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8Among the “incognitos” discovered inearly explorations of Douglas Countyremnant prairies is Illinois bundleflower found in both Douglas andChampaign Counties but not documentedby the USDA Natural ResourcesConservation Service mapsin either. () It is a widely found innon-remnant planted prairies and gardens, however.Likewise, shrubby St.John’s wort was foundin Tuscola Township butis undocumented bothcounties. () Purplefalse foxglove was foundbut undocumented inDouglas County. () Seed collecting and processing of these threeplants offers an interesting insight about themand perhaps other prairie plants, and that dealswith the size of the seed.For example, most people would probablyconsider the seed of Illinois bundle flower to berather small. And, indeed, the seeds are prettysmall. The Prairie Moon nursery description liststhe seed as about 4,200 seeds per ounce.Illinois bundle flowerBut that is huge compared to the seed of theshrubby St. John’s wort. When viewed under amagnifying glass the seed has a shape somethinglike tiny sausages. (St. John’s wurst?)Local “Incognitos”There are 140,000 seeds per ounce. The seedsells for $40 per ounce.Here’s one way to get an idea of seed size thatis more appropriate in this case than comparingthe seeds to a dime. A regular newprint hyphenis about 1 mm long. Here is the size of shrubbySt. John’s wort seed compared to this newsprinthyphen: -hyphenseedBut that, in turn is huge compared to the falsepurple foxglove.false purple foxgloveThere is no reason to try to illustrate the sizeof that seed. Indeed, even with a magnifying glassit is difficult or impossible to distinguish individualseed. It would only look like fine chaff or dust.Prairie Moon lists it as 440,000 seeds per ounce.It sells for $60 per ounce.Another “incognito” worth mentioning is theprairie brome grass. It is called prairie brome inthis area, but in most areas it is called arctic bromegrass because it is indeed far more commonfar north of here. () We found it in the village ofVilla Grove.The heavy, droopy seed head ofthis brome is very distinctive. Andlike all brome grasses, this plant hasthe ‘m’ imprint on the leaf, althoughthis trademark of brome grasses isonly evident when the leaf is green.A Prairie Rendezvousshrubby St. John’s wort