The River Landing

The Flood Aster

So far this year, the pattern of water levels and flow in the Illinois River—that is, the river’s hydrology—has resembled what might be expected for a typical Midwestern river like the Illinois.  This is the case insofar as the pattern, in a general way, consists of an extended spring flood followed by relatively stable, low water in the summer.

During the spring flood, fish have access to backwater areas for spawning, and plant seeds are distributed in the flood waters for later growth when the waters recede.  If the water stays low after the flood, lush wetland plant communities will develop on the low-lying floodplain, producing a nutritious seed crop in the fall for migrating waterfowl.  This is the pattern that has been established for thousands of years, a pattern to which the plants and animals that use the river’s floodplain have been especially adapted.

Quiver Lake wetlands, July 2012

One such species is a plant called the decurrent false aster.  It is a rare species; in fact, it can be found only along the Illinois River valley and a few nearby sites.  During years when the river follows its normal historical pattern, the decurrent false aster may do very well, and it may be easy to find this plant along the river’s edge and in dried out floodplain lakes and sloughs.

Decurrent false aster among other wetland plants 

The decurrent false aster produces flowers from August through September.  So yesterday (August 17), when I walked down the bluff to get a closer look at Quiver Lake, an Illinois River backwater, and what may now be called the “Quiver Lake wetlands,” I was especially looking for decurrent false aster flowers.  Last year I was disappointed and did not find any, and so I was not hopeful.

When conditions are favorable, though, as they are this year, the decurrent false aster may grow up to 6 feet tall as single individuals or in large patches.  So I carefully scanned the thick growth of sedges, smartweeds, and cockleburs looking for an aster-like plant towering above the rest.  I even looked far out into the wetlands with my binoculars.  And none did I find.  So I started thinking that perhaps it was still a bit too early in the season.  But when I turned around to walk back to my cabin on the bluff top, there it was, right in front of me:  a single decurrent false aster in full flower!

 

Originally Posted at “A View of Nature,” blog, on the Pekin Daily Times online, August 19, 2012

Eagle Bluff: Side Channels Illustration, Page 30

 

 

This photograph was taken several years ago at the Eagle Bluff Access area at Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge, Mason County, Illinois.  Patti Malmborg Reilly did the illustration for the book Side Channels using this photograph as a template.

The view, framed by a bur oak tree branch, is from the observation deck.  Out on the lake, a large bed of American lotus is visible.  This bed was growing slighly larger every year until refuge managers replaced periodic drawdowns of the lake with sustained high water, a decision designed to control the growing black willow stands, which were taking over too much of the lake.  Eventually, the willows were controlled, but the lotus bed disappeared in the process.  A few years after this photo was taken, the bur oak lost its branch in a wind storm.

For more information on Side Channels, please visit my Amazon author page.