44 NEBRASKAland • JULY 2015
P
ioneers. Trailblazers. Colonizers.
Society celebrates those who
see an opportunity and grab it.
Individuals who identify a gap and fill
it. We call them nimble, adaptable,
bold and resourceful. Or at least we do
if they're people. If they're plants, we
usually call them weeds.
Plants are in constant competition
with each other for resources, and
they employ a variety of strategies
in that struggle. Some plants take
an incremental approach. They
move slowly but are difficult to
dislodge. Many of the most familiar
prairie grasses such as big bluestem,
switchgrass and buffalograss (not to
mention invasives such as smooth
brome, Kentucky bluegrass and reed
canarygrass) are in this "occupier"
Floral
Explosions
Story and photos by Chris Helzer
Prairie gentian is a very showy annual wet prairie plant. Floral explosions in wetlands
and low-lying sites often come after extended flooding or other events that suppress
the vigor of dominant grasses, sedges and rushes, leaving space for annuals such as
prairie gentian.
