On the way to South Dakota, we stopped at the Joseph Tauer SNA. 99% of the original natural prairies have been eliminated since the European arrival. This is one of the few remaining virgin prairies in Minnesota. I did this as a partial makeup for a field trip I missed for the Minnesota Master Naturalist Prairies & Potholes class, so these are intended for documentation vs art. 90+ and windy, so we didn’t stay very long. All the photos I took are available here. Some of the more notable ones are:
Prairie Rose (Rosa arkansana)
Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)
Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) – male (I’ve never seen one before this)
Lead plant (Amorpha canescens)
Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium). Native Americans used this to combat rattlesnake bites (!).
Gray-headed Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)


























































