Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-dedicated
State Natural Area. The area contains a variety of natural communities found in Wisconsin including
oak woodland,
oak savanna, dry and wet
prairies, sedge meadow, shrub-carr, and an open
marsh.
Location and access
Pleasant Valley Conservancy is located approximately 4 miles south of
Black Earth, Wisconsin. Trails wind through the site.
[http://pleasantvalleyconservancy.org]
Description
Prairie remnants are present on the south-facing ridge and have recovered from previous agricultural use due to intensive management that began in 1995. Plant species include
big bluestem,
little bluestem,
Indian grass
''Sorghastrum nutans'', commonly known as either Indiangrass or yellow Indiangrass, is a North American prairie grass found in the central and eastern United States and Canada, especially in the Great Plains and tallgrass prairies.
Description
...
,
side-oats grama,
wood betony Wood betony is the common name for several plants and may refer to:
*'' Pedicularis canadensis'' in the family Orobanchaceae
*''Betonica officinalis,'' formerly known as ''Stachys officinalis,'' in the family Lamiaceae
The Lamiaceae ( )
or La ...
,
bird's-foot violet, purple prairie clover,
wood sorrel, and the uncommon
prairie turnip
''Psoralea esculenta'', common name prairie turnip or timpsula, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to prairies and dry woodlands of central North America, which bears a starchy tuberous root edible as a root vegetable. The plant is als ...
(Pediomelum esculentum). Numerous large
bur and
white oaks are found further up the slope where the land transitions to
oak savannas
An oak savanna is a type of savanna—or lightly forested grassland—where oaks (''Quercus ''spp.) are the dominant trees. The terms "oakery" or "woodlands" are also used commonly, though the former is more prevalent when referencing the Mediter ...
. Plant species found here include numerous grass, sedge, and forb species including the state-endangered purple milkweed (
Asclepias purpurascens
''Asclepias purpurascens'', the purple milkweed, is a herbaceous plant species. It is in the genus ''Asclepias'', making it a type of milkweed. It is native to the Eastern, Southern and Midwestern United States similar to the range of the com ...
). Other plants include silky rye,
bottlebrush grass, ear-leaved brome,
leadplant
''Amorpha canescens'', known as leadplant, downy indigo bush, prairie shoestring, or buffalo bellows, is a small, perennial semi-shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to North America. It has very small purple flowers with yellow stamens whi ...
, large-flowered yellow false foxglove,
Canada milk-vetch, Illinois tick-trefoil,
alum-root The common name for the Alumroot is Coral bells. The scientific name of the Alumroot is Heuchera. The First Nations or Inuit name for the Alumroot is rat root.
Alum root or Alumroot is a common name for some species of two different genera of flower ...
,
shooting star
Shooting star refers to a meteor.
Shooting star may also refer to:
Film, television, and theater
* ''Shooting Star'' (2015 film), a 2015 Bulgarian short film
* ''Shooting Star'' (2020 film), a 2020 Canadian short film
* ''Shooting Stars'' ( ...
, and
spiderwort
''Tradescantia'' () is a genus of 85 species of herbaceous perennial wildflowers in the family Commelinaceae, native to the Americas from southern Canada to northern Argentina, including the West Indies. Members of the genus are known by many co ...
. Other rare plants present are the state-threatened giant yellow hyssop (Agastache nepetoides), and special concern upland boneset (Eupatorium sessilifolium). Over the ridgetop, the cooler north-facing slope is mostly oak woodland with red oak, basswood, hackberry, butternut,
yellowbud hickory, and
red maple. Spring ephemerals are abundant here, including
bloodroot,
Jacob's-ladder,
large-flowered bellwort
''Uvularia grandiflora'', the large-flowered bellwort or merrybells, is a species of flowering plant in the family Colchicaceae, native to eastern and central North America.
Description
Growing to tall by broad, it is a rhizomatous herba ...
, yellow lady's-slipper orchid,
large white trillium, and
dutchman's breeches. Bird species found at this site include the
red-headed woodpecker,
blue-gray gnatcatcher, eastern wood pewee,
tufted titmouse,
eastern bluebird,
yellow-throated vireo,
scarlet tanager,
black-billed cuckoo
The black-billed cuckoo (''Coccyzus erythropthalmus'') is a New World species in the Cuculidae (cuckoo) family. The scientific name is from Ancient Greek. The genus name, ''kokkuzo'', means to call like a common cuckoo, and ''erythropthalmus'' i ...
, and
yellow-billed cuckoo. At the base of the south-facing slope is the spring-fed Pleasant Valley Creek, which travels through a wetland before emptying into East Blue Mounds Creek. Pleasant Valley Conservancy is owned in part by The Prairie Enthusiasts and by
Tom Brock and his wife Kathie with management support from the Savanna Oak Foundation.
References
External links
The Prairie EnthusiastsSavanna Oak FoundationTom Brock's Blog
{{Protected Areas of Wisconsin
State Natural Areas of Wisconsin
Protected areas of Dane County, Wisconsin
Protected areas established in 2007