Friends of Nachusa Grasslands
  • Home
  • About Friends
    • Mission, Leadership, Objectives, and Financials
    • Friends Annual Meeting 2024
    • Endowments
    • Heritage Heroes Initiative
    • Friends Annual Reports
    • Newsletters >
      • PrairiE–Update (email)
      • A Prairie Calling (print and digital)
    • Commenting Policy
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours & Parking
    • Directions and Map
    • Visitor Center
    • Pet Policy
    • Public Bison Tours
    • Bison Viewing
    • Hiking >
      • Hiking Guidelines
      • Hiking Destinations
      • Guided Hikes
      • Stone Barn Savanna Tour
      • Visitor Center Trail
      • Scavenger Hunt
    • Autumn on the Prairie >
      • Yearly Festival
    • What's In Bloom?
    • Exploring Nachusa Grasslands on Your Own
    • Things to Do
    • Places to Eat and Stay
    • Local Sites to Visit and Explore
  • Donate
  • Calendar
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Thursday and Saturday Workdays >
      • Workday Signup
      • Workdays – November to February
      • Volunteer Workday Safety Protocols
      • Leader Workday Safety Protocols
      • Steward Workday Tips
    • Workday Email List
    • Volunteer Recognition
    • Docents
  • Stewardship
    • Nachusa Stewardship
    • Restorations
    • Planting Histories >
      • Stewardship Unit Planting Histories
      • Planting Histories in Chronological Order
    • Weed Reports
    • Native plant resources
    • Volunteer Stewards
    • Groups and Committees
    • Available Units
    • Controlled Burns
    • Prescribed Fire Recruitment
    • Restoration Publications
    • Stewardship Resources >
      • Seed Collection Guides
      • Invasive Plant Management
      • Invasive Identification
      • Monitoring
      • Resource Links
  • Science
    • Science at Nachusa Grasslands
    • Science Symposium 2025
    • 2025 Science Symposium Abstracts
    • Science Grants >
      • Science Grants 2025
      • Science Grants 2021 to 2024 >
        • Science Grants 2024
        • Science Grants 2023
        • Science Grants 2022
        • Science Grants 2021
      • Science Grants 2016 to 2020 >
        • Science Grants 2020
        • Science Grants 2019
        • Science Grants 2018
        • Science Grants 2017
        • Science Grants 2016
      • Science Grants 2011 to 2015 >
        • Science Grants 2015
        • Science Grants 2014
        • Science Grants 2013/2012/2011
    • Potential Research Topics
    • Scientific Publications
    • Anderson Science Award
    • Science Videos
    • Become a Community Scientist >
      • About Community Scientists
      • Butterfly Monitoring
      • Calling Frog Monitoring
      • Dragonflies & Damselflies
      • RiverWatch
  • About Nachusa
    • General Info
    • Nachusa Staff
    • Prairie Smoke Annual Reports
    • Plant Inventory >
      • Common Names
      • Genus Species
    • Animal Inventory >
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Bison Bison >
        • Bison
        • Bison Babies Broadcast Videos
      • Fish
      • Insects
      • Mammals
      • Other Arthropods
      • Reptiles
    • History
    • Jobs
    • Hunting
    • Geology >
      • Geology Part 1
      • Geology Part 2
      • Geology Part 3
    • Websites of Interest
  • Teacher Resources
    • K-2nd grades
    • 3rd-5th grades
    • 6th-8th grades
    • High School
  • BLOG AND MEDIA
    • Nachusa Blog
    • In The News
    • Photo Gallery >
      • Spring Photos
      • Summer Photos
      • Autumn Photos
      • Winter Photos
    • Videos
  • Contact Us / FAQs

Cashew Family (Anacardiaceae)

Click the link below to find out more about this plant in the Cashew Family:
  • smooth sumac

How can I recognize a member of the cashew family?
At Nachusa Grasslands there are only 3 species of this family: poison ivy and both aromatic and smooth sumac bushes. Things to notice are alternate trifoliate or pinnate leaves. The flowers of the ivy are hardly noticeable and are whiteish green and turn into white fruits. The flowers of the sumacs are also white but in large clusters and the fruits are bright red. These sumac species will not make you itch.

Cool stuff to know about the cashew family:
Bees are the  main pollinators of these plants, Birds can eat the poison ivy berries with no ill effects, and in some years an outbreak of certain leaf beetles can defoliate the smooth sumac. 

Crowfoot Family (Ranunculaceae)

Click the link below to find out more about this plant in the Crowfoot Family:
  • thimbleweed​​

How can I recognize a member of the crowfoot family?
This can be challenging since the family is highly variable, making the relationships less obvious. To identify them, closely examine the flower’s pistils—there will be three or more, often with hooked tips, each independently attached above all other floral parts, including the petals, sepals, and stamens.​

Cool stuff to know about the crowfoot family:
This family is also called the buttercup family. The plants in this family usually contain an acrid glycoside oil. Some of these are considered safe to taste or cook in small amounts. But members of the Aconitum and Delphinium genera have other toxins and should not be eaten.
The scientific name is classical Latin and comes form the name for frog, rana, since many of the crowfoot family grow in wet places.

smooth sumac

Rhus glabra

Dye hard!
​
This common shrub (in all 48 continental states) does not carry the urushiol irritant. In fact, a lovely lemonade can be made of the ripe fruits by soaking and straining. All parts of smooth sumac can be made into natural dyes for cloth or other fibers.

It seems that the only insect (in adult and larva forms) that can eat sumac leaves due to strong chemical compounds is the leaf beetle, Blepharida rhois. The beetle larva puts its concentrated feces on its back to deter predators.
​
Male or Female?
Smooth sumac Individuals are either male or female and can grow in large colonies and shade out all other plants. The fire regime here keeps these colonies short. One of the last shrubs to leaf out in spring, the compound leaves turn a brilliant red in the early autumn.

Scientific name origins:
​Rhus is the classic Latin name for this genus of plants that often have the irritant, urushiol. Glabra is Latin for smooth.

thimbleweed

Anemone cylindrica 

​The flowers are 5 white petal-like sepals topped by a greenish-white flower with an elongated center which, being bumpy, resembles a thimble used to protect fingers from a sewing needle.

The seeds are surrounded by cottony tufts and are often found in mouse nests as insulation!

There are many species of Anemone in North America (25 or more). They are not usually eaten by mammals due to the burning sensation it creates in the mouth and stomach.

Scientific name origins:
Anemone is from the Greek and means daughter of the wind. The seed head of this anemone is cylindrical in shape, hence its specific name.

CONNECT WITH US

PrairiE–Updates Newsletters

SUPPORT US                      

​Donate | Volunteer                  

FIND US ​

Map & Directions

8772 S. Lowden Road  (mailing address)            
2075 Lowden Road (Visitor Center)           
Franklin Grove, IL 61031

Contact Us

Site Map

PRIVACY POLICY
© 2025 FRIENDS OF NACHUSA GRASSLANDS The content on this website is owned by us and our licensors. Do not copy any content (including images) without our consent.
  • Home
  • About Friends
    • Mission, Leadership, Objectives, and Financials
    • Friends Annual Meeting 2024
    • Endowments
    • Heritage Heroes Initiative
    • Friends Annual Reports
    • Newsletters >
      • PrairiE–Update (email)
      • A Prairie Calling (print and digital)
    • Commenting Policy
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours & Parking
    • Directions and Map
    • Visitor Center
    • Pet Policy
    • Public Bison Tours
    • Bison Viewing
    • Hiking >
      • Hiking Guidelines
      • Hiking Destinations
      • Guided Hikes
      • Stone Barn Savanna Tour
      • Visitor Center Trail
      • Scavenger Hunt
    • Autumn on the Prairie >
      • Yearly Festival
    • What's In Bloom?
    • Exploring Nachusa Grasslands on Your Own
    • Things to Do
    • Places to Eat and Stay
    • Local Sites to Visit and Explore
  • Donate
  • Calendar
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Thursday and Saturday Workdays >
      • Workday Signup
      • Workdays – November to February
      • Volunteer Workday Safety Protocols
      • Leader Workday Safety Protocols
      • Steward Workday Tips
    • Workday Email List
    • Volunteer Recognition
    • Docents
  • Stewardship
    • Nachusa Stewardship
    • Restorations
    • Planting Histories >
      • Stewardship Unit Planting Histories
      • Planting Histories in Chronological Order
    • Weed Reports
    • Native plant resources
    • Volunteer Stewards
    • Groups and Committees
    • Available Units
    • Controlled Burns
    • Prescribed Fire Recruitment
    • Restoration Publications
    • Stewardship Resources >
      • Seed Collection Guides
      • Invasive Plant Management
      • Invasive Identification
      • Monitoring
      • Resource Links
  • Science
    • Science at Nachusa Grasslands
    • Science Symposium 2025
    • 2025 Science Symposium Abstracts
    • Science Grants >
      • Science Grants 2025
      • Science Grants 2021 to 2024 >
        • Science Grants 2024
        • Science Grants 2023
        • Science Grants 2022
        • Science Grants 2021
      • Science Grants 2016 to 2020 >
        • Science Grants 2020
        • Science Grants 2019
        • Science Grants 2018
        • Science Grants 2017
        • Science Grants 2016
      • Science Grants 2011 to 2015 >
        • Science Grants 2015
        • Science Grants 2014
        • Science Grants 2013/2012/2011
    • Potential Research Topics
    • Scientific Publications
    • Anderson Science Award
    • Science Videos
    • Become a Community Scientist >
      • About Community Scientists
      • Butterfly Monitoring
      • Calling Frog Monitoring
      • Dragonflies & Damselflies
      • RiverWatch
  • About Nachusa
    • General Info
    • Nachusa Staff
    • Prairie Smoke Annual Reports
    • Plant Inventory >
      • Common Names
      • Genus Species
    • Animal Inventory >
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Bison Bison >
        • Bison
        • Bison Babies Broadcast Videos
      • Fish
      • Insects
      • Mammals
      • Other Arthropods
      • Reptiles
    • History
    • Jobs
    • Hunting
    • Geology >
      • Geology Part 1
      • Geology Part 2
      • Geology Part 3
    • Websites of Interest
  • Teacher Resources
    • K-2nd grades
    • 3rd-5th grades
    • 6th-8th grades
    • High School
  • BLOG AND MEDIA
    • Nachusa Blog
    • In The News
    • Photo Gallery >
      • Spring Photos
      • Summer Photos
      • Autumn Photos
      • Winter Photos
    • Videos
  • Contact Us / FAQs