ABOUT THE GUIDE
The goal of this guide is to help identify native plants at various stages of growth.
Color photos illustrate seed, seedling,
juvenile, and flowering stages, in addition
to a distinguishing characteristic. Brief text
provides additional identification help.
Images of the seedling stage depict the
appearance of a single cotyledon (first leaf)
in grasses and a pair of cotyledons in broad-
leaved plants, followed by photos of the first
true leaves within three weeks of growth in
a controlled environment.
Images of the juvenile stage portray the
continued development of a seedling with more
fully formed leaves within the first eight weeks
of shoot development .
Images of the distinguishing characteristics show a
specific biological feature representative of the plant.
Please note that seed images do not represent the actual size
of the seed. The scale is in 1/16-inch increments.
Species List
Big Bluestem – Andropogon gerardii
Black-Eyed Susan – Rudbeckia hirta
Blue Lobelia – Lobelia siphilitica
Butterfly Milkweed – Asclepias tuberosa
Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis
Compass Plant – Silphium laciniatum
Culver’s Root – Veronicastrum virginicum
Flowering Spurge – Euphorbia corollata
Foxglove Beard Tongue – Penstemon digitalis
Golden Alexanders – Zizia aurea
Gray-headed Coneflower – Ratibida pinnata
Illinois Bundleflower – Desmanthus illinoensis
Leadplant – Amorpha canescens
Little Bluestem – Schizachyrium scoparium
New England Aster – Aster novae-angliae
Obedient Plant – Physostegia virginiana
Ohio Spiderwort – Tradescantia ohiensis
Oxeye False Sunflower – Heliopsis
helianthoides
Pale Purple Coneflower – Echinacea pallida
Partridge Pea – Chamaecrista fasciculata
Pitcher Sage – Salvia azurea
Prairie Blazing Star – Liatris pycnostachya
Prairie Coreopsis – Coreopsis palmata
Purple Coneflower – Echinacea purpurea
Purple Prairie Clover – Dalea purpurea
Rattlesnake Master – Eryngium yuccifolium
Rough Blazing Star – Liatris aspera
Rough Dropseed – Sporobolus compositus