Elmhurst, Illinois that has been maintained since 1977 by the Elmhurst Park District.

The Elmhurst Great Western Prairie is a small plot of land that through incomplete land allocation, has been allowed to remain undisturbed from even before Elemhurst was first settled.

According to a 1977 survey conducted by the Elmhurst Prairie Project, the following plants are present there:

Allium canadense (wild onion)

Allium cernuum (nodding wild onion)

Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)

Andropogon scoparius (little bluestem)

Apocynum sibiricum (dogbane)

Anemone canadensis (meadow anemone)

Anemone cylindrica (thimbleweed)

Aster ericoides (heath aster)

Aster laevis (smooth blue aster)

Aster novae-anglicae (New England aster)

Aster praeltus (willow aster)

Aster simplex (panicled aster)

Calamgrostis canadensis (blue joint grass)

Cirsium discolor (pasture thistle)

Comandra richardsiana (false toadflax)

Coreopsis palmata (prairie coreopsis)

Dodecatheon meadia (shooting star)

Equisetum arvense (horsetail)

Equisetum hyemale (scouring rush)

Erigeron philadelphicus (marsh fleabane)

Erigeron strigosus (daisy fleabane)

Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master)

Eupatorium serotinum (late boneset)

Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)

Galium obtusum (wild madder)

Gentiana puberula (prairie gentian)

Helenium autmnale (sneezeweed)

Helianthus grosseserratus (sawtooth sunflower)

Heuchera richardsoniana (alum root)

Hypoxis hireuta (yellow star grass)

Iris virginica (blue flag)

Lespedeza capitata (round-headed bush clover)

Lithospermum canescens (hoary puccoon)

Lysimachia lanceolata (lance-leaved loosestrife)

Monarda fistulosa (wild bergamot)

Panicum leibergii (prairie panic grass)

Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)

Phlox pilosa (prairie phlox)

Physostegia virginiana (false dragonhead)

Polygonium amphibum (water knotweed)

Polygonum coccineum (water heartsease)

Potentilla simplex (common cinquefoil)

Pycnanthemum virginianum (mountain mint)

Ratibida pinnata (yellow coneflower)

Rosa carolina (pasture rose)

Rudbeckia hirta (black-eyed Susan)

Silphium terebinthinaceum (prairie dock)

Sisyrinchium albidum (blue-eyed grass)

Solidago juncea (early goldenrod)

Solidago rigida (stiff goldenrod)

Sorghastrum nutans (Indian grass)

Spartina pectinata (prairie cord grass)

Sporobolus heterolepsis (prairie dropseed)

Stipia spartea (porcupine grass)

Tephrosia virginiana (hoary pea)

Thalictrum dasycarpun (purple meadow rue)

Tradescantia ohiensis (common spiderwort)

Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root)

Vicia americana (American vetch)

Viola papilionacae (common blue violet)

Viola pedatifida (prairie violet)

Zizia aurea (golden Alexander)

References

Elmhurst Great Western Prairie Project, Plants of the Elmhurst Great Western Prairie. (EGWP) 1977.