The document is the Fall 2005 newsletter of the Minnesota Native Plant Society. It provides information on the Society's monthly meetings and programs, including an upcoming winter botany field trip. It also discusses efforts to preserve the endangered Karner blue butterfly through restoring its habitat of oak savannas and wild lupine. Additionally, it announces the availability of a new CD-ROM plant identification system and previews upcoming articles on prairie plants and moonseed vine.

1. Minnesota Plant Press
The Minnesota Native Plant Society Newsletter
Volume 25 Number 1 Fall 2005
Monthly meetings
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
Wild lupine has key role
Visitor Center, 3815 American Blvd. East
Bloomington, MN 55425-1600 in saving endangered
952-854-5900
6:30 p.m. — Building east door opens
6:30 p.m. — Refreshments,
Karner blue butterfly
information, Room A Wild lupine, Lupinus perennis, is the only plant eaten by the
7 – 9 p.m — Program, society business caterpillars of the endangered Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa
7:30 p.m. — Building door is locked samuelis. Efforts to preserve the Karner blue are underway in
9:00 p.m. — Building closes Minnesota, which is at the western edge of the butterfly’s traditional
range. Today it can be found in two valleys in the Whitewater Wildlife
Programs Management Area near Winona. Until the early 1980s, a colony of
The MNPS meets the first Thursday in Karner blues also existed alongside a gravel road in Cedar Creek
October, November, December, February, Natural History Area in Anoka County. Then the wild lupine was
March, April, May, and June. Check the scraped off by a grader during a road improvement project, and the
Web site for more program information. butterflies vanished.
The topside of the male Karner blue is silvery or dark blue with
Nov. 3: “Plant Communities of the narrow black margins; the female’s topside is grayish brown to blue,
Mississippi River Gorge,” by Karen with irregular bands of orange crescents inside the narrow black border.
Schik, ecologist with Friends of the They were named for the vanished upstate New York hamlet of Karner,
Mississippi River and MNPS board where millions of the butterflies once flocked. The inch-wide insects
member. Seed Exchange. Labels should were once plentiful in a narrow swath of oak savanna and pine barrens
include your name, common and scientific in 12 states from Maine to Minnesota and in Canada. They are now
found in isolated pockets in seven states. Wisconsin is a leader in the
names of plant, seed origin (nursery name
preservation efforts.
if plant was purchased, or city/county
In Minnesota, current efforts to preserve the Karner blue are focused
location) and habitat (prairie, savanna, on restoring oak savannas that have open patches in tree canopies
wetland, woodland). and sandy soil where wild lupine thrives. Jaime Edwards, a nongame
Dec. 1: “Moonwort Madness, Part II,” wildlife specialist with the Minnesota DNR, has been working in the
by Cindy Johnson-Groh, biologist, Whitewater area for about five years, endeavoring to recreate the
habitat that Karner blues prefer. She said that Minnesota may have
Gustavus Adolphus College. This is an started its conservation efforts too late. “We’re really playing catch-
update of her 1999 program on this up to get the habitat in shape before we lose the butterfly,” she said.
interesting Minnesota fern. Minnesota preservation efforts began in the 1990s, when Cynthia
Feb. 2: To be announced Lane studied the Karner blue for four years while pursuing a doctorate
in conservation biology at the University of Minnesota. She learned
New MNPS Web site the insect’s life cycle, which includes two generations a year, and the
www.mnnps.org varied habitat of sun, partial shade
e-mail: contact@mnnps.org and dense shade that it requires. In this issue
MNPS Listserve For additional information, go Flora ID CD-ROM ..............2
Send a message that includes the word to www.fws.gov/Midwest/ Winter botany field trip .......2
“subscribe” or “unsubscribe” and your Endangered/ or to Maja
President’s column ..............3
name in the body of the message to: Beckstrom’s article in the Sept.
mn-natpl-request@stolaf.edu 25, 2005, St. Paul Pioneer Press. Moonseed (Plant Lore )........3

2. Plant identification system on MNPS Board of
CD-ROM is available to Directors
President: Jason Husveth,
members at discounted price president@mnnps.org
by Ron Huber flora@ucinet.com about once a year Vice-President: Scott Milburn,
vp@mnnps.org
A new expert identification system for any updates, which he will send
for Minnesota plants is available on free. Secretary: Karen Schik,
secretary@mnnps.org
CD-ROM and may be purchased at
a discount by members of the Treasurer: Ron Huber,
Minnesota Native Plant Society.
Winter botany field treasurer@mnnps.org
Flora ID Northwest, Minnesota is trip is Nov. 12 at Ken Arndt, board member,
karndt@mnnps.org
an interactive key developed by Maplewood Mary G. Brown, board member,
Bruce Barnes that allows the user to
by Ken Arndt mbrown@mnnps.org
identify a plant using any number of Join MNPS President Jason
different characteristics, such as Husveth and MNPS Board Member Daniel Jones, board member,
leaves, stem, inflorescence, flower or Ken Arndt for a winter botany field djones@mnnps.org
fruit. It has color photos of almost trip at the Maplewood Nature Center Shirley Mah Kooyman, board
all Minnesota native and introduced Saturday, Nov. 12. We will be member, skooyman@mnnps.org
naturalized plant species. Detailed leading a walk through the nature Sandy McCartney, board
descriptions and geographic ranges center grounds to learn about the member, smccarntney@mnnps.org
for each species are included, as well many native wildflowers, grasses, Program Coordinator: Linda
as some line drawings. For a sedges, trees, and shrubs and will Huhn, 612-374-1435
description and demo, go to: focus on the winter aspects of
vegetation, natural communities, and Listserv Coordinator: Charles
www.xidservices.com/FID Umbanhowar, ceumb@stolaf.edu
vegetation associations.
The CDs (for Windows 98 through Field Trips:
The field trip will start at 9 a.m.
XP) are available for purchase, by fieldtrips@mnnps.org
and go until noon. We will meet
members only, through the inside at the nature center, where we Memberships:
Minnesota Native Plant Society for will learn about the history of the memberships@mnnps.org; 651-
$70. The regular price is $100. A Maplewood Nature Center and 739-4323
portion of the proceeds will support briefly talk about the ins and outs of Historian/Archives:
the society. winter botany before we venture president@mnnps.org
A similar key for plants in the Great outside. Technical or membership
Plains covers a much broader area. Depending on the time and amount inquiries: contact@mnnps.org
MNPS members may purchase it for of ground we cover at the nature Minnesota Plant Press editor:
$150. Multiple-site licenses are also center, we may drive to Jim’s Prairie, Gerry Drewry, phone, 651-463-
available. The CDs are published by which is located a short distance from 8006; plantpress@mnnps.org
Flora ID Northwest, LLC. Maplewood Nature Center. Many
consider Jim’s Prairie to be the finest Prairie plants on the Web
Both the Minnesota and Great Plants in Prairie Communities is a
wet prairie in Ramsey County.
Plains Flora ID keys will be available University of Minnesota Web site. It
Although only five acres in size, it
at MNPS regular monthly meetings has more than 150 different plants contains information compiled by
through Treasurer Ron Huber. Both throughout the preserve. MNPS member Roy Robison,
CDs are also available through the Donald B. White, and Mary H.
mail, but add $2 each for shipping. For sign-up information and Meyer about three typical prairie
directions, go to our Web site at communities — wet, mesic, and dry
For mail order, contact Ron at
www.mnnps.org or e-mail Jason at — and the most significant plants
huber033@umn.edu or president@mnnps.org to sign up in found in each of them. Go to
huber@mnnps.org advance. Space will be limited to 30 w w w. e x t e n s i o n . u m n . e d u /
Bruce Barnes suggests that society members, so sign up today distribution/horticulture/
purchasers contact him at to reserve your spot. DG3238.html
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3. From the president Plant Lore
Welcome back to all of our society’s new Web site by Thor Kommedahl
members to the beginning of another (www.mnnps.org) and have this What is moonseed?
membership year of the Minnesota information more readily available Moonseed, also called Canada
Native Plant Society. I am pleased for the society’s 25th anniversary in moonseed, is Menispermum
to report that we continue to grow in 2007. Shirley Mah Kooyman and canadense, a member of the
membership and as an organization, Linda Huhn are investigating the moonseed family.
thanks to an active board of directors possibility of establishing a society How did it get its name?
and the contributions of our scholarship to benefit Minnesota The bluish-black fruits (drupes)
membership. students of botany, ecology, and each contain a single, crescent moon-
What a fantastic summer it has related areas of study. shaped, flat seed, hence the name
been to be a member of the We always welcome the ideas of Menispermum, which means
Minnesota Native Plant Society! Our our members, and we invite all of our “moonseed” from the Greek words.
members really stepped up and membership to participate in the What does the plant look like?
offered some exceptional many programs, field trips, and It is a climbing, woody vine up to
opportunities to visit natural special events we are planning for the 12 feet long. Leaves have three to
communities throughout the state. coming year. Please feel free to send seven shallow lobes, and the petiole
On behalf of the society, we thank your ideas and suggestions to me at is attached to the blade above the leaf
Hannah Texler, Paul Bockenstedt president@mnnps.org. I look base. The flowers are small and
(MNPS) and the Iowa Native Plant forward to seeing you all at the whitish. Some have mistakenly
Society, Karen Schik, Barb Delaney, November native seed exchange, identified moonseed as wild grape
and Ken Arndt for leading outings to winter field trips, and future because of the resemblances of
Minnesota’s Scientific and Natural meetings. leaves, fruits, and vines. Leaves are
Areas and destinations on the Jason Husveth, president, Minnesota more obtuse than grape leaves.
Minnesota-Iowa border. Thanks to Native Plant Society Remember, wild grape vines have
Doug Mensing for his effective tendrils.
service as field trip coordinator in Master Naturalists
The first Minnesota Master Where does it grow?
2005, and to Ken Arndt and Mary It is native to Minnesota in rich,
Brown for serving as coordinators for Naturalist Program is underway.
This volunteer program is similar to moist thickets and along stream
2006. banks.
the Minnesota Master Gardener
Our board and officers are working Is it edible or medicinal?
Program. Three locally taught 40-
on some interesting projects to move The yellow root extract once
hour courses are: Big Woods, Big
the society forward in 2006. served as a substitute for sarsaparilla
Rivers, started this fall; Prairies and
Planning for the spring 2006 in soft drinks. Early on, it was used
Potholes, starting in 2006;
symposium is underway. It is as a diuretic and laxative and even
Northwoods, Great Lakes, starting in
pointing to a location south of the listed then as an official drug in the
Twin Cities, addressing the ecology 2007. Additional information is at
www.minnesotamasternaturalist.org US Pharmacopeia.
of vegetation in the Driftless Area of
southeastern Minnesota. But is it poisonous?
Grey Cloud Dunes SNA Yes. Fruits and seeds are
The board is working on designing 2005 marked the first year of the poisonous. Cases of poisoning, with
and printing our very first Native society’s stewardship role at Grey some fatalities, have been reported
Plant Society T-shirt in the coming Cloud Dunes SNA in Cottage Grove. from children confusing moonseed
months, which should serve to In cooperation with the DNR, we with wild grapes (which are edible).
increase our exposure within our hosted three work events and one The poison is an alkaloid that affects
communities and social circles. Scott prairie hike. The prairie hike was the the nervous system. Menispermum is
Milburn and Jason Husveth will be best-attended event. Four hard-core in the family of plants that produce
participating in workshops through souls worked on honeysuckle tubocurarine, the chief ingredient of
the Science Museum of Minnesota removal in February, about 15 people curare — the South American arrow
(funded by the National Science stacked brush and cut large trees with poison.
Foundation) to document the hand saws in March, and four
Society’s 23-year history and to intrepid volunteers pulled spotted Would anyone actually cultivate
preserve the many archival materials knapweed on a “slightly warm” this plant?
on loan from our many members. We evening in July. Many thanks to all Yes, it is cultivated outdoors for its
plan to incorporate much of this members who helped. We hope to foliage. It can be propagated from
archival information into the increase our participation in 2006. seeds and by cuttings.
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4. Minnesota Native Plant Society
University of Minnesota
250 Biological Sciences Center
1445 Gortner Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
Fall 2005
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