The wildflower we are featuring this week is one of the loveliest prairie wildflowers in the Great Plains.  I have photographed it while horseback riding on a friend’s ranch in Osborne County, and occasionally seen it along country roads in the Smoky Hills of north central Kansas.  However, during the past week I was in Nebraska at the 5,000-acre Hutton Niobrara Ranch Wildlife Sanctuary owned and operated by Audubon of Kansas as a prairie and grassland bird management demonstration area, along with other purposes, and it is there that I made this week’s roadside photos.

Bush Morning-glory occurs in the western two-thirds of Kansas, and the southern/southwestern half of the Great Plains.  Unfortunately this plant is becoming increasing rare in most areas because it often destroyed by roadside and pasture herbicide spraying, conversion of native prairie grasslands to cultivation, and in many cases it is eliminated from pastures grazed too intensely in spring and early summer when it is most vulnerable.  When it is found along roadsides, it is generally because the roadsides are remnants of or near a native prairie meadow or range site that has been managed in a manner that preserved much of the inherent biodiversity. When a seed source is present, Bush Morning-glory also occurs on modestly disturbed sites—for example country roads that are not broadcast sprayed with herbicides. 

Sandy or gravely soils are most accommodating for this plant, sometimes referred to as the “man-root,” “bush moon flower” and “big-root morning-glory.”  This long-lived perennial grows from an extraordinarily large taproot.  The root enlarges to a sweet potato-shaped moisture-storage organ exceeding a foot in diameter and up to three feet deep.  Native Americans used the tuber for food and other purposes, including the transport of embers for fire.  Plains Grizzles likely dug it up for food.

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The lovely funnel-shaped flowers are about two inches wide and three inches long.  The plant starts out in the spring with asparagus-like shoots, and then branches into a bushy appearance with arching stems three feet high and with others laying on the ground extending out similar distances.  When the annual growth and the seeds mature in the fall, it is likely to break off at the soil surface and it may blow like a tumble weed to scatter its large, but precious-few, seeds across the landscape—often coming to a halt at a pasture fence.  This is often a blessing if the seeds then fall into a roadside or other site where they can take root in relative safety.  Admirers should never dig the plants up in an attempt to remove them for personal purposes, but alternatively keep their presence in mind and pick a few seed pods after frost in October.

All photos taken by Ron Klataske


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