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  Betulaceae: Betula papyrifera

  R. Neil Reese

  Betula papyrifera is a medium to large deciduous tree, reaching 15–25 meters tall, with a shallow, wide-spreading root system and reproducing sexually by seed and vegetatively by stump or root sprouting. The trunk is slender, up to 60 cm in diameter, with thin, white, peeling bark marked by horizontal lenticels and often curling in papery sheets; younger bark may be reddish-brown. Twigs are slender, reddish-brown, and lack hairs. Leaves are alternate, simple, ovate to rhombic, typically 5 to 10 centimeters long and 4 to 8 centimeters wide, with doubly serrate margins and a pointed apex and a rounded or heart-shaped base. Petioles are slender and about 1 to 3 centimeters long. Both leaf surfaces are hairless or sparsely hairy when young, and leaves turn bright yellow in autumn. Flowering occurs in early spring before or as the leaves unfurl. Flowers are borne in separate male and female catkins on the same tree (monoecious). Male catkins are pendulous, cylindrical, and 3 to 8 centimeters long, releasing pollen in early spring before leaf emergence. Female catkins are shorter, erect, and take the growing season to mature. Male flowers have several stamens with pollen-producing anthers; female flowers consist of superior ovaries. Fruits are small winged nutlets (samara-like), clustered in cone-like catkins that open in fall to release seeds. Seeds mature in late summer to fall Paper Birch is native to South Dakota and widespread in moist woods, streambanks, lakeshores, and upland slopes, especially in the Black Hills and northern parts of the state.

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  Betulaceae: Corylus americana

  R Neil Reese

  Corylus americana is a perennial, monoecious shrub that grows, from rhizomes to a height of roughly 2.5- 5 m with a crown spread of 3- 4.5 m. Plants are usually multi-stemmed with long branches that produce a dense spreading shape and form thickets by sending up suckers from the underground rhizomes. The young twigs are hairy-glandular. The petiolate leaves are simple, alternate, the blades ovate, pointed at the tip and rounded or heart shaped at the base, 1-12 cm long, doubly toothed and hairy underneath. Male flowers present in the winter and bloom very early in the spring in long (4-8 cm) cylindrical stalked, whitish catkins having numerous crowded flowers, each having a pair of bracts and 4 stamens. The female flowers emerge before the leaves in ovoid brownish catkins of few flowers, with the red styles becoming visible. The fruit are nuts that are solitary or clustered, each enveloped in expanded leafy bracts. America hazelnut grows in upland forests and thickets along the edge of the coteau des prairies in eastern South Dakota.

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  Betulaceae : Corylus cornuta

  R. Neil Reese

  Corylus cornuta is a perennial, monoecious shrub that grows, from rhizomes to a height of roughly 2.5- 5 m with a crown spread of 3- 4.5 m. Plants are usually multi-stemmed with long branches that produce a dense spreading shape and forming thickets by sending up suckers from the underground rhizomes. The young twigs are usually smooth, sometimes sparsely hairy, but lacking glands. The petiolate leaves are simple, alternate, the blades ovate, pointed at the tip and rounded or heart shaped at the base, 4-10 cm long, doubly toothed and hairy underneath. Male flowers present in the winter and bloom very early in the spring in long (4-8 cm) cylindrical, sessile, whitish catkins having numerous crowded flowers, each having a pair of bracts and 4 stamens. The female flowers emerge before the leaves in ovoid brownish catkins of few flowers, with the red styles becoming visible. The fruit are nuts that are solitary or clustered, each enveloped in bristly bracts, partially connate and forming a long beak. Beaked hazelnut grows in upland forests and thickets in western and northeastern South Dakota.

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  Betulaceae Ostrya virginiana

  R Neil Reese

  Ostrya virginiana is a small deciduous, monoecious, understory tree growing to 15 m in height. The older bark is brown to gray-brown, scaly, rough or shaggy. The younger twigs and branches are smoother and gray, with small lenticels. The leaves have a short hairy petiole, the blades are oblong to ovate with a sharp tip, 5–13 cm long and 4–6 cm wide, with a doubly toothed margin. The upper surface is mostly hairless, while the lower surface is sparsely to moderately hairy. The inflorescence consists of male and female catkins. The male catkins are pendulous, 2–5 cm long and the female catkins are 8–15 mm containing 10–30 flowers. The fruit are small nutlets 3–5 mm long and enclosed in a greenish, papery bracts 10–18 mm long and 8–10 mm wide, resembling hops, that turn brown at maturity. Hop-hornbeam blooms in April and May, with fruit maturing in early summer, growing in upland forests of the Black Hills, and southern and eastern South Dakota.

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  Boraginaceae: Buglossoides arvensis

  R. Neil Reese

  Buglossoides arvensis is an annual or biennial herb with an erect growth form, typically reaching 30–80 cm in height. It has a taproot system and reproduces solely by seed. The stems are branched and densely covered with rough, short hairs, giving a bristly texture. Leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 3–10 cm long, with entire or slightly toothed margins, and rough, hairy surfaces. Basal leaves are larger and ovate, while cauline leaves are smaller and narrower. Flowering occurs from late spring to early fall. The inflorescence is a scorpioid cyme—a coiled cluster of small, tubular flowers 8–12 mm long, with five fused petals forming a trumpet shape. Flowers are pale blue to violet with darker markings and a hairy throat. Each flower has five sepals, five stamens attached to the corolla, and a single pistil. The fruit is composed of four small nutlets (seeds), maturing in late summer. Native to temperate Europe and Asia, Corn Gromwell has been introduced and naturalized in parts of North America, including South Dakota, where it grows in disturbed fields, roadsides, and agricultural lands, mostly in eastern and central regions.

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  Boraginaceae: Cryptantha celosioides

  R Neil Reese

  Cryptantha celosioides is a biennial or short-lived perennial with 1 to several erect, simple to branched stems, 6–35 cm tall, growing from a caudex and covered with bristly hairs. There are both basal and alternate cauline leaves that are covered with grayish bristly hairs. The basal leaves are petiolate, the blades 1–6 cm long, spatulate to oblanceolate, the tips rounded to obtuse. The cauline leaves are narrower with pointed tips and usually less densely covered with hairs. The inflorescence is a collection of terminal cymes at the branch tips, condensed when young and uncoiling with age. The hairy calyx is 7–10 mm long in fruit and the white corolla is 3–6 mm long, 6–11 mm across the limb, often with a yellow coloring in the throat (fornices). The fruit are 4 ovate nutlets, 3–4 mm long. Buttecandle blooms from May into July in dry pastures and canyons in western South Dakota.

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  Boraginaceae : Lithospermum canescens

  R. Neil Reese

  Lithospermum canescens in a perennial herb from vertical taproot with erect stems, 12-35 cm tall, simple or branched above. The leaves are cauline, often ascending, lanceolate to elliptic, the tips obtuse, 20-55 mm long and 4-11 mm wide, covered with soft grayish white hairs. The inflorescence consists of cymes at the branch tips. The flowers have green sepals 4-17 mm long and a yellow to yellow-orange funnel-shaped corolla 7-18 mm long, 7–14 mm wide at the top, the lobes with entire edges. The fruit are smooth and shiny nutlets 3–4 mm long. Hoary puccoon blooms from April to June on dry prairies and open woods in eastern and southern South Dakota.

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  Boraginaceae : Lithospermum incisum

  R. Neil Reese

  Lithospermum incisum in a perennial herb from a woody branched caudex, with stems prostrate to erect, 5–25 cm long and branched above, with many stiff straight and appressed hairs. The leaves are predominantly cauline, linear to linear-lanceolate with pointed tips, 13-45 mm long and 4-20 mm wide. The inflorescence may have flowers in the upper leaf axils or cymes at the branch tips. The flowers have green sepals 6–9 mm long and a yellow to yellow-orange funnel-shaped corolla 2–4 cm long, 7–12 mm wide at the top, usually with fringed lobes and the style slightly exerted. The fruit are nutlets 3–4 mm long. Fringed puccoon blooms from April to June on dry prairies, open woods and disturbed areas over much of South Dakota.

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  Boraginaceae: Onosmodium bejariense

  R. Neil Reese

  Onosmodium bejariense is a perennial herbaceous plant with a woody base, growing 30 to 90 cm tall with erect, branched stems densely covered in coarse, spreading hairs that give a rough texture. The alternate leaves are lanceolate to narrowly ovate, 5 to 15 cm long and 1 to 4 cm wide, with entire to slightly wavy margins, short petioles and a rough, hairy surface. Flowering occurs in mid-summer (May–July). The flowers are born in terminal and axillary cymes. Each flower has five sepals fused at the base, each sepal about 5–8 mm long, narrowly lanceolate and hairy forming a calyx tube about 6 to 10 mm long with pointed lobes. The corolla consists of five white petals fused into a tubular shape 10 to 15 mm long and 4 to 6 mm wide. with 5 hairy, green to yellow-tinged, triangular lobes at the tip that close the mouth of the tube. A long white style projects from the tube and remains long after the petals wilt away. The flower contains five stamens epipetalous (attached near the base of the corolla tube), with slender filaments and yellow anthers enclosed within the tube. The pistil has a superior ovary with a single style approximately 6 to 8 mm long, extending beyond the stamens. And terminating in a bifid stigma with rounded lobes about 1 to 2 mm wide. Fruits develop from August through September as four brown, smooth, slightly glossy nutlets, each about 3 to 5 mm long. Western false gromwell is native to South Dakota, typically found in sandy or rocky prairies, open woodlands, and well-drained upland sites across much of the state.

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  Boraginaceae: Phacelia hastata

  R. Neil Reese

  Phacelia hastata is a perennial herbaceous plant growing 15 to 60 cm tall from a fibrous root system with a woody base. The roots are slender and moderately deep, anchoring the plant in well-drained soils. Leaves are mostly basal and alternate along the stem, petiolate, with petioles 3 to 10 cm long. Blades are lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 15 cm long and 2 to 6 cm wide, often deeply lobed or toothed, covered with a dense layer of fine, silvery hairs that give the plant a distinctive silvery-gray appearance. The flowers are arranged in coiled cymes and bloom from May through August. Each flower has five fused sepals forming a calyx 3 to 5 millimeters long and about 1.5 to 2 millimeters wide, covered with fine hairs. The corolla is bell-shaped to funnel-shaped, pale blue to lavender, about 10 to 15 mm long and 6 to 10 mm wide, with five lobes at the mouth. The flower contains five stamens with prominent yellow anthers that extend beyond the corolla. The pistil has a superior ovary with a style about 6 to 8 mm long ending in a bifid stigma. The fruit is a small capsule containing several seeds. Silverleaf phacelia is native to South Dakota and is typically found in dry, open habitats such as prairies, rocky slopes, and sandy or gravelly soils, mainly in the western and central parts of the state.

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  Brassicaceae: Alliaria petiolata

  R Neil Reese

  Alliaria petiolata is a biennial herb with a slender, white taproot with occasional fibrous side roots. In the first year, plants form a basal rosette of kidney- to heart-shaped leaves with scalloped edges, each 5–12 cm wide and attached by long petioles. In the second year, the plant produces an erect, simple or occasionally sparingly branched stem, generally 30–100 cm tall, with sparse, fine pubescence on young stems and leaves. Cauline leaves are alternate, triangular to heart-shaped, coarsely toothed, and decrease in size up the stem. The blades are shiny green, hairless or somewhat hairy. The leaves smell like garlic when crushed. The inflorescences are round clusters of a few to several white flowers. Flowering occurs from April to June, with small, white, four-petaled flowers arranged in terminal racemes. Each flower has 4 sepals (green, 2–3 mm), 4 white petals (5–6 mm, narrowly oblong), 6 stamens (4 long and 2 short), and a single compound pistil with a slender style and capitate stigma. Fruits are slender siliques, 3–6 cm long, linear, and green maturing to brown, containing numerous small, oblong, pale brown seeds (2–3 mm). Garlic mustard is a biennial species introduced to South Dakota and is considered invasive; it inhabits woodlands, forest edges, shaded roadsides, and disturbed soils, and has been reported primarily in the eastern and southeastern regions and along river corridors.

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  Brassicaceae : Arabis glabra

  R Neil Reese

  Arabis glabra is a biennial herb growing from a stout taproot. The stem is erect usually unbranched toward the base and branching near the top, growing from 60 to 120 cm tall. The basal leaves are spatulate to oblanceolate, entire to dentate and 5-12 cm long by 1-3 cm wide. The cauline leaves are sessile, lanceolate, entire to denticulate and variable in size (2-10 cm by 1-3 cm) with smaller leaves toward the top. The small flowers are arrayed in racemes and greenish white to yellow in color. The 4 sepals are membranous 2-5 mm long, rounded to subacuminate. The petals are 2.5-6 mm long . the fruit is a cylindrical silique 5-10 cm long and 0.8-1.3 mm wide, with pedicels that are erect or appressed and 7-18 mm long at maturity. The seeds are in 1-2 rows and are about 1 mm long and 0.15 mm wide. Tower rockcress grows in dry prairies on ledges and the edges of woodlands, blooming in May and June. It is much more common in the western side of South Dakota.

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  Brassicaceae: Arabis holboellii

  R. Neil Reese

  Arabis holboellii is a short-lived perennial or biennial herb. The plant forms a narrow taproot system. Stems are generally 15 to 40 centimeters tall, erect, slender and may be branched or unbranched and covered with fine, branched or 2-rayed hairs. Basal leaves are linear to spoon-shaped or narrowly oblanceolate, 1–5 cm long, with toothed margins and pointed tips, and are densely hairy. Cauline leaves are narrower, lance-shaped, and auriculate-clasping, also with fine hairs. Petioles are short (about 0.5 to 1.5 centimeters). Flowering occurs mid to late spring. The inflorescence is a raceme. Flowers have four sepals (2–4 mm, green or purplish), four petals (5–9 mm, white to purple), six stamens (anthers yellow), and a single compound pistil with a slender style and two-lobed stigma. The fruit is a slender, straight to slightly curved silique, 3–8 cm long, 1.5–2 mm wide, maturing in summer and turning brown. Each fruit contains numerous small, brown seeds. Holboell's Rockcress is native to South Dakota. It typically grows in open, rocky, or sandy soils, grasslands, prairies, and open woodlands, occurring statewide but more commonly in the western and central regions.

  Synonym: Boechera holboellii

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  Brassicaceae: Berteroa incana

  R. Neil Reese

  Berteroa incana is an annual or biennial herb with a taproot system, reproducing exclusively by seed. The plant has a simple to much-branched stem, 20–80 cm tall, covered throughout with dense, stellate (star-shaped), grayish-white hairs that give it a distinctive hoary or silvery appearance. Leaves are alternate, simple, lanceolate to oblong, 2–6 cm long, with entire margins and covered in soft, white hairs; the lower leaves are somewhat wider and may have short petioles, while upper leaves are narrower and sessile. Flowering occurs from late spring to summer, with racemes of small, four-petaled white flowers about 8 to 12 millimeters in diameter. Each flower has four white petals approximately 4 to 6 millimeters long and 2 to 3 millimeters wide and four green sepals about 3 to 5 millimeters long. Six stamens are present, with tetradynamous arrangement (four long, two short), featuring slender filaments and yellow anthers. The pistil consists of a single superior ovary with two fused carpels, a slender style, and a bifid stigma. Fruit is a flattened silicle, typically 1 to 1.5 centimeters long and about 5 to 8 millimeters wide, containing multiple small seeds arranged in two rows. Fruits mature in mid to late summer, turning from green to brown as it matures and splits open to release several small, brown, oval seeds. Hoary Alyssum is introduced and considered a noxious weed in South Dakota, particularly in disturbed soils, roadsides, pastures, and waste areas, and it occurs statewide but is most problematic in eastern and central regions.

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  Brassicaceae: Descurainia pinnata

  R. Neil Reese

  Descurainia pinnata is an annual or short-lived perennial herbaceous plant growing from a fibrous root system, typically 10 to 60 centimeters tall, with slender, often branched stems, often covered with soft, spreading hairs. Leaves are alternate, pinnately divided or deeply lobed into thread-like, narrow segments with short and inconspicuous petioles.; basal leaves are larger, up to 10 cm long, deeply divided with linear lobes 1–3 mm wide, while upper leaves are smaller and less divided, usually 2 to 6 cm long. Flowers are small, yellow, arranged in loose racemes blooming from spring through late summer (April–August). Each flower is about 3 to 5 millimeters in diameter, with four yellow petals roughly 1.5 to 3 millimeters long and 0.7 to 1.5 millimeters wide, and four green sepals approximately 2 to 3 millimeters long and 0.5 to 1 millimeter wide. There are six stamens per flower, four longer and two shorter (tetradynamous), inserted around the superior ovary. The pistil consists of a single ovary with a slender style and a capitate stigma. The fruit is a slender, curved silique about 15 to 40 millimeters long and 1 to 2 millimeters wide, containing numerous small seeds. Fruits mature from mid to late summer. Western tansymustard is native to South Dakota and grows in disturbed soils, dry prairies, roadsides, sandy or gravelly sites, and open woodlands statewide.

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  Brassicaceae : Hesperis matronalis

  R. Neil Reese

  Hesperis matronalis is a showy, biennial or short-lived perennial, with upright, branched stems, growing from 50-100 cm in height and having rough spreading hairs. The leaves are simple, alternate, deltoid-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, sessile or with a short petiole, blades growing up to 12 cm long and 3.5 cm wide near the base of the plant and becoming smaller as they ascend the stem. The margins are sharply toothed, the upper leaf surface has simple hairs with branched hairs beneath. First year plants over-winter as an evergreen basal rosette. The inflorescence is a raceme of fragrant 4-merous flowers. The sepals are hairy, greenish, narrowly oblong, and form a slender tube. The petals are pink to bluish purple (occasionally white) 2-2.5 cm long, 2 short and 6 longer stamens and a cylindrical pistil. The fruit is a silique, 5-14 cm long containing many spindle shaped seeds, 3-4 mm long. Dame’s rocket blooms from May through August along roadsides, in thickets and open woods throughout South Dakota.

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  Brassicaceae : Lesquerella ludoviciana

  R. Neil Reese

  Lesquerella ludoviciana is a perennial herb with a few spreading to ascending, densely hairy stems, arising from a simple caudex and growing 15–35 cm in length. Basal leaves 2-6 cm long and 4-10 mm wide. The outer leaves oblanceolate and lying flat, the inner leaves erect, narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate with 4- to 7-rayed stellate hairs, the margins entire to shallowly toothed. The cauline leaves similar but reduced upward. Flowers are in elongating stalks in cluster at the top of the stem, petals, yellow, 6–10 mm long and 2-4 mm wide. Fruit are globose silicles, on pedicels growing 10–16 mm long, 3–4 mm in diameter, often flattened, with 2 to 6 seeds per locule. Bladderpod blooms from April to August on dry prairies, predominantly in western South Dakota.

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  Cactaceae : Opuntia polyacantha

  R. Neil Reese

  Opuntia polyacantha is a prostrate, clump-forming perennial, evergreen shrub, rising only to the height of one stem segment (pad). Each stem segment is orbicular, flattened, bluish green to gray, growing to about 12 cm in diameter. The areoles are crowded, generally < 1 cm apart, with 1-10 spines, 2-5 cm long, and various numbers of glochids on each. The upper areoles have more spines than the lower. The flowers develop along the upper edge of the pads, each 4-7 cm wide with numerous tepals, 25–35 mm long, yellow, pink or red. The fruit is globose to ovoid, 2-4 cm long, dry and spiny. The seeds are tan to white and discoid. Prairie pricklypear blooms in May and June (rarely again in September) on dry plains and pastures, especially in sandy soils, in western South Dakota.

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  Campanulaceae: Campanula petiolata

  R. Neil Reese

  Campanula petiolata is a perennial herb growing from a slender, fibrous root system and can form small colonies via short rhizomes, but is not aggressive in its spread. Stems are erect, simple or occasionally branched, typically ranging from 30–100 cm tall, and are smooth or sometimes minutely hairy, especially on the upper parts. Leaves are alternate; the basal leaves are ovate to heart-shaped, 2–8 cm long, with long petioles and coarsely toothed margins, while cauline leaves are smaller, more lanceolate or linear, and have shorter petioles or may be sessile. Flowering occurs from late spring through summer (June–August). Flowers are borne singly or in loose racemes at the top of the plant. Each flower is bisexual, with a bell-shaped (campanulate) corolla, blue to violet in color, 2–4 cm long, and divided into five spreading lobes, each lobe about 5 to 9 millimeters long. There are five narrow, green fused sepals forming a narrow cup, approximately 5 to 8 millimeters long, usually shorter than the corolla. The flower has five stamens with the anthers fused into a tube, and a single pistil with a three-lobed style and stigma. The fruit is a small, upright, cylindrical capsule (5–10 mm), turning brown at maturity in late summer or early fall, and containing many tiny, brown seeds (less than 1 mm). Tall bellflower is native to South Dakota, occurring in moist meadows, open woods, shaded riverbanks, and rocky slopes, and is found primarily in the Black Hills, Coteau des Prairies, and other cooler, moist upland areas, but is not widespread statewide.

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  Campanulaceae: Campanula rapunculoides

  R. Neil Reese

  Campanula rapunculoides is a perennial herb growing from a deep, fleshy, and often branched rhizomatous root system that facilitates aggressive asexual reproduction and spread. Stems are erect, simple, or occasionally branched, typically 30–100 cm tall, and are smooth or minutely hairy, especially near the top. Leaves are alternate, with basal leaves ovate to broadly heart-shaped, 5 to 12 centimeters long and 3 to 7 centimeters wide, coarsely toothed, on long petioles; cauline leaves are smaller, lanceolate to ovate, with shorter petioles or sessile, 2 to 6 centimeters long and 1 to 3 centimeters wide, with serrated to scalloped margins. Both basal and cauline leaves are present, with basal leaves quickly withering as the plant flowers. Flowering occurs from late spring through summer (June–August). Inflorescences are one-sided, slender, and terminal racemes or spikes, with numerous nodding, bell-shaped flowers. Each flower is bisexual, with five narrow green sepals, fused sepals forming a green cup about 5 to 8 millimeters long and 3 to 5 millimeters wide. The corolla is composed of five fused petals, violet to blue, each petal approximately 1.5 to 2 centimeters long and about 6 to 10 millimeters wide, forming the bell-shaped flower with five distinct lobes. The flower has five stamens with fused anthers forming a tube, and a single pistil with a three-lobed style and stigma. The fruit is an upright, cylindrical capsule (6–10 mm) that turns brown at maturity and splits open at the side to release numerous tiny, brown seeds (less than 1 mm). Creeping bellflower is an introduced species in South Dakota, commonly found in gardens, lawns, roadsides, disturbed areas, woodland edges, and riparian sites, and is most abundant in urban and suburban settings, especially in the eastern part of the state.

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  Campanulaceae : Campanula rotundifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Campanula rotundifolia is a perennial, somewhat delicate herb from slender caudex branches, often forming clumps. The stems are ascending to erect, simple or with short branches near the top, 15-70 cm in height and lacking hairs. The basal leaves have long petioles (1-7 cm long), the blades are 1-3 cm long and 0.5-2 cm wide, ovate to orbicular, the margins with small teeth, but are generally withered before flowering. The cauline leaves becoming linear and sessile above, 1–7 cm long and 1-6 mm wide. The Inflorescence is a terminal, few-flowered raceme with nodding flowers. The 5 sepals are narrowly lanceolate, 3–12 mm long, erect and the 5 blue petals are fused, 10–25 mm long, campanulate, with the 3-lobed style about as long as the corolla. The fruit is a top-shaped capsule, nodding, 3–10 mm long and 3-6 mm in diameter. The seeds are brown, shiny and ~1 mm long. Harebells bloom from June through August in dry woods, meadows and along streambanks in western South Dakota.

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  Campanulaceae: Campanulastrum americanum

  R. Neil Reese

  Campanulastrum americanum is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb. It grows from a slender, fibrous root system and does not spread vegetatively by rhizomes or stolons. In its first year, it forms a basal rosette of ovate to elliptical leaves (5 to 12 centimeters long and 3 to 8 centimeters wide), with long petioles (1 to 5 cm) and coarsely toothed margins. In its second year, a single, erect, and usually unbranched stem rises, ranging from 60–150 cm tall, hairless to sparsely hairy, and often tinged with purple near the base. Cauline leaves are alternate, Stem leaves are smaller, lanceolate to ovate, ranging from 2 to 7 centimeters long and 1 to 4 centimeters wide, sharply toothed, and gradually decreasing in size up the stem; petioles are shorter than on basal leaves or absent on upper leaves. Flowering occurs from June to September. The inflorescence is a loose, terminal raceme or panicle, with large, showy, star-shaped flowers. Flowers are bisexual, each with five narrow green five fused sepals forming a green calyx tube about 5 to 7 millimeters long and 2 to 4 millimeters wide. The blue to violet corolla is formed by five fused petals with a flared mouth and five lobes, each petal about 1.5 to 3 centimeters long and 6 to 12 millimeters wide, deeply divided into five spreading lobes. There are five stamens with fused anthers forming a tube, and a single pistil with a three-lobed style and stigma. The fruit is an upright, cylindrical to oblong capsule (7–12 mm), ripening in late summer to fall, containing many tiny, brown seeds (less than 1 mm). American bellflower is native to South Dakota, especially in moist woodlands, shaded streambanks, forest edges, and rich alluvial soils, and is most often found in the eastern and southeastern regions, particularly in wooded valleys and the Coteau des Prairies.

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  Cannabaceae : Humulus lupulus var. lupuloides

  R. Neil Reese

  Humulus lupulus is a perennial, dioecious vine with green, branched stems that grow to 10 m or more in length and 1-5 mm in diameter. The simple, opposite leaves have long petioles, from 2.5 to 12 cm in length. The blades are ovate, 5-15 cm long and 4-16 cm wide, unlobed or with 3-5 lobes, the lobes with sharply pointed tips. The margins are finely toothed, the upper leaf surface is mostly hairless, the lower surface having soft hairs along the veins and occasionally on the surface, along with the yellow glands that dot the lower surface. Male plants have panicles of flowers, 7-15 cm long and 1.5-5 cm wide, in branching clusters on short peduncles arising from upper leaf axils and at branch tips, each panicle with 20 to 100+ flowers. Each flower has a short pedicel, 5 yellow-green spreading sepals and 5 short stamens. Female plants have 10 to 50 pairs of flowers in 5-10 mm long catkin-like clusters at the tips of peduncles arising from leaf axils and branch tips. The sessile flowers are subtended by green to yellowish bracts, with 2 styles and no petals. The fruit are yellowish achenes that are surrounded by the enlarged bracts that create a cone-like structure 2-5 cm long and 2-3 cm in diameter. The green cone-like fruit ripen to straw-colored and eventually turn brown. Common hops bloom from July to September and are commonly found in moist thickets and deciduous woodlands along drainages in South Dakota.

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  Capparaceae: Cleome serrulata

  R Neil Reese

  Cleome serrulata is an erect, branched annual herb with smooth, waxy, unarmed stems, 20-150 cm tall. The alternate petiolate leaves are compound ternate, the 3 leaflets are entire, narrowly lanceolate, 2-6 cm long and 5-15 mm wide, the tips pointed. The leaves become simple as they approach the inflorescence. The flowers are in dense, many-flowered terminal racemes, subtended by narrow bracts, on pedicels up to 2 cm long. The raceme elongates as the fruit forms, with many flowers blooming in a rounded cluster at the top and fruit forming below. The 4 green to purple sepals are about 3-4 mm long, fused in the lower half, forming a bowl with 4 lobes. The 4 pink to purple (rarely white) petals are 8-12 mm long and constricted at the base (clawed). The 6 stamens are exerted 13-20 mm long. The fruit is an elongated cylindrical capsule, 2-8 cm long, 3-9 mm wide, slightly constricted between the seeds, with a narrow, elongated stalk, 11-23 mm long, and a pointed tip. Rocky Mountain bee plant blooms from June into August on prairies, in open woodlands and disturbed areas in all but the northeastern part of South Dakota.

  Synonym: Cleomella serrulata

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  Caprifoliaceae : Symphoricarpos occidentalis

  R. Neil Reese

  Symphoricarpos occidentalis is a woody perennial shrub with spreading, simple to branched stems, 30–100 cm growing from a creeping rhizome and forming large colonies. The younger branches are green to brown with a fine covering of hairs and the older branched have a thin gray bark that often splits, revealing a reddish-brown underlayer. The simple, opposite leaves are ovate, 2-6 cm long and 1-3.5 cm wide, the upper surface is hairless, dark green to blue green, the lower surface paler and usually with short, stiff hairs especially along the veins. The petioles are 2-7 mm long and the leaf margins are usually entire or have several large, blunt teeth. The inflorescence consists of short, narrow spikes of 6 to 20 sessile flowers, terminal or arising from leaf axils near the branch tips. The flowers have a 5-lobed calyx and a campanulate pale pink to nearly white 5-lobed corolla, 4–10 mm long, with the lobes spreading, as long or longer than the tube and often wider than long. The style is 3–8 mm long and the style and stamens are exserted. The fruit is a globose berry-like drupe, 6–9 mm long, containing 2 nutlets, going from green to white and then blackening as it progresses through the winter into the next spring. Western snowberry blooms from June into August in ravines, on open prairies, woods and hillsides throughout South Dakota.