Nature's Edge - Plants of Concern Here in Lincolnshire - November 2004

F.Y.I.! Plants of Concern is a program funded in part by Chicago Wilderness, coordinated by the Chicago Botanic Garden and The Habitat Project of Audubon-Chicago Region. This program tracks and monitors rare threatened or endangered plants. These rare plants are native to the Chicago region, but they have become all but extinct because so few high quality native sites exist anymore.

The program is coordinated by botanical specialists from the Chicago Botanic Garden and Morton Arboretum. These specialists search to find rare plants and then train volunteers to identify and monitor them. Because of the unique high floristic quality that exists at Florsheim Park these specialists came to Florsheim Park to see what they could find. Several of these rare plants have been identified there and, as a result, these specialists have requested that the Village and the Illinois Nature Preserve Commission give permission to the Plants of Concern Program to monitor these plants at Florsheim Park.

There are two very special volunteers who work with The Plants of Concern Program who live right here in Lincolnshire! Maggie Ingalls and Kathleen Abdo participated in an extensive Plants of Concern training program and now donate many hours of their time each season to identify, count, measure and record the conditions of these rare plants at Florsheim. This data is then forwarded to the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Village where the data can be studied and compared year after year. (This data provides valuable information that assists the Village in its management at Florsheim Park.)

We are so lucky to have Florsheim Park here in our Village. It is truly a rare and unique remnant of our native heritage. We are also very lucky to have two special women who are willing to donate their talents and time to help protect this heritage. Thank you Maggie and Kathleen!