A new population of house plants?

Sorry, I shouldn't have included the house plant forum for a tag. I didn't know which tag to use since most of them didn't apply to this question.

I might have discovered a new population of the long-spined sandbur (Cenchrus longispinus) in a county (Big Stone County) where it hasn't been seen yet in western Minnesota. There is a beach on one of my relative's properties that has burs on the conversion of that and the main prairie, where a slight drop occurs. They have been there for years, and are very, very pesky with sticking to clothing... and skin. Only recently I asked around and found that the species is fairly unique in structure, and nothing is really like it. To add to it, the species is found on the other side of Big Stone Lake (which acts as a border between Minnesota and South Dakota) in Roberts County, SD. Sandburs apparently can travel via air and water, maybe having traveled over the lake, but no other records exist of the species currently being present in Big Stone County, which is quite odd. The burs which the plant produces are somewhat similar to the average populations. I am going there for Labor Day, and will take photos and make a description of the plants there, comparing them to other populations. I will make sure to keep you updated if I find anything interesting or unique.

Thanks, and sorry again for adding the wrong forum tag. My apologies.

Jalisco

I have a botanist friend in Minnesota that I can relay your information to. That species was probaby carried there by water or people. Cenchrus longispinum is listed as a noxious weed in the entire state of Minnesota.

Jalisco, for the future, you don’t have to use any of the tag choices at all. Just send your question through on its own.

Oh ok. I did not know about the tags.

Thanks!

Jalisco

I have an update on the Big Stone County, Minnesota trip:

Very sorry about the late post, since I have been very busy recently... earlier this September, as seen towards the start of the post, I went out to my relative's house in Yankeetown, Minnesota. It was a very hot day, and I was wearing long pants to protect against deer ticks (there weren't any) which can carry Lyme Disease (something I have already encountered).

The property is a few acres of prairie; mostly made up of non-native grasses with Canada thistles. There are some old growth oaks in the property, as seen in image 1, which I was not able to readily identify. A closer relative of my grandmother introduced red pines a while back to the start of the property, which now have formed a pure stand of them today. The red pines are very hardy to sandy soils on the property (the same for the entire species) and drought (another species-wide aspect).

When I arrived at the property, I headed out down a mowed trail, which my relative mows frequently down to the beach. On my way down I came upon a dense thicket of Canada thistles. Buffalo burs (Solanum rostratum) showed soon after, in occasional individuals. A few trees (image 2) poppped up too, one of which an oak, the other was unidentifiabke from a distance (I stayed out of some areas of grass, since there is barbed wire - hidden - from when there were sheep, goats, pigs, etc... on the property). I reached the top of the hill leading down to the beach -- steep -- and looked at various rocks for cacti -- none. Then came the beach area, the main highlight of this post.

The beach on the property is mostly eroded and unpleasing, with mucky water and thick brush. I can indeed confirm, that there are sanburs (Cenchrus longispinus) on the beach: the first record of them in Big Stone County, having came over across Big Stone Lake from Roberts County, South Dakota (image 3 and 4). I have came to a decision that I will not need to relay information to a botanist to record the population, since it is insignificant and un-notable. Also on the beach were sunflowers (image 5), which I was not able to idenftifiy despite difficult trying; they appear to be distinctive from other sunflowers found in the state from differentiated involucres (or bracts around the infloresence) and leave structure. The flowers are very similar to Helianthus nuttallii or possibly Helianthus giganteus. These plants are found along the entire main beach with forbs and grasses (image 6). When coming back from the beach, up the hill, and to the house, I noted many sandburs having been stuck in my shoe. I managed to remove every one of these to prevent the spread of the noxious species. That is the end of this update.

Images:

Image 1 a - Old growth oak: Supposedly the DNR have been on the property to survey the oak trees before, but they were not champions at the time.

Image 1 b - Old growth oak: A farther out image of the same oak as above; note prairie in background.

Image 2 a - Old growth oak and other tree: This oak (far left) and unidentifiable tree from a distance (center) are near the top of the hill. Can anyone identify the tree?

Image 2 b - Old growth oak canopy: This is the canopy of the old growth oak above with the other (unidentifiable) tree to the far right.

Image 3 - Sandburs on beach: The sandburs (Cenchrus longispinus) are very presky plants! They have formed an entire population on the beach as seen here.

Part 2 below!!

Part 2 of the Big Stone County, Minnesota trip:

Image 4 - A sandbur (Cenchrus longispinus) specimen I collected at the beach: This is a key identifier of the species.

Image 5 - Unidentifiable sunflower on beach: This sunflower is undidentifiable for the most part. Does anyone know what Helianthus species this is? I was thinking Helianthus nuttallii at the least.

Image 6 - Sunflowers on beach: This is a photo of what the beach at the property looks like; note Big Stone Lake to the left and dead tree to the northern far righthand corner.

Part 3 below!!

Part 3 of the Big Stone County, Minnesota trip - Miscellaneous photos:

Image 7 - Canada thistles at start of path: These Canada thistles, along with many stinging nettles, creates a very suitable environment for getting injured! The Canada thistles on the property are proportional, but are not "noxious" in this case (meaning they are not everywhere). There are no native thistles on the property because of these guys, which is a real bummer.

Image 8 - An overview of the hill: The hill, as seen right above, has many trees, occasional rocks, and of course, prairie. The rocks are likely from an old farm building nearby, which burned down in a fire a ways back. There are broken glass bottles in the same farm building, a real hazard to those unsuspecting of a tetanus infection.

Thank you everyone for your help in this forum, and I will keep you updated yet again if I head back again! Thanks!

Are you sure those ”oaks” aren’t cottonwood?

I wasn't really sure, but yes they are probably cottonwood. I am not very good at identification :)

The yellow flower is Bidens cernua.

I never thought it would be a Bidens species! Thank you for the identification!!

You're welcome Jalisco, happy to help!