Spring Creek Prairie
Scientific and Natural Area

Spring Creek Prairie SNA
       
County

Goodhue

  Goodhue County
GPS

N44 33.088
W92 35.415

 
Size

145 acres

 
Habitat

Bedrock bluff prairie

Hiking Trails

None


Links

Minnesota DNR


Comments

The prairie portion of this site is small. It is on and just below a bluff at the west end of this SNA.


Images Click on an image for a larger view.
  Cul-de-sac Parking   Entry   Woods    
               
  Bluff Prairie   Bluff Prairie   Bluff Prairie    
               

Birds

 

 
 

black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

gray catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)

hairy woodpecker (Picoides villosus)

black-capped chickadee

 

     

Fungi

 

 
 

gray false death cap (Amanita citrina f. mappa)

 

gray false death cap
     

Insects and Arachnids

 
 

eastern daddy-long-legs (Phalangium opilio)

eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

monarch (Danaus plexippus)

pelecinid wasp (Pelecinus polyturator)

eastern tiger swallowtail
     

Mammals

 
 

whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

 
     

Plants

One of the largest known populations of Louisiana bladderpod (Lesquerella ludoviciana), a Minnesota endangered species, grows here.

Grasses that can be found on this site, along with those listed below, include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium), sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula var. curtipendula), hairy grama (Bouteloua hirsuta var. hirsuta), plains muhly (Muhlenbergia cuspidata), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans), prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), and June grass (Koeleria macrantha).

Other plants that can be found on this site, along with those listed below, include northern maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum), bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), long-bearded hawkweed (Hieracium longipilum), red-whisker clammy-weed (Polanisia dodecandra ssp. dodecandra), green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), prairie spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis var. occidentalis), and birdfoot violet (Viola pedata).

Minnesota DNR Plant List

 
 

American basswood (Tilia americana)

American germander (Teucrium canadense)

black medick (Medicago lupulina)

bracted spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata)

butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp. interior)

Canada moonseed (Menispermum canadense)

Canadian horseweed (Conyza canadensis var. canadensis)

candle anemone (Anemone cylindrica)

common agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala)

common burdock (Arctium minus)

common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

common mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

common plantain (Plantago major)

common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)

common St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum)

crown vetch (Coronilla varia)

cylindric blazing star (Liatris cylindracea)

eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana)

flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)

grooved yellow flax (Linum sulcatum var. sulcatum)

harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)

hoary vervain (Verbena stricta)

Indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)

June grass (Koeleria macrantha)

leadplant (Amorpha canescens)

Missouri gooseberry (Ribes missouriense)

northern pin oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis)

paper birch (Betula papyrifera)

pointed-leaved tick trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum)

prairie coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata)

prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

prairie milkweed (Asclepias hirtella)

prairie sagewort (Artemisia frigida)

purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea var. purpurea)

quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)

Queen Anne’s lace (Daucus carota ssp. carota)

red clover (Trifolium pratense)

rough false pennyroyal (Hedeoma hispida)

scouring rush horsetail (Equisetum hyemale var. affine)

stinging nettle (Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis)

tall cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta ssp. arguta)

Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum var. virginianum)

western poison ivy (Toxicodendron rydbergii)

western ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya)

white oak (Quercus alba)

white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima var. altissima)

wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)

woodbine (Parthenocissus vitacea)

yellow goat’s beard (Tragopogon dubius)

American germander

 

 

 

 

 

common milkweed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

common St. Johnswort

 

 

 

 

 

Indian hemp

 

 

 

 

 

northern pin oak

 

 

 

 

 

Queen Anne’s Lace

 

 

 

 

 

tall cinquefoil

 

 

 

 

 

western poison ivy

 

 

 

 

 

white snakeroot

 

 

 

 

 

wild geranium

     

Reptiles

Blue racer (Coluber constrictor), a Minnesota special concern species, milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum), and eastern garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) live among the outcrops on this site.

 
     
     

Visits

08/02/2008

   

 

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