Plant of the Week

Wild licorice
Glycyrrhiza lepidota
Pursh
other common names: licorice root, American licorice, sweet wood
Glycyrrhiza: from Greek glycys, meaning “sweet,” and rhiza, meaning “root”
Lepidota: meaning “scaled” or “scaly”
Legume family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition

Sunday, July 18: Robert & Linda Scarth in Iowa City

If you're anywhere near Iowa this weekend, please join us for the second annual Iowa City Book Festival, a three-day celebration of books, reading and writing presented by the University of Iowa Libraries on July 16, 17 and 18. The Book Festival will begin on Friday with an author dinner in the Main Library. Saturday is festival day in Gibson Square with booksellers, music, children's activities, food vendors, book arts demonstrations and readings and panel discussions. Sunday will be "A Day in the City of Literature." Local businesses of all kinds throughout Iowa City will participate with readings, special activities all day.

On Sunday July 18, as part of "A Day in the City of Literature," the Scarths will be presenting a program about their book Deep Nature: Photographs from Iowa in the auditorium (10 Macbride Hall) at the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History at 1 pm.

An Interview with Ann Johnson: Part 3

What advice would you give to beginning naturalists? What are the particular challenges of being a naturalist in the Midwest?
A beginning naturalist needs to feed on their natural curiosity. Usually the first step is finding some good books to assign a name to a critter, but before long the curious person begins to observe behavior, which only creates more questions and an opportunity to observe and find answers. The mysteries never end. I don’t consider being a naturalist in the Midwest a particular challenge but rather a unique opportunity. Although we might not have the environment for endemic species like one might find elsewhere, we have shown in the past few years that the Midwest is home to adventurers. What species are pushing the envelope to expand their populations our way? Is there a relationship between this expansion and climatic change? Are there species retractions related to these same issues?

What are your favorite natural areas in the Midwest? What areas do you return to constantly, and what's your favorite newly visited area?
Wow, that’s a tough question because my favorite is usually the last one I visited. We are lucky here in the Midwest to have such a variety of habitats within close driving distance no matter what your state of residence. I’ve always been somewhat partial to any area around the Mississippi River, although the boggy forests of northern Minnesota and the beautiful rivers of the Missouri Ozarks also have a lot of appeal. Some of my local favorites here in south central Iowa include many of the lesser-known county parks where few people visit and exciting discoveries await the adventurer.

Ann Johnson, Dragonflies and Damselflies in Your Pocket: A Guide to the Odonates of the Upper Midwest

Plant of the Week

False gromwell
Onosmodium occidentale Mackenz.
scientific name, 2008
Onosmodium molle Michx.
other common names: marbleseed
Onosmodium: named for its likeness to the genus Onosma—a word that means “smell of a donkey”
Occidentale: from the Latin occidentalis, meaning “western.” This refers to the fact that, unlike O. hispidissimum, which is also found in the area, this species does not range east of the tallgrass prairie.
Forget-me-not family: Boraginaceae

Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition

An Interview with Ann Johnson: Part 2

Tell us about the challenges of photographing dragonflies. How about the challenges of creating a laminated guide?
I really don’t consider myself a great photographer, so the images I have captured have been pure luck in getting good lighting and good composition. For the most part, success depends on just getting outdoors and making the most of your opportunities. With the advent of digital cameras, you can afford to just keep shooting and hope you have something when you get home. The greatest challenge in doing a laminated guide is to succinctly summarize the most important information. Those people I have managed to capture into the world of looking more seriously at dragonflies will no doubt find a need for more comprehensive information, but my intent in creating the laminated guide was to create an interest in these winged jewels.

What has changed in the outdoor world since your first days of enjoying and protecting it? What’s better, what’s worse?
Over the past twenty years or so, I have seen so much more activity in protecting natural areas for future generations by both the public and the private sectors. Wetlands have been restored, and grasslands and woodlands have been protected and managed for species diversity. Soil and water conservation has moved further forward in the general consciousness. But what has happened to the birds? When I was a kid, migration was a real natural phenomenon with trees full of warblers and vireos. Today the numbers of individuals seem to have dropped dramatically. Did we wait too long?

Ann Johnson, Dragonflies and Damselflies in Your Pocket: A Guide to the Odonates of the Upper Midwest

Plant of the Week

Locoweed
Oxytropis lambertii Pursh
other common names: crazyweed, Lambert crazyweed, stemless locoweed, purple locoweed
Oxytropis: from Greek oxys, meaning “sharp,” and tropis, meaning “keel,” for the pointed keel of the flower, which distinguishes this genus from Astragalus
Lambertii: in honor of Aylmer Bourke Lambert, from whose living plant collection Pursh described this species
Legume family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)



Photograph by Thomas Rosburg, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest, Second Edition

An Interview with Ann Johnson: Part 1

You’ve described yourself as a birder gone bad; in other words, you've switched loyalties from birds to dragonflies. How did this happen?
Actually, that’s my little attempt at humor. I am still very much a birder. Most birders, however, find the lull in activity between the end of breeding season and fall migration to be a perfect season to still get outdoors and really pay special attention to other critters in this big old world of ours. Butterflies and dragonflies, more winged creatures, are a logical extension of a birder’s curiosity. Some of my birding friends roll their eyes while others have jumped on the bandwagon and frequently send me photos to help with identification. Birders really are expanding their horizons.

What other insects or plants or animals are you especially interested in?
Most of my life I have been a birder, and birds will always have a special place in my life. The expansion to learning about the Odonata has also triggered a new awareness of such things as butterflies, robber flies, bees, etc. The summer I spent working on a project with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources opened my eyes to the world of herps, and the field techs actually got a photo of me holding a snake. I never thought that would happen but I now find myself trying to identify snakes, frogs, and anything else I encounter. Mammals are also fascinating, and I am still trying to see my first Iowa bobcat. Someday I really want to encounter a mountain lion, preferably at a safe distance!

Ann Johnson, Dragonflies and Damselflies in Your Pocket: A Guide to the Odonates of the Upper Midwest