Flora and Fauna of the Ochethi Sakowin (the "Great Sioux Nation")

The Ochethi Sakowin, the Seven Council Fires (or "Great Sioux Nation") identified the native species of flowers and plants of the Great Plains. The only difference between this guide and another guide about flowers and plants is that this one includes the flower or plant in the language of the ...more ↓

Čaphúta Hú (Elder Berry Stem), or Black Elderberry

This plant has fruit that can be used to make tea; its fruit and flowers are used as a dietary supplement.

Waptá Yahúžiži (Cut Yellow-Peelings), Waptá Yaȟlá (Cut and Peel), Waptá Yaȟóta (Cut and Breath-in), or Black-Snakeroot

Sanicula marilandica, the Maryland sanicle or Maryland black snakeroot, is a flowering plant widespread in North America but rare along the Pacific coast of the continent and Texas. Sanicula marilandica is listed as Sensitive in Washington state.

Ók šašá (lit. “? Very-red”), or Bloodroot

Flower: White simple shaped, 8 or 12 petals
Leaves: basal, lobed in 3 to 9 parts, round in outline, up to 5 inches long and wide with deep indent at base, edges scalloped or have large rounded teeth
Fruit/Seed: spindle-shaped capsule, 1 inch long, contains 10 to 15 seeds
Height: 6-12 inches
Flowering: March - May
...more ↓

Pšá Čhiŋčá (Little Sneeze), Giant Bulrush, or Soft-stemmed Bulrush

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (syn. Scirpus validus) is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family known by the common names softstem bulrush, grey club-rush, and great bulrush. It can be found throughout much of the world; it has been reported from every state in the United States (including Hawaii), and from every province and territory in ...more ↓

Pȟeží Šašá Swúla (Slender Red Grass), or Little Bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium, commonly known as little bluestem or beard grass, is a North American prairie grass native to most of the United States, except California, Nevada, and Oregon, and a small area north of the Canada–US border. Its greatest manifestation has always been in the Midwestern prairies. Little bluestem is a perennial bunchgrass and is prominent in ...more ↓

Psá (Reed), or Bulrush

Scirpus is a genus of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae (the sedges), many with the common names club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). Other common names are deergrass or grassweed. They have grass-like leaves, and clusters of small spikelets, often brown. Some species (e.g. S. lacustris) ...more ↓

Maštíŋčaphuté (Rabbit Nose), or Silver Buffaloberry

Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry, bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry, is a species of Shepherdia in the Russian olive family.

Čhaŋšíŋšiŋla (Little Tree Sap), or Compass Plant

Silphium laciniatum is a species of flowering plant in the aster family, Asteraceae, known commonly as compassplant or compass plant. It is native to North America, where it occurs in Ontario in Canada and the eastern and central United States as far west as New Mexico. Other common names include prairie compass plant, pilotweed, polarplant, ...more ↓

Čhaŋšíŋšiŋla Tȟáŋka (Big Little Tree Sap), or Cup Plant

Silphium perfoliatum, the cup plant or cup-plant, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to eastern and central North America. It is an erect herbaceous perennial with triangular toothed leaves, and daisy-like yellow composite flower heads in summer.

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Wablúška Hú (Insect Leg Hollow-stalk), or Tumble Mustard

Sisymbrium altissimum is a species of Sisymbrium. The plant is native to the western part of the Mediterranean Basin in Europe and Northern Africa and is widely naturalized throughout most of the world, including all of North America. It was probably introduced into North America by a contaminant crop seed. The plant grows in soils of all textures, even sand. The plant ...more ↓

Waȟpé Ská (White Flower), or Water Parsnip

Sium suave (water parsnip, hemlock waterparsnip) is in the Apiaceae family. It is a perennial wildflower that is native to many areas of both Asia and North America.The common name water parsnip is due to its similarity to parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) and its wetland habitat. The common name hemlock waterparsnip is an alternate common name due to its ...more ↓

Zuzéča Tȟawóte Ptápta Ikȟóyaka (Snake Food in Sticky Bunches), Jacob’s Ladder, or Smooth Carrion Flower

Smilax herbacea, the smooth carrionflower or smooth herbaceous greenbrier, is a plant in the catbriar family. It is native to eastern Canada (Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick) and the eastern United States (as far south as Georgia and Alabama). Its preferred natural habitat is rich forests, and riparian thicket and meadows.

Špáŋšniyútapi Iyéčheča (Like a Melon), or Buffalo Bur

Solanum rostratum is a species of nightshade (genus Solanum) that is native to the United States and northern and central Mexico. Common names include buffalobur nightshade, buffalo-bur, spiny nightshade, Colorado bur, Kansas thistle, Mexican thistle, and Texas thistle.

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Škiškíta (Ridged Hollow-stalk), or Cutleaf Nightshade

Solanum triflorum is a species of nightshade known by the common names cutleaf nightshade and small nightshade. It is native to Argentina, but it is known on other continents, including Europe and Australia, as an introduced species and sometimes a weed. It is present throughout much of North America, where it is possibly non-native as well. It grows in many types ...more ↓

Waȟčáziblu (Yellow Powder Flower), or Canada Goldenrod

Solidago canadensis (known as Canada goldenrod or Canadian goldenrod) is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae native to northeastern and north-central North America but established as an invasive plant in other parts of the continent and in other countries as well. It is often grown as an ornamental in flower gardens.

Čhaŋnúŋǧa Hú Pteptéčela (Little Tree-Ears Stem), or Missouri Goldenrod

Solidago missouriensis is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names Missouri goldenrod and prairie goldenrod. It is native to North America, where it is widespread across much of Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It grows from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south as far as Sonora, Coahuila, Texas, and ...more ↓

Waȟpé Zí Čík’ala Iyéčheča (Looks Like Little Yellow Flowers), or Perennial Sow Thistle

Sonchus arvensis, the field milk thistle, field sowthistle, perennial sow-thistle, corn sow thistle, dindle, gutweed, swine thistle, or tree sow thistle, is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family Asteraceae. S. arvensis often occurs in annual crops in the northern parts of Europe and may cause substantial yield ...more ↓

Pȟeží Šašá Íŋkpa Žiží (Yellow Tipped Red Grass), or 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.

Heyókȟa Tȟapȟéžuta (Contrary Medicine), or Scarlet Globemallow

Sphaeralcea coccinea, the scarlet globemallow, is a perennial plant growing 10–30 cm tall from spreading rhizomes with a low habit. They have grayish stems with dense, star-shaped hairs and alternately arranged leaves. The leaf blades are 2–5 cm long, palmately shaped, and deeply cut, with 3–5 main wedge-shaped segments. The undersides of the leaves have gray hairs. The ...more ↓

Pȟeží Tȟakȟáŋ (Sinew Grass), or Sand Dropseed

Sporobolus cryptandrus is a species of grass known by the common name sand dropseed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico.

Omníča Hú (Beanstalk), or Slickseed Fuzzy Bean

Strophostyles leiosperma, known as slickseed fuzzybean, or smoothseed / small-flower wildbean is a species of herbaceous, vining legume native to the central to western U.S. It occurs west to Colorado and New Mexico, east to Louisiana, south to Mexico, and north to Minnesota. It is most easily distinguished from the other two Strophostyles species by the ...more ↓

Uŋšúŋgnasapi Hú (Stalk Our Horses use in Big Hunts), Zuzéča Tȟawóte (Snake Food), Wolfberry, or Western Snowberry

Symphoricarpos occidentalis, commonly called western snowberry or wolfberry, is a woody species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family. Wolfberry is not to be confused with the Lycium species of the same common name.

Waȟčá Zí (Yellow Flower), or Common Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion (often simply called "dandelion"), is a flowering herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae).

Waȟpé Šóta (Smoke Flower), or False Lupine

Thermopsis rhombifolia, also known as prairie thermopsis, is a flowering plant in the legume family. It is native to Canada and the United States, where it is found in the Great Plains, with extensions into the lower canyons of the Rocky Mountains. Its natural habitat is dry grasslands and woodlands.

Apé Mázaská (Silver Leaf), or Field Penny Cress

Thlaspi arvense, known by the common name field pennycress, is a flowering plant in the cabbage family Brassicaceae.

Ȟaŋté (Cedar), or Western Redcedar

Thuja plicata, commonly called western or Pacific redcedar, giant or western arborvitae, giant cedar, or shinglewood, is a species of Thuja, an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae native to western North America. It is not a true cedar of the genus Cedrus.

Híŋta (Basswood), or Basswood

Tilia americana is a species of tree in the Malvaceae family, native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, and southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to Cherry County, Nebraska. Common names include American basswood and American linden. The tree was introduced to the ...more ↓

Wikȟóška Tȟapȟéžuta (Medicine of the Young Women), or Western Poison Ivy

Toxicodendron rydbergii the western poison ivy, is a species of Toxicodendron in the cashew family. It is native to most of Canada from the Maritimes to British Columbia, and most of the contiguous United States except the southeastern states, New Jersey, Delaware, and California. It can be found growing in forests, and other wooded areas, usually near streams and ...more ↓

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Pȟáŋpȟaŋla (Delicate Hollow-stalk), or Longbract Spiderwort

Tradescantia bracteata, the longbract spiderwort, or prairie spiderwort, is a species of Tradescantia. It is native to the northern and central Great Plains and Mississippi Valley regions of the United States, from Arkansas and Oklahoma north to Minnesota and Montana, with a few isolated populations farther east. It is grown for its purple flowers. It blooms ...more ↓

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Pȟáŋpȟaŋla (Delicate Hollow-stalk), or Bluejacket

Tradescantia ohiensis, commonly known as bluejacket or Ohio spiderwort, is an herbaceous plant species in the genus Tradescantia native to eastern + central North America. It is the most common and widely distributed species of Tradescantia in the United States, where it can be found from Maine in the northeast, west to Minnesota, and south to Texas ...more ↓

Waȟčá Zí Iyéčheča (Looks like a Yellow Flower), or Yellow Salsify

Tragopogon dubius (yellow salsify, western salsify, western goat's-beard, wild oysterplant, yellow goat's beard, goat's beard, goatsbeard, common salsify, salsify) is a species of salsify native to southern and central Europe and western Asia and found as far north and west as northern France. Although it has been reported from Kashmir and India, recent evidence ...more ↓

Čháŋ Siŋté (Tree Tail), or Turkey Tail Mushroom

Trametes versicolor – also known as Coriolus versicolor and Polyporus versicolor – is a common polypore mushroom found throughout the world. Meaning 'of several colours', versicolor reliably describes this fungus that displays different colors. For example, because its shape and multiple colors are similar to those of a wild turkey, T. versicolor is ...more ↓

Blayé Ziŋtká Tȟačȟáŋ (Plant of the Plains Birds), or Red Clover

Trifolium pratense, the red clover, is a herbaceous species of flowering plant in the bean family Fabaceae, native to Europe, Western Asia and northwest Africa, but planted and naturalised in many other regions.

Blayé Ziŋtká Tȟačháŋ Ská (White Plant of the Plains Birds), or White Clover

Trifolium repens, the white clover (also known as Dutch clover, Ladino clover, or Ladino), is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae (Previously referred to as Leguminosae). It is native to Europe and central Asia. One of the most widely cultivated types of clover, it has been widely introduced worldwide as a forage crop, and is now ...more ↓

Čhelí (Cattail), or Cattail

Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail, bulrush, common bulrush, common cattail, cat-o'-nine-tails, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is found as a native plant species in North and South America, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa. In Canada, broadleaf cattail ...more ↓

P’éčhaŋ (Elm), or American Elm

Ulmus americana, generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Florida and central Texas. The American elm is an extremely hardy tree that can withstand winter temperatures as low as −42 °C (−44 ...more ↓

P’etúŋtuŋpa (Slippery Elm), or Slippery Elm

Ulmus rubra, the slippery elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, ranging from southeast North Dakota, east to Maine and southern Quebec, south to northernmost Florida, and west to eastern Texas, where it thrives in moist uplands, although it will also grow in dry, intermediate soils. Other common names include red elm, gray elm, soft elm, moose elm, and ...more ↓

Čhaŋíčaȟpehu (Tree to Knock Down With), or Stinging Nettle

Urtica dioica, often called common nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. It is native to Europe, Asia, northern Africa, and western North America, and introduced elsewhere. The species is divided into six subspecies, five of which have many ...more ↓

Čhaŋ Wíziye (Yellow Paint Wood), or Old Man’s Beard

Clematis vitalba (also known as old man's beard and traveller's joy) is a shrub of the Ranunculaceae family.

Háza (Huckleberry), or Huckleberry

Vaccinium membranaceum is a species within the group of Vaccinium commonly referred to as huckleberry. This particular species is known by the common names thinleaf huckleberry, tall huckleberry, big huckleberry, mountain huckleberry, square-twig blueberry, and (ambiguously) as "black huckleberry".

Apé Hiŋšmá (Thick Fur Leaf), or Great Mullein

Verbascum thapsus (great mullein or common mullein) is a species of mullein native to Europe, northern Africa, and Asia, and introduced in the Americas and Australia.

Apé Sloháŋ (Creeping Leaf), Bigbract Verbena, or Prostrate Vervain

Verbena bracteata is a species of verbena known by the common names bracted vervain, bigbract verbena, prostrate vervain, and carpet vervain. It is native to North America where it is widespread, occurring throughout the continent except for northern Canada and southern Mexico. It occurs in many types of habitat, especially disturbed areas, where it ...more ↓

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Pȟežúta (Medicine Hollow-stalk), Pȟéstola (Sharp Point), or Blue Vervain

Verbena hastata (American vervain, blue vervain or swamp verbena) is a flowering plant in the vervain family, Verbenaceae. It is a herb with opposite, simple leaves which have double-serate margins, borne on stiffly erect, branching square stems. The flowers appear in summer and are purple. This is a common plant that occurs across North America. They are ...more ↓

Tȟopȟéstola (Blue Point), or Hoary Vervain

Verbena stricta also known as hoary verbena or hoary vervain, is a small purple wildflower native to a large region of the central United States.

Waȟpé Pȟáŋpȟaŋla (Delicate Flower), or Culver’s Root

Veronicastrum virginicum, or Culver's root, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family, native to the eastern United States and south-eastern Canada. Growing to 200 cm (79 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) broad, it is an erect herbaceous perennial with slender racemes of white or occasionally pink or purple flowers in summer.

Tȟasúsu (Pair of Testicles), or American Vetch

Vicia americana is a species of legume in the vetch genus known by the common names American vetch and purple vetch. It includes a subspecies known as mat vetch. It is a climbing perennial forb that grows from both taproot and rhizome. The leaves are each made up of oblong leaflets and have tendrils for climbing. It bears showy pea-like flowers in shades of ...more ↓

Waȟpé Tȟó (Blue Flower), Prairie Violet

Viola pedatifida (prairie violet, crow-foot violet, larkspur violet, purple prairie violet, coastal violet; syn. Viola pedatifida subsp. brittoniana (Pollard) L. E. McKinney, Viola pedatifida G. Don subsp. pedatifida, Viola palmata L. var. pedatifida (G.Don) Cronquist) is a perennial herbaceous plant in ...more ↓

Čhaŋwíyapeha Iyúwi (It Binds and Tangles around the Tree), or Wild Grape

Vitis riparia Michx, with common names riverbank grape or frost grape, is a native American climbing or trailing vine, widely distributed across central and eastern Canada and the central and northeastern parts of the United States, from Quebec to Texas, and eastern Montana to Nova Scotia. There are reports of isolated populations in the northwestern USA, but these ...more ↓

Wináwizihútkȟaŋ Ȟča (Blossoming Jealous Woman’s Root), or Cocklebur

Xanthium strumarium (rough cocklebur, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants belonging to the Asteraceae family. It probably originates in North America and has been extensively naturalized elsewhere.

Hupȟéstola (Sharp-pointed Stem [Leaves]), Soapweed, or Yucca

Yucca glauca (syn. Yucca angustifolia) is a species of perennial evergreen plant, adapted to xeric (dry)growth conditions. It is also known as small soapweed, soapweed yucca, Spanish bayonet, Great Plains yucca and beargrass.

Pšíŋ Hublóka (Male Stalk Onion), or Death Camas

Toxicoscordion venenosum, with the common names death camas and meadow death camas, is a species of flowering plants in the genus Toxicoscordion, of the Melanthiaceae family. It is native to western North America.

Psíŋ (Wild Rice), or Wild Rice

Wild rice (Ojibwe: Manoomin; also called Canada rice, Indian rice, and water oats) are four species of grasses forming the genus Zizania, and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China. While now a delicacy in North America, the grain is eaten less in ...more ↓

Ziŋtkála Tȟačháŋ (Birds’ Tree), or Blue Wild Indigo

Baptisia australis, commonly known as blue wild indigo or blue false indigo, is a flowering plant in the family Fabaceae (legumes). It is toxic. It is native to much of central and eastern North America and is particularly common in the Midwest, but it has also been introduced well beyond its natural range. Naturally it can be found growing wild at the borders of ...more ↓

Wazímniŋkpa Iyéčheča (Looks like Pine Root Points), or Rocky Mountain Blazing Star

Liatris ligulistylis, common name Rocky Mountain blazing star, is a flowering plant of the Asteraceae family. Leaves are basal and mostly alternate, linear and sessile nearer the top of the plant, while oblanceolate with petioles nearer the bottom, all with whitish midribs. Flowers are arranged in a loose raceme on the upper stem, with rounded pinkish purple flower heads, ...more ↓

Waȟčázi Wašté (Pretty Sunflower), Purple Prairie Aster, or Tahoka Daisy

Machaeranthera tanacetifolia is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names tansyleaf tansyaster and Tahoka daisy. It is native to northern Mexico and the southwestern and central United States, where it grows in several types of habitat. It is an annual or biennial herb growing one or more branching stems up to about 70 centimetres ...more ↓

Pšiŋšíčamna (Bad Smelling Onion), Wild Onion, or Drummond’s Onion

Allium drummondii, also known as Drummond's onion, wild garlic and prairie onion, is a North American species of onion native to the southern Great Plains of North America. It is found in South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico.

Waȟčáziša (Red Sunflower), Firewheel, or Indian Blanket Flower

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel, Indian blanket, Indian blanketflower, or sundance), is a North American species of short-lived perennial or annual flowering plants in the sunflower family. It is native to northern Mexico (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Sonora, Tamaulipas) and the southern and central United States from Arizona east to Florida and ...more ↓

Waŋyéča Swúla (Slender Firefly), Pȟeží Swúla (Slender Grass), or Field Horsetail

Equisetum arvense, the field horsetail or common horsetail, is an herbaceous perennial horsetail native throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. It has separate sterile non-reproductive and fertile spore-bearing stems growing from a perennial underground rhizomatous stem system. The fertile stems are produced in early spring and are ...more ↓

Waŋyéča Hú Tȟáŋka (Great Firefly Stem), or Rough Horsetail

Equisetum hyemale, commonly known as rough horsetail, scouring rush, scouringrush horsetail and in South Africa as snake grass, is a perennial herb in the fern Division Pteridophyta. It is a native plant throughout the Holarctic Kingdom, found in North America, Europe, and northern Asia.

Ȟaŋté Šá (Red Cedar), or Eastern Red Cedar

Juniperus virginiana — its common names include red cedar, eastern redcedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, pencil cedar, and aromatic cedar — is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the ...more ↓

Wazí Čháŋ (Pine Tree), Lodgepole Pine

Pinus contorta, with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpine, but is rare in lowland rain forests. Like all pines (member species of the genus Pinus), it is an ...more ↓

Bló (Potato), Indian Potato, or American Groundnut

Apios americana, sometimes called the potato bean, hopniss, Indian potato, hodoimo, America-hodoimo, American groundnut,or groundnut (but not to be confused with other plants sometimes known by the name groundnut) is a perennial vine that bears edible beans and large edible tubers. Its vine can grow to 1–6 m long, with pinnate ...more ↓

Makȟátomniča (Bean Cache), Wild Bean, or Trailing Fuzzy-Bean

Strophostyles helvola (sometimes spelled S. helvula) is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names amberique-bean, trailing wild bean, and trailing fuzzy-bean. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States.

Omníča (Bean), or Common Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean (also known as the string bean, field bean, flageolet bean, French bean, garden bean, green bean, haricot bean, pop bean, snap bean, or snap), is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seed (known as just "beans") or unripe fruit (green beans). ...more ↓

Ápe Yámni (Three Leaves), or Black Medick

Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a familiar lawn plant belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow ...more ↓

Waȟpé Pȟeží (Flower Grass), or Alfalfa

Alfalfa /ælˈfælfə/, Medicago sativa also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as well as a green manure and cover crop. The name alfalfa is used in North America. The name lucerne is the more commonly used name in ...more ↓

Waȟpé Swúla (Slender Flower), or Yellow Sweetclover

Melilotus officinalis, known as yellow sweet clover, yellow melilot, ribbed melilot and common melilot is a species of legume native to Eurasia and introduced in North America, Africa and Australia.

Ziŋtkála Tȟawóte (Birds’ Food), or Spanish Clover

Acmispon americanus, known by the common names American bird's-foot trefoil and Spanish clover, is a species of legume native to most habitats of California, the Western United States, Western Canada, and northern Mexico.

Čhaŋȟlóǧaŋ Nabláya (Unfolding Hollow-stalk), or Silky Lupine

Lupinus sericeus is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name silky lupine or Pursh's silky lupine. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to Arizona and east to Alberta and Colorado.

Wókaȟtaŋ Blaskáska (lit. “It-soaks-in Very-flat”), or Showy Tick-Trefoil

Desmodium canadense is a species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae. It is native to eastern North America. Its common names include showy tick-trefoil, Canadian tick-trefoil, and Canada tickclover.

Ȟaŋté Pȟepȟé Iyéčheča (Looks Like Prickly Cedar), Illinois Tick-Trefoil

Desmodium illinoense, common name Illinois tick-trefoil, is a plant species native to the central part of the United States including much of the Great Plains and Great Lakes regions. It also occurs in south-central Canada. It prefers sun-lit locations in grasslands.

Wináwizi Čík’ala (Little Jealousy), or Wild Licorice

Glycyrrhiza lepidota (American licorice) is a species of Glycyrrhiza (a genus in the pea/bean family, Fabaceae) native to most of North America, from central Canada south through the United States to California, Texas and Virginia, but absent from the southeastern states. It is also sometimes known in the United States as "wild licorice", to distinguish it from the ...more ↓

Čhošáša (Red Core), or Common Milkpea

Galega officinalis, commonly known as galega, goat's-rue, French lilac, Italian fitch, or professor-weed, is an herbaceous plant in the Faboideae subfamily. It is native to the Middle East, but has been naturalized in Europe and western Asia. The plant has been extensively cultivated as a forage crop, an ornamental, a bee plant, and as green ...more ↓

Pȟežúta Ská Hú (White Medicine Stem), Šuŋkówašakala (Horses-are-easy-to-get-on-it), or Canadian Milkvetch

Astragalus canadensis is a common and widespread member of the milkvetch genus in the legume family, known commonly as Canadian milkvetch. The plant is found throughout Canada and the United States in many habitats including wetlands, woodlands, and prairies. It sends out several thin, erect, green stems, bearing leaves that are actually made up of pairs of leaflets, each ...more ↓

Pté Tȟawóte (Food of the Bison), Tȟatȟáŋka Omníča (Bison-Bull Bean), or Ground-Plum

Astragalus crassicarpus, known as ground plum or buffalo plum, is a perennial species of flowering plant in the legume family, Fabaceae, native to North America. It was described in 1813. The fruit is edible and was used by Native Americans as food and horse medicine. It is a host of afranius duskywing larvae. It is also known as groundplum milkvetch and ...more ↓

Ziŋtkátȟačháŋ (Tree of the Birds), Ziŋtká Wóte (Bird Food), Tȟatȟáŋka Hotȟúŋ (Voice of the Bison Bull), Pté Hotȟúŋ (Voice of the Bison [Cow]), Šuŋgtȟáwote (Horses’ Food), or Leadplant

Amorpha Canescens (Amorpha brachycarpa, Leadplant, Leadplant amorpha, Downy indigo bush, Prairie shoestring, Buffalo bellows) is a 30–90 cm (1–3 ft) tall perennial semi-shrub in the Pea family (Fabaceae) that is native to North America. It has very small purple flowers with yellow stamens which are grouped in racemes. Depending on location, the ...more ↓

Ziŋtkátȟačháŋ (Birds’ Tree), Ziŋtkátȟačháŋ Mniáglagla Uŋpí (Birds’ Tree Along-the-water edge-of), Šuŋgtȟáwote (Horses’ Food), or False Indigo

Amorpha fruticosa is a species of flowering plant in the legume family (Fabaceae) known by several common names, including desert false indigo, false indigo-bush, and bastard indigobush. It is found wild in most of the contiguous United States, southeastern Canada, and northern Mexico, but it is probably naturalized in the northeastern and northwestern ...more ↓

Tȟokȟála Tȟapȟéžuta (Kit Fox’s Medicine), or Golden Prairie Clover

Dalea aurea, commonly called golden prairie clover, is a species of flowering plant in the legume family (Fabaceae). It is native to North America, where it is found in the Great Plains and southwestern United States, and in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Its natural habitat is in silty or gravelly prairies, often over limestone.

Tȟokȟála Tȟapȟéžuta Hú Bloká (Kit Fox’s Medicine Stem Male), or White Prairie Clover

Dalea candida is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name white prairie clover. It is native to North America, where it can be found throughout central Canada, the central United States, and northern Mexico. It can sometimes be found outside its range as an introduced species. It grows in many types of habitat, including several types of ...more ↓

Tȟokȟála Tȟapȟéžuta Hú Wíŋyela (Kit Fox’s Medicine Stem Female), or Purple Prairie Clover

Dalea purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name purple prairie clover, better written as "prairie-clover," in recognition of the fact that it is not a true clover (genus Trifolium).

Thíŋpsila (PrairieTurnip), Turnip, or Large Indian Breadroot

Psoralea esculenta, common name prairie turnip, 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 also known as Pediomelum esculentum. English names for the plant include tipsin, teepsenee, breadroot, breadroot ...more ↓

Edited by dgoodhouse, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)