Paul Rothrock 

Where does it grow? 
By Howard Webb 
Fellow INPS member Paul Rothrock 
occasionally walks through my 
neighborhood observing various 
gardens, and stops to look over 
my front yard prairie to see what is 
blooming. If | happen to be outside 
at these times, we end up in an 
enjoyable conversation. The last time 
he stopped by | asked him if sweet 
vernal grass (sold as Hierochloé 
odorata) and Maximilian sunflower 
(Helianthus maximiliani) were 
“natives.” | had picked up the sweet 
vernal grass from a local nursery and 
it has spread into the prairie. | was 
familiar with Maximillian sunflower 
and its profusion of branching 
flowers, as it was a common prairie 
species where | used to live in 
Missouri, but | was not sure it was 
common east of the Mississippi. 
Paul was not sure of the 
answer either, but suggested | 
consult Midwest Herbaria (https:/ 
midwestherbana.org). | knew of the 
website, but always thought of it as a 
more academic enterprise rather than 
something for the casual gardener. 
It turns out | was quite wrong, and in 
fact it has a number of uses for the 
Midwestern gardener. 
The search for Helianthus 
maximiliani turned up three records in 
the Bloomington area, all by Charles 
For me, this was a quick success -- | 
could see that the species is found 
in the area. The one historic record, 
Above: The non-native large sweet 
vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) though, was along a railroad right- 
has fragrant foliage and a vanilla-like of-way (as are most collections from 
taste. Do not confuse it with the equally Indiana) and another from a field 
fragrant Anthoxanthum hirtum, a native where one might expect disturbance. 
species of northern Indiana. This raises the possibility of spread by 
Below: The native range of Maximilian human activity and that it may not be 
sunflower, like many of our showy a locally native species. 
sunflowers, is obscure. Earliest |The search for sweet vernal grass 
collections from Indiana date to around proved more challenging. | started 
1927 (Deam’s earliest was 1930) and my search by using the common 
mostly were along railroads. name. As | typed in ‘sweet’ a long 
6 - Indiana Native Plant Society » Summer 2021 
B. Heiser, Jr. between 1948 and 1951. 

list of candidates appeared. But adding ‘vernal’ 
reduced the list to a more manageable list 
of eight. Of these, two species had Indiana 
specimens, namely large and northern sweet 
vernal grass. The former, | discovered, is a 
Eurasian introduction that is occasionally seen in 
southern Indiana while the latter is a conservative 
native grass that occurs in northernmost 
Indiana. Thanks to other website information 
(photos, descriptions, and links) | narrowed my 
grass down to the non-native species whose 
correct name is Anthoxanthum odoratum and 
not Hierochloé odorata. Given these results, 
| will limit the sweet vernal grass to the more 
ornamental part of my landscape. 
| found several useful strategies for searching: 
Using a scientific name is typically better 
than a common name. If you don’t know the 
scientific name, do a Google search on the 
common name. You will usually get some hits 
from Wikipedia. Checking seed catalogues like 
Prairie Moon (www.prairiemoon.com) or Missouri 
Wildflower Nursery (http:/mowildflowers.net) is 
another good way to get the scientific name. 
Refine your search by adding a state (and 
county). But also explore other functions such 
as checklists under the “Flora Projects” tab. 
These checklists link to a Golden Key that aids 
plant identification. 
If you get no results for a search, try 
something different. No results may mean the 
plant has not been found in the search area, or 
you may not have any results due to how you 
asked the question. If it is a North American 
plant, and you spell the scientific name correctly, 
you should get hits. 
Once you have search results, open the 
map link to see where specimens have been 
collected. This will show how close the plant has 
been found to where you live. 
Click on the map dot to bring up the specimen 
record for that location. Here you will find all the 
details of when and where the specimen was 
collected, along with a picture of the specimen 
image. Also use the scientific name to check out 
the information rich Species Pages. 
Check out step-by-step instructions for using 
Midwest Herbaria at httos:/herbanum.bio.indiana. 
edu/species-info/index. html. 
The website has a lot more capabilities than just 
Where? — continued at right 
