INTRODUCTION 



ILLINOIS WILD FLOWERS is a representative, though not com- 

 plete, collection of photographs of our native wild flowers, most of which 

 wore made by Doctor John \'oss. They are arranged according to sea son, 

 beginning with the opening of the earliest flowers in the year — a period 

 \\ hicli may be winter one day and spring the next, yet is neither. Then 

 come the abundant flowers of the spring woods and swamps. This is the 

 first peak of abundant bloom; during the blossoming season there are 

 several such peaks. By early June there is a waning. The early flowers 

 are past; they are making seeds, storing food in roots and bulbs; the 

 leaves in many are turning yellow. By June, flowers are coming to fields 

 and roadsides and there are few or none to be found in woods where 

 shade is deep. 



During the summer, the majority of flowers bloom in the broad 

 and sunny places. The saiidy wastes, the swamps, the uplands, the fields, 

 the roadsides, all have flowers. A peak of bloom comes in mid-summer, 

 then it wanes, then rises to a climax in late August and Septeml)er when 

 the flowers of the prairie roadsides are at their best. The forests now 

 have their second great burst of bloom as the woodland goldenrods, asters, 

 snakeroots, Joe-pye weed, bellflower, and many others blossom. Then the 

 season wanes, yet blossoming does not entirely cease until the weather 

 is below freezing. The un(|uenchable chickweed may be found in bloom 

 at any month in the year. The witch hazel blooms in September, October, 

 and Novenfl)er as the last spectacular flower of the year. 



The flowers which are found from one end of Illinois to the other 

 cover a distance of about four hundred miles. This stretch of latitude is 

 equivalent to that lying between Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and 

 Portsmouth, Virginia, and the plants vary almost as much as those grow- 

 ing from New Hampshire to Virginia. Illinois has northern wild flowers; 

 it has southern wild flowers; it has flowers from the western plains; 

 flowers native to the east. The combination is unique ; no other state can 

 claim the exact mixture and resultant magnificence in wild flowers. Its 

 flowers are as individual and as much a part of the character of Illinois 

 as the trees, cities, farms, and animals of the Prairie State. 



"Illinois Wild Flowers" was made possible through tlio kindness 

 and assistance of Doctor George D. Fuller, whose critical comments and 

 additions to the numuscript are highly valued; Doctor Blanche JMcAvoy, 

 Illinois State Nornurl University, for reading and criticizing a portion 

 of the manuscript; Doctor Glen Winterringer, assistant botanist at the 

 Illinois State Museum for help in identifying plants; Herman Eifert for 

 assistance in collecting additional plants to be photographed : and to 

 photographers EusseirCarter (on pp. 54, 131, 177, 185, 193, 208, 209, 

 221, 226, 230) ; Charles Hodge (on pp. 54, 131, 208) ; Gilbert Wright 

 (on pp. 228, 233) : and V. S. Eifert (on pp. 29, 57, 121, 167, 179, 184, 

 194, 196, 197, 202, 203. 210. 216, 219, 220. 222, 223, 224, 225, 227, 231, 

 232, 234, 235, 236) for additions to John Voss's collection to fill gaps 

 in the seasonal sequence. To all of these and more, the author and the 

 Illinois State Museum offer grateful thanks. 



Because the flowei's in this l)ook ap]M'ar according to season and time 

 of bloom, a check list ot plants found here, aiTanged according to families 

 in the Flora of Illinois by G. N. Jones, is included (pp. 238-245) for 

 those familiar with th(M'r scientific names. 



Virginia S. Eifert 

 Springfield 

 1 April 1951 



