Flint Hills Trees, Vines, Sedges, and Rushes

Image Credits

The images in the photo galleries below (unless otherwise noted) are credited to Mike Haddock, Agriculture Librarian and Chair of the Sciences Department at Kansas State University Libraries and editor of the website www.kswildflower.org.

Tallgrass Prairie Trees and Vines

Trees, vines, and other woody plant species thrive on the tallgrass prairie in the deeper soils, more consistent moisture, and protection from fire found most readily in low areas along streams and rivers and around springs and seeps. Not only does the forest of trees provide food and shelter for wildlife in its canopy of branches and leaves, the forest floor itself teems with wildlife, who depend upon what falls from above and decomposes on the ground below for their survival.

TREES AND VINES CHECKLIST BY COMMON NAME

To find more information:
1. Highlight the name of the plant you wish to know more about.
2. Right-click with a mouse or choose "Look Up" on a mobile device and select a search option.
3. Depending on your browser and search option, a sidebar or new window will appear with more sources of information about your selected plant.

Tallgrass Prairie Sedges and Rushes

Sedges and rushes, while more grass-like than tree-like, are often found where trees are found, in areas where water is more plentiful and soils are deeper. The phrase “sedges have edges and rushes are round” helps to differentiate these plant types from grasses, which have jointed stems. Sedges and rushes provide food for a host of wetland and woodland wildlife, such as ducks, beaver, and deer, as well as for livestock.

SEDGES AND RUSHES CHECKLIST BY COMMON NAME

To find more information:
1. Highlight the name of the plant you wish to know more about.
2. Right-click with a mouse or choose "Look Up" on a mobile device and select a search option.
3. Depending on your browser and search option, a sidebar or new window will appear with more sources of information about your selected plant.

Useful books and websites

• Great Plains Flora Association. T.M. Barkley, editor. Flora of the Great Plains. University Press of Kansas, 1986.
• Haddock, Michael John. Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas: A Field Guide. University Press of Kansas, 2005.
• Haddock, Michael John and Craig Carl Freeman. Trees, Vines, Sedges, and Rushes of Kansas. University Press of Kansas. 2019.
• Kansas Native Plants Society: www.kansasnativeplantsociety.org
• Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses: www.kswildflower.org.
• United States Department of Agriculture PLANTS database: plants.sc.egov.usda.gov