Endangered

The little Beaver Creek is home to the endangered species, the Topeka Shiner(Notropis topeka). Topeka shiners are a protected species. The Topeka Shiner is a small minnow, less than three inches in total length. It is an overall silvery color, with a well defined dark stripe along its side, and a dark wedge-shaped spot at the base of the tail fin. Males develop additional reddish coloration in all other fins during the breeding season.

Invasive and Non-native plant

The Touch The Sky Prairie is dominated by nonnative grasses. Kentucky Blue grass and Timothy grass(both nonnative) are the dominate species. They are mixed with sparse numbers of native species and some other invasive species. Among the invasive species are:

The plumeless thistle

The plumeless thistle is a biennial plant. That means that the first year of it's life, the plant is a rosette. In the second year of the plant's life, it flowers and produces seeds. If the plants can be burned before their second year the plant will not be able to spread.

The bull thistle

The bull thistle is also a biennial plant. It shows up in disturbed areas such as pastures and roadside ditches. The bull thistle is distasteful to animals, giving it an advantage on surviving.

Queen Ann's Lace

A biennial plant that has several stems coming from one central stem. Each has an umbrella-shaped flower cluster at the top. The Queen Ann's Lace appear in dry prairies and abandoned fields. It is a threat to recovering grasslands, but tends to decline as native grasses become established.

Wild Parsnip

This perennial herbaceous plant invades slowly, but once it has a large population it spreads quickly. The juice of wild parsnip in contact with skin in the presence of sunlight can cause a rash and blistering and discoloration of the skin.

Timothy Grass

This perennial grass was first introduced in the rocky mountain region as hay and pasture. The stems can grow from 20-32 inches tall and the head is a tight cylindrical spike-like panicle.

Kentucky Blue Grass

This perennial grass is erect up to 40 inches tall. It was first introduced in the early 1700s because it was good for grazing.

Seedlings

While most weed identification manuals show mature weeds and use the flowers and fruits of the weed to aid in identification, most weed identification needs to be done when the weeds are still young. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify weed seedlings. Weed seedlings are divided in to grasses and broadleaf plants.

Grass Weeds

Grass leaves usually have long, narrow, alternate leaves with parallel venation.

Grass stems may be round or flattened, smooth or hairy.

Grass weeds are monocots with one cotyledon that remains in the soil after seed germination.

Broadleaf Weeds

Broadleaf weeds have leaves that are wider and have net-like venation.

Broadleaves are dicots and have two cotyledons, which usually emerge above the soil and expand to become the first visible "leaves." The true leaves then develop above the cotyledons.

Cotyledons are usually hairless but may be rough, while true leaves and plant stems may be hairy or smooth.