Contents

Map

Images

Discussion

Map

The red line and arrows show the path I took when taking the images below.

Images

The images below are of locations where Crown Vetch is being controlled at Palatine Prairie.

Wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) impacted by herbicide over spray.

Crown vetch (Securigera varia) hiding in the grass.

A bare area where crown vetch control has left only exposed soil.

The only Lysimachia ciliata I saw showing some herbicide impacts (curling leaves).

Prairie Dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum) and Golden Alexander’s (Zizia aurea) showing impacts from spraying.

I think this is early goldenrod (Solidago juncea) along with prairie dock showing severe herbicide impacts.

Herbicide impacted crown vetch.

Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and other plants showing impacts.

Blazing Star (Liatris species) showing impacts. Areas becoming bare of vegetation.

Rosinweed (Silphium integrifolium) showing herbicide impacts.

Herbicide impacted crown vetch and wild bergamot. Grasses appear to not have been affected by the herbicide spraying.

White Lady’s-slipper orchid (Cypripedium candidum)

Pasture Rose (Rosa carolina) appearing to have been killed by spraying.

Herbicide killed (?) white lady’s-slipper orchid.

Spraying creating bare soil and impacting starry false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum stellatum).

Impacts to wild bergamot, rosinweed, grass-leaved goldenrod (Euthamia sp.), blazing star, rattlesnake master, and others.

Area becoming bare soil with weedy species colonizing.

More bare ground and weedy species colonizing. False starry Solomon’s seal showing herbicide damage.

Dead looking white lady’s slipper orchids with monitoring tags.

A lot of damage from spraying.

Pasture rose looking killed and other plants showing damage.

Dogbane (Apocynum sp.) looking killed and wide-spread spray damage.

White lady’s-slipper showing some damage but still appearing robust. Did it survive because most of the herbicide was captured by the canopy of crown vetch leaves?

Wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) and rattlesnake master showing damage. Crown vetch visible in rear of the image.

Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) impacted by herbicide spray.

Discussion

I want to let the images do the speaking. Conservation is all about quality. This can be measured by rarity, FQI, or in this case controlling a target invasive species without harming other organisms in the ecosystem. There are control methods that will cause less damage than what is shown above. Although, they are much more time-consuming. See the blog post below for one method to control crown vetch that would greatly reduce off-target damage.

Draft Hosah Workday 6/14/2025