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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 Myosotis scorpioides

  R. Neil Reese

  Myosotis scorpioides is a perennial, herbaceous forb featuring fibrous roots and creeping, stoloniferous rhizomes that allow it to spread across mud and shallow water. The plant reaches a height of 10 to 60 cm on lax, spreading, or decumbent to upright angular stems that regularly root at the lower nodes and are covered in fine, appressed hairs. Leaves have an alternate insertion, are simple and entire, and display a bright green to shiny dark green color. Individual leaves are oblong to oblanceolate, measuring 8 to 10 cm long and 1.3 to 2.5 cm wide. The upper and lower leaf surfaces are pubescent with short, flat, appressed hairs. Lower leaves narrow gradually toward the base into short, winged petioles, while upper cauline leaves are completely sessile. Flowering occurs continuously from May through September, with blossoms arranged in terminal, paired, helicoid or scorpioid cymes that uncoil as the flowers open. The sepals consist of a single fused calyx tube with 5 flat, triangular lobes that are significantly shorter than the main tube; the calyx measures roughly 2 to 5 mm long, has a green color, and is covered with straight, tight, non-hooked hairs. The petals are fused basally into a short tube that expands into 5 flat, spreading, rounded lobes forming a salverform corolla that is 6 to 10 mm wide; the petals are light sky blue with a distinct, raised yellow eye at the center that serves as a nectar guide. Hidden within the corolla tube are 5 stamens that are exceptionally small, short, and possess yellow anthers. The pistil consists of a deeply 4-lobed ovary with a single slender style that is noticeably long, terminating in a capitate, slightly 2-lobed stigma. The fruit is composed of 4 small, smooth, highly polished, dark brown to black nutlets, each measuring about 1.5 mm long, which reach full maturity between July and October. The true forget-me-not is not native to South Dakota; it was introduced from its native range in Europe and western Asia as an ornamental garden plant and can occasionally be found naturalized in localized wetland environments, cold springs, fens, and slow-moving stream borders across parts 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 drummondii

  R. Neil Reese

  Arabis drummondii is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb that develops from a small, non-woody caudex anchoring a dominant central taproot. The plant achieves a height of 15 to 80 Cm and produces 1 to 4 erect, slender, unbranched stems that are distinctly smooth, glaucous, and glabrous, except for sparse, sessile, pick-shaped (malpighiaceous) two-rayed hairs tightly appressed near the base. It has a compact basal rosette of leaves and alternate cauline leaves. The simple leaves are deep green to grayish; the basal leaves are narrowly oblanceolate or spoon-shaped, measuring 1.5 to 8 cm long and 1.5 to 14 mm wide, with entire or sparsely toothed margins. Their upper and lower surfaces are typically glabrous or faintly pubescent, tapering to winged petioles measuring 0.5 to 3 cm long, with no ciliate simple trichomes except rarely at the petiole base. Flowering occurs from May through July, presenting an erect, terminal raceme inflorescence that bears 8 to 35 (rarely up to 80) flowers. Each flower features 4 free, glabrous, oblong sepals measuring 3 to 5 mm long and 1 to 1.5 mm wide, with a green to purplish coloration and membranous margins. The 4 free petals are organized in a cross, measuring 7 to 11 mm long and 1.5 to 2.7 mm wide, with a narrowly oblanceolate shape and a color ranging from clean white to light pink or lavender. The androecium consists of 6 stamens arranged in a tetradynamous configuration (4 long inner stamens and 2 short outer stamens), which are 3 to 5 mm long with pale yellow, ellipsoid anthers. The single superior gynoecium contains 1 pistil featuring a 2-chambered ovary roughly 4 to 6 mm long at anthesis, topped by an obsolete or short, stout style under 0.5 mm long and a small, capitate, entire stigma. The fruit is an elongated, strictly erect, straight silique measuring 4 to 10 cm long and 1.5 to 3 mm wide, which turns from green to light brown at maturity between June and August. Drummond's Rockcress is native to South Dakota, where it is localized primarily within the western portion of the state, particularly throughout the Black Hills, occurring naturally in gravelly or rocky slopes, openings in conifer forests, and open meadows.

  Synonym: Boechera stricta

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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: Barbarea vulgaris

  R. Neil Reese

  Barbarea vulgaris is an introduced, herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial that grows from a stout, deep taproot system. In its mature flowering phase, the plant reaches a height of 30 to 90 cm. Its stems are erect, stout, prominently ribbed or angled, glabrous (smooth), light green to reddish-purple, and highly branched toward the upper apex. Leaf insertion is alternate. Basal leaves form a dense wintergreen rosette 7.5 to 15 cm long and 2.5 cm wide, shiny dark green color, with a deeply pinnatifid or lyrate division featuring 1 to 4 pairs of small, oblong lateral lobes, and a significantly larger, rounded or heart-shaped terminal lobe. Basal leaves feature a distinct petiole up to several cm long. The cauline leaves become progressively reduced upward, transitioning from short-petioled to entirely sessile, with their bases developing prominent clasping auricles that wrap tightly around the stem. Both the upper and lower leaf surfaces are completely smooth, hairless, and possess a distinctively waxy sheen. Flowering occurs in the spring and early summer, typically stretching from April through July. The inflorescence forms a terminal, highly concentrated raceme that elongates as fruit development progresses. Each individual flower contains 4 free sepals measuring 2 to 3 mm long and 0.5 to 1 mm wide, shaped oblong to narrowly lanceolate, and displaying a yellowish-green color with smooth, non-fused margins. The corolla consists of 4 free petals arranged in a characteristic cross-like pattern, measuring 4 to 8 mm long, with bright yellow, spatula-shaped blades that spread widely outward. Positioned within the petals are 6 tetradynamous stamens (four long inner stamens and two short outer stamens) measuring roughly 3 to 4 mm long with yellow, prominent anthers. The flower features a single pistil with a superior, narrow ovary, a persistent style measuring 1 to 3 mm, and a singular, capitate stigma. The fruit is an elongated, linear silique (capsule) measuring 10 to 45 mm long and roughly 1 mm wide, turning from a waxy green to a dry, tan-brown hue upon maturity. The siliques open by two valves from the base upward to shed light-brown, tiny, bitter-tasting seeds, reaching full maturity between July and September. Yellow rocket is not native to South Dakota; it is an introduced weed indigenous to Eurasia and North Africa. In South Dakota, it is naturalized across much of the state, concentrated in eastern and western disturbed zones—where it thrives in disturbed habitats such as agricultural crop fields, pastures, roadsides, ditches, and damp waste areas.

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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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  Brassicaceae: Sisymbrium altissimum

  R. Neil Reese

  Sisymbrium altissimum is a winter or summer annual, herbaceous forb that develops a deep, stout taproot. The plant typically reaches a height of 40 to 120 cm, supported by an erect, bushy stem that branches freely and distally; the stem is sparsely to densely hirsute with rough hairs at the base and transitions to glabrous and smooth above. Leaves exhibit an alternate insertion pattern, with lower basal leaves arranged in a rosette and upper cauline leaves transitioning along the stem. The leaves are simple but deeply pinnately divided, presenting a medium-green color. Basal leaves measure 5 to 20 cm long and 2 to 8 cm wide with 3 to 8 oblong, dentate lobes on each side, while the upper leaves are much smaller and feathery, containing narrow, linear to filiform lobes. The blade surfaces transition from hirsute on lower leaves to nearly glabrous on upper leaves, and petioles are present on lower leaves, 1 to 10 cm long, but shorten or become nearly absent above. Flowering occurs from April through September, producing elongated, loose, terminal racemes that can expand significantly as fruits develop. The flowers possess 4 free, oblong sepals measuring 4 to 6 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide. They are yellowish-green, spreading, and hooded or horned at the apex. The 4 free, spatulate petals form a characteristic cross shape and measure 6 to 10 mm long and 2.5 to 4 mm wide. They are pale yellow to occasionally cream-white with a distinct basal claw measuring 3.5 to 6 mm. Following the petals are 6 tetradynamous stamens (4 long filaments measuring up to 6 mm and 2 short filaments) with pale yellow, oblong anthers that are 1.5 to 2.2 mm long. The single, superior pistil features a short style measuring 0.5 to 2 mm long and a prominently 2-lobed stigma. The fruit is a narrowly linear, silique capsule measuring 4.5 to 9 cm long and 1 to 2 mm wide, which matures from green to a dry, tan or straw-brown color between July and September. Tall tumblemustard is not native to South Dakota; it is introduced from its native range in Eurasia but it is now naturalized statewide across South Dakota in disturbed areas, roadsides, pastures, cultivated fields, and degraded grasslands.

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  Brassicaceae: Thlaspi arvense

  R. Neil Reese

  Thlaspi arvense is a winter or summer annual, herbaceous, erect forb that anchors into the substrate via a slender, distinct taproot system. Mature specimens typically reach an average height of 10 to 80 cm, featuring stems that are single or branched at the upper half, distinctly ribbed or angled, smooth, and entirely glabrous throughout. Leaf insertion transitions dynamically, presenting a basal rosette that senesces early, followed by alternate cauline leaves along the length of the stem. The leaves are simple, bright green to yellowish green, measuring 2 to 10 cm in length and 0.5 to 2.5 cm in width; the blades vary structurally from obovate-oblong in basal forms to lanceolate or narrowly oval in cauline leaves. Both upper and lower leaf surfaces are completely glabrous, smooth, and lack hairs. The lower basal leaves taper into a short petiole, whereas mid-to-upper cauline leaves are strictly sessile, clasping the stem closely via prominent, arrow-shaped or ear-shaped basal lobes. Flowering occurs progressively from April through July, with individual blossoms clustered tightly into an unbranched terminal raceme inflorescence that elongates substantially as the fruit matures, extending from a few centimeters to over 20 cm in total length. Each flower contains 4 sepals, which are roughly 1.5 to 2.2 mm long and 0.5 to 1.0 mm wide, oblong-ovate, light green with pale membranous margins, entirely free from one another, and ascending to erect. The 4 petals are free, distinctly cruciform, spatulate to spoon-shaped with a narrow claw base, snowy white, measuring 2.5 to 4.5 mm in length and roughly 1.0 to 1.5 mm in width, easily exceeding the sepals in length. The androecium consists of 6 stamens (tetradynamous, with 4 long and 2 short), featuring filaments up to 2 mm long and small, yellow anthers. The gynoecium consists of a single compound pistil with a superior, deeply flattened green ovary, measuring roughly 1.5 to 2.5 mm wide, terminated by a very brief style under 0.3 mm and a small, capitate, weakly two-lobed stigma. The fruit is a highly distinctive, strongly flattened, dry silicle pod that is circular to broad-obovate, measuring 10 to 20 mm long and nearly as wide, marked by a broad, paper-like wing surrounding the seed cavity and a deep notch at the apex. The pods mature from bright green to a golden, pale brownish-yellow color between June and August. Field pennycress is not native to South Dakota; it is an introduced weed native to temperate Eurasia that has fully naturalized across every county of South Dakota. It is primarily found growing in highly disturbed habitats, including agricultural crop fields, neglected gardens, rangelands, roadsides, waste ground, and vacant urban lots.

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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.

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  Caryophyllaceae: Cerastium arvense ssp. strictum

  R Neil Reese

  Cerastium arvense ssp. strictum is a sprawling, mat-forming perennial herb, the flowering stems erect, 5-30 cm tall, with short simple to glandular hairs throughout. The small, simple, opposite, entire leaves are linear to narrowly oblong, 7-30 mm long and 1-5 mm wide on the flowering branches and generally smaller on the sprawling lateral branches. The inflorescence consists of terminal cymes with a 1-20 flowers on pedicels 5-30 mm long that generally curve downward as they age. The 5 green lance-elliptic sepals are 4-6 mm long and covered with glandular hairs. The petals are 1.5 to 2 times as long as the sepals, deeply cleft, white with grayish streaks and a yellowish throat. There are 10 stamens and 5 styles on the ovary. The fruit is initially a globose capsule that becomes cylindrical, 6-10 mm long when ripe. Prairie chickweed blooms from June to August in prairies, pastures and meadows in the northeastern corner and western edge of South Dakota.

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  Caryophyllaceae: Silene latifolia

  R. Neil Reese

  Silene latifolia is a biennial or short-lived perennial herb growing 30 to 90 cm tall from a thick, often woody taproot. There are usually several stems, erect, simple or branched below the inflorescence, and covered with sticky hairs, giving a somewhat rough texture. Leaves are opposite, simple, broadly ovate to lanceolate, 5 to 12 cm long and 2 to 6 cm wide, with entire or slightly toothed margins. The upper leaf surface is dark green and slightly hairy, while the lower surface is paler and also hairy. Petioles are short, typically less than 1 cm long, with the upper leaves often sessile. The inflorescence is a terminal or axillary cluster of white, five-petaled flowers about 20 to 30 mm in diameter. Flowers open in the afternoon into the evening from May through August. The plants are dioecious with male and female flowers are on separate plants. Each flower has five free, green to reddish sepals fused at the base and inflated, about 10 to 15 mm long and 3 to 5 mm wide, covered with sticky hairs. The petals are free, white, obovate, with two deep lobes at the tip, approximately 10 to 15 mm long and 5 to 7 mm wide. Male flowers have 10 stamens, pale yellow, that extend to or a little past the opening of the floral tube, with filaments 5 to 7 mm long and anthers 2 to 3 mm long. Female flowers have a pistil 5 to 6 mm long, with 5 styles that elongate and curl out over the collar. The fruit is a capsule about 8 to 12 mm long that ripens from July to September and opens by 10 teeth to release numerous small seeds. This species is native to Europe but naturalized in South Dakota, where it is found in disturbed sites, roadsides, fields, and open woods, scattered throughout the state.