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Plants of The Lake Helena Wildlife Management Area: A Field Guide

This document provides descriptions of 14 plant species found in the Lake Helena Wildlife Management Area, including their identifying characteristics and where they can be found around the lake and surrounding wetland areas. Each plant entry includes its scientific classification and brief details about its appearance, origin, and optimal growing conditions. Locations mentioned for finding the different plants include the shores of the lake and irrigation ditches, canals, and streams flowing into the lake.

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59 views10 pages

Plants of The Lake Helena Wildlife Management Area: A Field Guide

This document provides descriptions of 14 plant species found in the Lake Helena Wildlife Management Area, including their identifying characteristics and where they can be found around the lake and surrounding wetland areas. Each plant entry includes its scientific classification and brief details about its appearance, origin, and optimal growing conditions. Locations mentioned for finding the different plants include the shores of the lake and irrigation ditches, canals, and streams flowing into the lake.

Uploaded by

ehystad
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Plants of the Lake

Helena Wildlife
Management Area
A field guide
Marshelder - Iva xanthifolia
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Dicots -
• Order - Polygonales
• Family - Polygonaceae
• This plant thrives is moist soils and
can be found all over North
America. This perennial plant grows
to a maximum height of 90 cm. The
leaves are narrow and grow in pairs
of opposite sides of the plant. The
tops of the stems are covered by
clusters of small flowers.
• Look for this plant in the sandy soil
along the shores of Silver Creek
between the water’s edge and the
groves of sandbar willows.
Watercress - Rorippa
nasturtium-aquaticum
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Dicots -
• Order - Capparales
• Family - Brassicaceae
• This plant is another nonnative plant
that grows in wetlands. This plant
originated from Europe and Asia, and
was first found in the the Great Lakes
region in the US. This plant can grow
to heights of 50-120 cm tall and get
small white flowers in the spring. This
plant is harvested and eaten, and has
a “tangy, peppery flavor.”
• This plant grows in the irrigation
stream that flows into Lake Helena.
Look for this plant in the irrigation
ditch along the roadway to the lake.
Rough Bentgrass -
Agrostis scabra
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Monocots -
• Order - Cyperales
• Family - Poaceae
• This grass grows to a height
of 2-3 feet tall when fully
mature. Rough Bentgrass is
a bunchgrass and can be
found growing along shores
of the lake and the streams
that flow into the lake in the
shallow, saturated soils
along the water’s edge.
• Look for this grass along the
waters edge.
Meadow Foxtail -
Alopecurus pratensis
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Monocots -
• Order -
• Family - Poaceae
• This grass can grow to heights of
up to over a meter tall. The
leaves of this plant are about 5
mm wide. This plant flowers in
late spring, and then again in
early fall. This grass is another
nonnative species. This grass
originates from Europe and Asia.
• Look for this plant along the
edge of the lake, and along the
edges of the irrigation canals
going into the Lake.
Brook-pimpernell -
Veronica anagallis-
aquatica
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Dicots
• Order - Scrophulariales
• Family - Scrophulariaceae
• This biennial (or sometimes
perennial) plant is an exotic
(not native) plant to Montana,
but is found as a native plant
through much of the unites
states. The plant grows along
streams and rivers. The plant
has narrow leaves that grow in
pairs opposite one another.
Look for this plant along the
shores of the irrigation canal
along the road to the Wildlife
Management Area.
Water Sedge - Carex
aquatilis
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Monocots -
• Order - Cyperales
• Family - Cyperaceae
• This rhizomatous perennial can grow
to heights of between 10 and 40
inches in height. This plant grows
primarily in wetlands where the
water is 1-3 inches deep, but will die
in depths of 25 inches. The
waterfowl that nest in the Lake
Helena Wildlife Preserve use the
rhizome and the seeds as food.
• Look for this plant along the small
irrigation stream along the road
from the parking lot to Lake Helena.
Creeping Spikerush -
Eleocharis palustris
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Monocots -
• Order - Cyperales
• Family - Cyperaceae
• This plant grows along wetlands
spanning from the West coast of
the USA east to Michigan and south
to Louisiana. This plant has a dense
root mass that can reach depths of
more than 40 cm into the soil.
Creeping Spikerush can grow 1.2 m
tall and the height depends on the
water level of the wetland. The
plant will continue to grow in order
to keep the heads out of the water if
the water level of the wetland rises.
• Look for this plant along the shores
of Lake Helena, where the roots
might be underwater.
Broadleaf Cattail - Typha
latifolia
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Monocots -
• Order - Typhales
• Family - Typhaceae
• The broadleaf cattail has flat
leaves, 6-23 mm wide. This
plant grows in marshy areas
all over the United States.
The broadleaf cattail flowers
in late summer. The plant
can grow to a height of 5-10
feet tall.
• Look for the large field of
cattails along the eastern
edge of Lake Helena.
Sandbar Willow - Salix
exigua
• Division - Angiosperms
• Class - Salicales
• Family - Salicaceae
• This plant is a shrub in the
willow family that occupies
shores of streams, lakes or
rivers throughout the Northeast
US and the Great Plains. This
suckering plant readily forms
thickets. It likes areas with lots
of water. The shrub can grow to
heights of 20 feet. The leaves of
this plant are narrow with
serrated edges.
• Look for this plant along the
shores of Silver Creek just
beyond the field of Cattails

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