Description: In the summer of 2012, Shona Sanford-Long performed reciprocal crosses between 7 Echinacea pallida plants found in a prairie restoration at the Hegg Lake Wildlife Management Area and 7 Echinacea angustifolia plants on a nearby hillside to quantify hybridization potential between these two species. E. angustifolia is native to Minnesota while E. pallida is not. In the winter of 2013, Jill Pastick planted the seeds in an experiment to compare growth of hybrid and pure species seedlings. In the spring of 2013, Stuart planted 294 seedlings at Hegg Lake WMA near the restoration. Team members take fitness measurements, such as number of rosettes and leaf lengths, every year.
A hybrid at Hegg Lake
Start year: Crosses in 2012, planting in 2013
Location: Hegg Lake Wildlife Management Area – Experimental plot 7
Products: Check the flog for preliminary analyses and annual reports.
Read updates about this experiment on our flog (field blog) as written by members of Team Echinacea.
