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  Poaceae : Sorghastrum nutans

  R. Neil Reese

  Sorghastrum nutans is a perennial bunchgrass from a short rhizome with hollow, erect culms, 0.6-2 m tall, that have hairy nodes. The leaf blades are rolled in the bud and flat at maturity, 5-60 cm long, 3-12 mm wide, with a prominent midrib near the base. The sheath is smooth to hairy, with projections from the collar and joined to the firm, membranous ligule that is 2-7 mm long. The inflorescence is a condensed panicle, 11-27 cm long, bearing perfect spikelets with an associated naked pedicel. The inflorescence branches and pedicels are covered with white hairs. The hairy subequal, 5-8 mm long and brownish colored bracts (glumes) surround 2 florets, one fertile one and one sterile with a long, twisted awn. The anther are exerted, 3-5 mm long. Indian grass blooms from late July into October on open prairies scattered throughout South Dakota.

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  Poaceae : Zizania palustris

  R. Neil Reese

  Zizania palustris is an annual, solitary-stemmed grass that can grow to over 2 m tall. The erect culms are round, hollow and smooth except at the nodes where they can be hairy. There are both basal and alternat leaves on the culm. Early leaves float on the water’s surface. The leaf blades are rolled in the bud and flat at maturity, 5-100 cm long and 5-35 mm wide. The leaf sheaths are open, smooth with hairs at the collar and base, with a membranous ligule 7-20 mm long. the inflorescence is a much-branched panicle, 15-60 cm long, with male (staminate) spikelets below and female (pistilate) spikelets above. The branches are initially erect with the staminate ones spreading or drooping at maturity. The male spikelets are reddish in color, with 6 stamens that are 4-6 mm long. The female spikelets are paler, 12-15 mm long with a terminal awn 2.5-6.5 cm long. Both the staminate and pistilate spikelets lack glumes (bracts). The fruit is a dark, slender cylindrical grain up to 30 mm long and 2 mm wide. Northern wild rice blooms in July and August on the margins of streams lakes and ponds along the eastern and southern borders of South Dakota.

  Synonyms: Zizania aquatica var. interior, Z. interior

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  Polemoniaceae : Phlox pilosa

  R. Neil Reese

  Phlox pilosa is a perennial herb from a stout rootstock, with I-several branching stems with 6-12 nodes, growing 20-75 cm tall, covered with simple and/or glandular hairs. The simple, alternate, sessile leaves are narrowly lance-linear, 30-100 mm long, 3-30 mm wide and hairy, especially along the entire margins and the midvein. The inflorescence is a panicle with up to 100 flowers with pedicels usually les than 10 mm long and covered with glandular hairs. The calyx is 8-15 mm long, the tube and 5 lobes about equal in length and covered with glandular hairs. The white, pink or purple corollas have a tube 8-16 mm long with 5 reflexed oblanceolate to obovate lobes 10-12 mm long and 6-8 mm wide. The style is 3-lobed and 1-3 mm long. the fruit is an ovoid capsule. Prairie phlox blooms from May into July in open woods and meadows in eastern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum annuum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum annuum is an annual to biennial herb with 1 to a few erect, simple to branched stems, 10-100 cm tall and covered with silver-gray hairs. The plants start with a few, short-lived, simple, oblanceolate basal leaves, 2-5 cm long. The alternate, petiolate cauline leaves appear similar to the basal leaves, with most of them toward the base of the stem. The inflorescence is a terminal cyme, often with smaller cymes at the ends of the lower branches. The open cymes have a helicoid, bi or trichotomous branching pattern. The flowers are subtended by a sessile, membranous, calyx-like involucres that are funnel-shaped, 2.5-3 mm long, with shallow teeth. The perianth is composed of 6 white segments, sometimes with a pinkish tinge, the insides are hairy and the outer members are wider than the inner ones. There are 9 stamens and a 3 styles. The fruit are smooth achenes. Annual wild buckwheat blooms from July into September on dry, open grasslands in western and southern South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Eriogonum flavum

  R. Neil Reese

  Eriogonum flavum is a perennial mat-forming herb from a thick, branched, woody caudex, usually having old leaf bases attached. The oblanceolate, petiolate, basal leaves are crowded, 3-8 cm long, 3-14 mm wide, green to grayish due to hairs on the upper surface and hairy beneath. The flowering stems are leafless, 4-25 cm tall, hairy, with leaf-like bracts subtending a compound umbel inflorescence, that have hairy rays up to 3 cm long. the cymose clusters of flowers are subtended by a few reduced bracts. The flowers have a campanulate involucre that is 4-6 mm long with shallow or lacking lobes. The perianth is 6-merous, 4-6 mm long, yellow to sometimes pink tinged, with hairs on the outside, narrowed to a short pedicel-like base. There are 9 stamens and 3 styles that are all exerted from the perianth. The fruit are elongated achenes with a tuft of hair at the top. Yellow wild buckwheat bloom from May into September on dry plains and ridges in western South Dakota.

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  Polygonaceae : Polygonum amphibium

  R. Neil Reese

  Polygonum amphibium is a rhizomatous perennial herb, with floating, prostrate to erect stems, growing to 2 m in length, often hairless when rooted in water or with hairs when growing on dry land. The simple, alternate leaves are 3-20 cm long, 1-8 cm, wide with entire margins, hairy to smooth surfaces, blunt-tipped or tapered to a point, slightly tapered to rounded at the base, sessile to having long petioles on aquatic forms. At the node there is a sheath that can be brown and papery to forming a green collar around the stem. The inflorescence consist of 1 or 2 spike-like racemes, 5-10 cm long, either long and slender or short and more thimble-shaped depending on whether the plant is aquatic or terrestrial. The flowers have 5 pink tepals, 4-5 mm long, with 8 unequal stamens both included and exerted, and 2 styles. The fruit is a lenticular achene 2.54 mm long. Polygonum amphibium is a variable species, with both terrestrial (var. emersa) and aquatic forms (var. stipulacea) that have been formally recognized. In South Dakota both forms can be found, sometimes in the same location, and are treated here as part of a single complex. Water smartweed blooms from June into September in wet places throughout South Dakota.

  Synonyms: Persicaria amphibia, Polygonum coccineum

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  Polygonaceae : Rumex venosus

  R. Neil Reese

  Rumex venosus is a perennial herb from a branching rhizome with erect, branching, reddish, flowering stems that grow 15–40 cm tall. The simple, alternate, petiolate, cauline leaves are lanceolate to ovate, 3–10 cm long with thick leathery blades that are pointed at the tip. The lower most leaves are generally reduced in size. The inflorescence is a panicle with few branches, becoming showy in fruit. The perfect flowers have 2 whorls of tepals 3-4 mm long at anthesis, with 6 stamens and 1 pistil. The outer 3 tepals remain small, the inner tepals (valves), enlarge with the fruit development, becoming reddish, 20–45 mm long orbicular with a cordate-base and lacking growths (tubercles). The fruit are light brown achenes, 5-7 mm long. Wild begonia blooms from April into July on sandy dunes and riverbanks in southern and western South Dakota.

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  Primulaceae : Dodecatheon pulchellum

  R. Neil Reese

  Dodecatheon pulchellum is a perennial herb growing from white, fibrous roots and having erect flowering stems (scapes) that reach up to 50 cm in height. The simple leaves arise from a woody caudex, forming a basal rosette. The oblanceolate to spatulate leaf blades are gradually tapered into a petiole, 4-25 cm long including the petiole, 1-6 cm wide, with entire margins. The inflorescence is a few to many flowered umbel, subtended by a few bracts < 1.5 cm long, with pedicels 1-5 cm long at flowering. The calyx tube is 2-4 mm long with pointed lobes 2-6 mm long. the yellow and red corolla tube has magenta to lavender, reflexed lobes that are 9-20 mm long. the yellow stamens are inserted opposite the corolla lobes, fully protruding and surrounding the style. The fruit is a many-seeded cylindric to ovoid capsule, 7-17 mm long and 4-7 mm wide. Shootingstars bloom in May and June in moist prairie meadows and open woodlands in western South Dakota.

  Synonym: Primula pauciflora

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  Ranunculaceae: Aconitum columbianum

  R. Neil Reese

  Aconitum columbianum is a perennial herbaceous plant typically growing 30 to 100 centimeters tall with erect, unbranched to sparsely branched stems. Leaves are alternate, deeply palmately lobed, usually with 3 to 5 broad, pointed lobes, 5 to 12 centimeters long excluding petioles, which range from 3 to 8 centimeters long and are slender. Flowering occurs from midsummer to early fall, producing several large, showy flowers arranged in terminal racemes. Each flower measures about 3 to 5 centimeters long, with five sepals—the upper sepal forming a distinctive hood or “helmet” 2 to 3 centimeters long that is typically dark purple to blue, while the lateral sepals are smaller and petal-like, approximately 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Petals are nectar-producing and hidden within the sepals, generally two petals having elongated nectaries curved beneath the hood, about 1 to 2 centimeters long. The flower contains numerous stamens with slender filaments and small anthers clustered around a superior ovary. The pistil consists of multiple free carpels (apocarpous), each with a single ovule, a short style, and stigma. Fruits develop as a cluster of follicles, each follicle 2 to 3 centimeters long and elongate, opening to release numerous small seeds by late summer. Columbian Monkshood favors moist, shady sites—streambanks, wet meadows, montane forests—at mid to high elevations across western North America, including the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Actaea rubra

  R Neil Reese PhD

  Actaea rubra is a perennial herb 50-90 cm tall with a somewhat woody base. Stems usually unbranched, glabrous below and puberulent above. There are 1-3 alternate cauline leaves, pinnate to triternate-pinnate, the largest with a long petiole up to 16 cm long. The leaf blades are 15-35 cm long, the ultimate leaflets are broad and irregularly toothed. The inflorescence is a terminal raceme, 1-3 cm long in flower and up to 10 cm in fruit. The small flowers have 3-5 sepals, 2.4-3.7 mm long and 3-5 (10) white, spatulate petals, < 3.5 mm long, both rapidly lost after the flowers open. Baneberry has numerous stamens and a single pistil. The fruit are red or white 9-16 seeded berries, 7-13 mm in diameter. They bloom in May and June in moist soils in wooded areas along the western and easter borders of South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Anemone canadensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone canadensis is a perennial herb, which grows 10 cm to 60 cm in height, growing from ascending caudices on long, thin rhizomes. The leaves are basal and mostly long-petioled with 3 to 5 lobes which are sharply toothed. The flowers have 5 (4-6) white, petal-like sepals which are obovate 10–20 mm long by 5–15 mm wide. There are 80-100 yellow stamens surrounding a cluster of pistils. The fruiting body is a cluster of achenes 9-16 mm long by 12-19 mm wide. Meadow anemone blooms from May to July in moist prairies, woodlands and meadows throughout much of South Dakota.

  
  
  

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  Ranunculaceae: Anemone cylindrica

  R. Neil Reese

  Anemone cylindrica is a perennial herbaceous forb that grows from a stout caudex forming clumps. The pubescent stems are upright growing 30–70 cm tall. The leaves cauline are 3-7 lobed 2.5 – 6.5 cm long with petioles from 1-5 cm long. The leaf lobes are jaggedly toothed and pubescent, especially on the bottom. The basal leaves are similarly shaped, 5-14 cm wide with petioles that reach 21 cm in length. The flowers are 1-7 in number 1.5-2 cm in diameter, with 4-6 white sepals and bloom in June and July. There are numerous stamens and a cylindrical arrangement of pistils. In fruit te achenes are arrayed on a cylinder 1.5-3.5 cm long and 7-11 mm wide. The achenes are covered by a wooly white pubescence. Candle anemone can be found throughout South Dakota growing in open prairies and pastures.

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  Ranunculaceae : Aquilegia canadensis

  R Neil Reese

  Aquilegia canadensis is a perennial herb growing 30 to 100 cm tall from a stout caudex. The stems are hollow, smooth to covered with small glandular hairs towards the tops. Stems come from clusters of ternate basal leave and have alternate biternate (occasionally triternate) leaves on the flowering stems. The individual lobes are wedge-shaped and shallowly to deeply lobed. The showy flowers are nodding, regular, 2-5 cm long from tips of the stamens to the ends of the spurs and 1.7-4.3 cm wide. Five rose to dull red colored sepals, 0.9-2 cm long alternate with 5 petals, that are red toward the base and yellowish on the upper parts. The base is formed into a narrow spur that is slightly enlarged at the tip and measure 2-3.6 cm long from the end of the spur to the opening at the upper end. The stamens are numerous and exerted from the corolla. There are 5 carpels that mature into 5 follicles, 1.2-3 cm long with a styler beak that is 0.9-1.8 cm in length and contain several small black seeds. Flowers bloom from April to June. The plants grow in moist soils in wooded areas in several eastern and western counties in South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae : Caltha palustris

  R. Neil Reese

  Caltha palustris is a fleshy perennial herb with a fibrous root system and hollow stems that grow from 20 to 80 cm in height. This species has both basal and alternate cauline leaves. The blades are nearly round with a chordate base and toothed margins, 3-12 cm long and 4-15 cm wide, with petioles that can reach 30 cm in length and form a stipule-like sheath at the node. The showy flowers are terminal and axillary, with usually 5-6 yellow petal-like sepals, 1-2.3 cm long. There are no petals, numerous stamens and 5-10 pistils. The fruit are recurved and divergent follicles, 8-17 mm long cand contain many small seeds ~ 2mm in diameter. Marsh marigolds bloom in April and May in wet woods, marshes and bogs, often in standing water, in eastern South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Ceratocephala testiculata

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceratocephala testiculata is a small annual herb growing from a slender, often shallow, fibrous root system. The entire plant is usually less than 5–10 cm tall. Stems are typically branched at the base, sparsely hairy to nearly glabrous, and not woody. Leaves are all basal, forming a loose rosette, deeply divided into narrow linear to lobed segments. Basal leaves can reach up to about 6–12 cm long, though each leaflet segment is quite narrow, usually 1–3 mm wide. The leaves are covered with short, stiff hairs. Flowering occurs very early in the spring (often March–April). Flowers are solitary or in small clusters, each about 5–10 mm across. Each flower has 5 yellow, shiny, oblong petals, rounded to slightly obovate in shape, about 5–8 mm long and 3–5 mm wide, giving the flower a compact appearance and 5 shorter, green sepals, typically about 3–5 mm long and approximately 1.5–2 mm wide. The sepals are somewhat ovate to lanceolate in shape and slightly pointed at the tip. Flowers contain numerous stamens and several pistils. The fruit is a small, spiny bur composed of a cluster of nutlets—each nutlet is ovoid, 3–5 mm long, armed with hooked or curved projections. Bur buttercup matures and sets seed rapidly—often by late spring or early summer. Seeds are small, yellowish or brown, and equipped for dispersal by animals via the hooked spines. Bur buttercup is an introduced species and is now a widespread weed in South Dakota, most common in dry, disturbed grasslands, roadsides, overgrazed pastures, sandy sites, and compacted soils, especially in the western part of the state.

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  Ranunculaceae: Clematis hirsutissima

  R. Neil Reese

  Clematis hirsutissima is a perennial herbaceous plant (subshrub) in the Ranunculaceae family. It grows from a deep, woody, branching taproot and sometimes a short, thick rhizome, but does not spread aggressively by vegetative means. Stems are simple to sparsely branched, erect or arching, 15–40 cm tall, and densely covered with stiff, spreading hairs (hirsute). Leaves are opposite and compound or deeply divided, with 3 (up to 9) linear to narrowly lanceolate segments per leaf, with each leaflet being ovate to lanceolate, 3–7 cm long and 1–3 cm wide, with entire to slightly toothed margins and densely hairy surfaces. The basal leaves may be larger and more numerous in a clump. Flowering occurs from May to July. Each plant produces one to several solitary, nodding, urn-shaped flowers atop long, hairy stalks. The flowers are bisexual, with 4 blue to purple, sometimes pink-tinged, thick, leathery sepals (petaloid in appearance), with four thick, petal-like sepals (clematis flowers do not have true petals) that are lavender to pale blue or purple with darker veins and covered with fine hairs on both surfaces. The sepals are broadly ovate to lanceolate, measuring approximately 2.5–4 cm long and 1–2 cm wide, sometimes slightly reflexed at the tips. Flowers contain numerous stamens (yellowish filaments with white anthers) and many separate pistils. The fruit is a cluster of numerous achenes, each bearing a long, plumose, feathery tail (up to 3 cm), initially silvery and maturing to tan, aiding in wind dispersal. Seeds ripen from midsummer to early fall. Sugarbowl is native to South Dakota, especially common in western parts of the state—the Black Hills, Pine Ridge, and rocky uplands. It occurs in dry hillsides, open pine woodlands, prairie bluffs, and rocky outcrops.

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  Ranunculaceae : Clematis ligusticifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Clematis ligusticifolia is a perennial, somewhat woody vine with smooth to hairy stems that grow several meters in length. The opposite, compound pinnate leaves are petiolate, with 3-7 leaflets that are coarsely toothed, ovate, and 2–6 cm long. The inflorescence consists of many-flowered, axillary panicles, with 4 white, petal-like sepals, 5-13 mm long, lacking petals. The plants are dioecious, with the male (staminate) flowers having numerous stamens, but lacking pistils. The female plants (pistilate) flowers have similar sepals, numerous, full size sterile stamens and multiple pistils. The fruit are hairy achenes, 2-4.5 mm long with plumose styles up to 6 cm long. Western virgin’s bower blooms in July and August and can be found climbing of trees, shrubs and rocks in western South Dakota.

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  Ranunculaceae: Delphinium bicolor

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium bicolor is a perennial herb typically growing from a fleshy, branching rootstock, stems are mostly smooth, 30 to 90 centimeters tall, erect and branched. Leaves are alternate, 4 to 12 cm long, palmately divided with 3 to 5 deeply cleft lobes. Each leaflet is ovate to lanceolate, typically 3–7 cm long and 2–5 cm wide, with coarsely toothed margins, a smooth texture, and a petiole 3 to 7 cm long. Flowering occurs from May to July, producing tall racemes of striking bicolored flowers, usually deep blue to violet with white centers. Flowers have five sepals; the posterior sepal is enlarged, forming a prominent backward-pointing spur about 1–1.5 cm long and 3–4 mm wide at the base, the lateral sepals are smaller and differently shaped. The petals number five, with two often highly modified. The upper two petals are typically white or pale, while the lower three are blue or violet, roughly 8 to 12 millimeters long and 4 to 6 millimeters wide. There are numerous stamens arranged around the carpels, inserted at the base of the petals, each filament is slender and about 5 to 8 millimeters long. The pistil consists of multiple carpels, each with a distinct style ending in a small, rounded stigma. The fruit is a cluster of dry follicles (several follicles per flower), each follicle is about 10 to 20 millimeters long, containing several small seeds that mature from late summer through early fall. Two-color larkspur is native to South Dakota, commonly found in open forests, grasslands, and rocky slopes, mainly in western and central regions in moist meadows, open coniferous forests, and montane slopes.

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  Ranunculaceae : Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium carolinianum ssp. virescens is a perennial herb growing from a fibrous to tuberous root system, with sturdy erect, occasionally branched stems, 25-120 cm tall, usually with simple and glandular hairs throughout. There are both basal and alternate cauline leaves, palmately compound, 7-8 cm long, deeply divided into 5 or more primary sections, each with several linear lobes. The basal leaves have long petioles and are usually gone by flowering, and the cauline leave are smaller with shorter petioles. The inflorescence is a spike-like raceme with 5- 30 zygomorphic flowers. There are 5 white sepals, the uppermost having a spur, 11-20 mm long and the lowest pair 7-16 mm long. the 4 petals are white, the upper pair spurred and the lower pair, cleft, bearded, 4-8 mm long and 3-6 mm wide. There are numerous stamens and 3 carpels. The fruit are 3 divergent follicles about 20 mm long. Prairie larkspur blooms in May and June on prairies and pastures throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Delphinium virescens

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  Ranunculaceae: Delphinium nuttallianum

  R. Neil Reese

  Delphinium nuttallianum is a perennial herb growing 20 to 70 centimeters tall with erect, slender stems. The stems are mostly glabrous or sparsely covered with fine hairs. Leaves are primarily basal, typically 3 to 8 cm long with petioles from 2 to 6 cm in length. They are deeply palmately divided into 3–7 narrow, lanceolate lobes, each about 1–4 cm long, with serrated margins; cauline leaves are fewer, smaller, and simpler. Flowering occurs from May to July. Flowers grow in slender racemes with numerous blue to pale violet, zygomorphic blossoms, often with a slate-gray tint. Each flower has five sepals (one forming a backward-spurred projection 1–2 cm long), four petals (two modified as nectar spurs), numerous stamens, and a single pistil. two upper petals often pale or white and the lower petals that are blue, each petal approximately 7 to 12 millimeters long and 4 to 6 millimeters wide, often bearded. Stamens are numerous, arranged in a ring around the carpels, with filaments about 4 to 6 millimeters long. The pistil consists of several free carpels (apocarpous), each with a slender style ending in a small, rounded stigma. The fruit is a cluster of several dry follicles, each follicle about 10 to 18 millimeters long, containing small seeds. Fruits mature from late summer to early fall. Nuttall’s larkspur is native to South Dakota, commonly found in dry meadows, open woodlands, rocky slopes, and foothills, especially in the western Black Hills and adjacent upland regions.

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  Ranunculaceae : Pulsatilla patens ssp. multifidi

  R Neil Reese

  Pulsatilla patens is a perennial herb, 5-45 cm tall growing from a stout caudex. One to several flower-bearing stems appear early in the spring as the snow melts. A few to several basal leaves emerge after the flowers bloom. The basal leaves have 5-7 lobes, each dissected into many linear to lanceolate segments. There is a whorl of 3 sessile leaves, just below 2-5 cm long, the flower, palmately compound and divided into several narrow segments like the basal leaves. The leaves and stems are densely covered in long silky hairs. A solitary flower, 4-8 cm across, tops a densely hairy stalk, having 5 to 7 blue-violet to white petal-like sepals. The stamens are numerous and yellow in color that surround a light green columnar center. The sepals are pointed at the tip and lined with numerous parallel veins. The fruiting head is 3-6 cm long by 4-8 cm wide. The achenes are 3-6 mm long, spindle-shaped, brown, covered in long white hairs, with the styles becoming pinkish purple feather-like plumes up to 2-3.5 cm long. The plume facilitates dispersal by wind. Pasqueflower blooms from April into June on open prairies throughout South Dakota.

  Synonym: Anemone patens

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  Rhamnaceae : Ceanothus herbaceus

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceanothus herbaceous is a deciduous, perennial, woody, bushy shrub growing up to 1 m tall. The simple, alternate leaves are 3-nerved, oblong to oblanceolate, the margins with small teeth and glandular when young. The upper surface of the leaves usually have a slightly white waxy covering and the lower surface with long white hairs. The inflorescence consists of terminal panicles at the ends of the leafy branches of the new year, on peduncles 1-5 cm long. the tiny white flowers have a short calyx tube with 5 lobes 1.6 mm long, 5 hooded petals, ~2.5 mm long, constricted (clawed) for ½ their length. There are 5 stamens with a 3-lobed ovary surrounded by a 10-lobed collar, 1.5 mm wide. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule, 3-4.5 mm wide. New Jersey tea blooms in May and June on prairies and open wooded hills in western South Dakota.

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  Rhamnaceae : Ceanothus velutinus

  R. Neil Reese

  Ceanothus velutinus is an evergreen, perennial, spreading shrub growing 0.5-2.5 m tall, lacking spines and forming large colonies. The simple, alternate leaves are 3-nerved, ovate to ovate-elliptic, 4-8 cm long, the margins with small glandular teeth. The upper surface of the leaves are shiny green and often sticky, and the lower surface is pale with long often velvety hairs. The inflorescence consists of axillary, dense panicles. The tiny white flowers have a short calyx tube with 5 incurved lobes < 2 mm long, 5 recurved hooded petals, 2-2.5 mm long, abruptly constricted (clawed). There are 5 upwardly curved stamens with a 3-lobed ovary surrounded by a 10-lobed disk. The fruit is a 3-lobed capsule, 5-6 mm wide, with a slight crest above the middle. Mountain balm blooms in June and July on dry, open wooded hillsides in western South Dakota.

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  Rosaceae: Agrimonia striata

  R. Neil Reese

  Agrimonia striata is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Rosaceae family, commonly known as roadside agrimony. It has a fibrous root system and does not reproduce asexually via stolons or rhizomes. The stems are upright, usually simple or occasionally sparingly branched, and range from 30 to 120 cm in height, with a covering of fine, soft hairs that give the young growth a slightly fuzzy texture. Leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with 3–7 pairs of oblong-lanceolate, coarsely toothed leaflets, usually 3 to 8 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with serrate margins and petioles approximately 1 to 3 centimeters long. The terminal leaflet being the largest; both basal and cauline leaves are present, with basal leaves forming a rosette and cauline leaves distributed along the stem. Inflorescences are slender, terminal racemes appearing from June to September. Each flower has five yellow petals about 2.5 to 4 millimeters long and 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide, and five green sepals with slender tips roughly 2 to 3 millimeters long. There are numerous stamens (20 or more) arranged around a superior ovary; filaments are slender and about 2 to 4 millimeters long with yellow anthers. The pistil consists of a single ovary , with 2–5 locules, a slender style terminating in a capitate stigma. Fruits mature into small, dry achenes covered with hooked bristles that aid in animal dispersal, turning brown at maturity in late summer or early fall and typically containing a single small, hard, dark brown seed. Roadside agrimony is native to South Dakota, found in moist meadows, woodland edges, thickets, and along riverbanks, and is distributed statewide, with higher abundance in the eastern regions and river corridors.

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  Rosaceae: Amelanchier alnifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Amelanchier alnifolia is a perennial deciduous shrub or small tree which grows 1 m to 5 m in height (occasionally taller in very moist sites) and often forms thickets. The bark is thin, light brown and tinged with red; smooth or shallowly fissured. The leaves are alternate, oval to nearly circular, 2–5 cm long and 1–4.5 cm wide. The margins are entire below and toothed mostly above the middle. Serviceberries have white to pink flowers, borne in racemes, and bloom from April to June. Five sepals are green 1-3 mm long, triangular with the tips recurved. The 5 petals are white, 5-12 mm long and obovate, A shallowly cupped hypanthium of 3-4 mm is visible at anthesis. Each flower has 10-20 stamens and a pistil with 5 styles. The fruit is a deep red to dark purple, berry-like pome, 10-15 mm long and 8-11 mm wide. This species is commonly found open slopes and along streams throughout much of South Dakota.