28 NEBRASKAland • JULY 2018
Summer Wildflowers
of the Sandhills
Blooms on the Dunes
Photos and story by Gerry Steinauer, Botanist
F
rom many Sandhills dune tops, one can see prairie stretching
to the horizons. North America's largest sand dune field, the
wind-whipped Sandhills, covers more than 20,000 square miles of
north-central Nebraska, ranging from low and rolling to steep and
towering. The Sandhills is also our nation's most intact grassland
ecosystem – the wildflower-rich prairie, a vestige of times past.
LEFT: A member of the
aster family, nippleweed
(Thelesperma filifolium) is
common on dry, sandy and
gravelly soils on the Sandhills
periphery. The name refers to
the nipple-like shape of the
joined bracts found below the
petals.
RIGHT: In late spring and
early summer, colonies
of shell-leaf penstemon
(Penstemon grandiflorus)
can tint the dunes pink to
lavender. This species is
found in prairies nearly
statewide, preferring sandy
soils.
