Green Lawn's Prairie
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| Sulivantia sulivantii |
One of the most exciting projects at Green Lawn last year was the native prairie that we seeded in spring 2004. The prairie is located in the open area just east of the New Garden Mausoleum, across from the office. This project will offer a number of benefits including beautification, food and habitat for wildlife, education and sustenance of a number of threatened or endangered plant species. The prairie is a mixture of grasses and forbs. It looked good this year and will look even better after a controlled burn in 2005 and as many of the plants mature and become fully established. This is a collaborative effort with assistance from Columbus Metro Parks, Jim McCormac of ODNR, The Little Garden Club of Columbus and many others that have donated funding, equipment, expertise and seed that would be difficult or impossible to acquire without their assistance.
There will be dozens of different species of plants in every size, shape and color imaginable. Some of these include:
| Common Name |
Scientific Name |
Status |
| Ashy Sunflower |
(Helianthus mollis) |
ENDANGERED |
| False Indigo |
(Baptisia lactea) |
POTENTIALLY THREATENED |
| Scaly Blazing Star |
(Liatris squarrosa) |
POTENTIALLY THREATENED |
| Thimbleweed |
(Anemone cylindrica) |
THREATENED |
| Wild Lupine |
(Lupinus perennis) |
POTENTIALLY THREATENED |
| Horse Mint |
(Mondarda punctata) |
ENDANGERED |
| Compass Plant |
(Silphium laciniatum) |
ENDANGERED |
One interesting feature of the prairie is the inclusion of some of the plants discovered by William Sullivant. Mr.Sullivant was a renowned botanist and the son of Lucas Sullivant, the founder of Franklinton. Both of these men and many of their family are buried at Green Lawn on the ridge behind the Chapel on Section O. Eliza Sullivant's monument has her likeness framed in one of her husband Williams discoveries, Sulivantia sulivantii. Another of the plants that Mr. Sullivant was credited with discovering is Asclepias sullivantii or Prairie Milkweed and is the first of what we hope will be many of his namesakes that will be included in the prairie.