Lakeside Daisy
(Hymenoxy acaulis var. glabra)

Status: Threatened

Habitat: This plant is found in dry, rocky prairie grassland underlain by limestone. It requires open sites with full sun. Although it grows in Great Lakes states and along the Canadian shore of Lake Huron, it is named for Lakeside, Ohio, near one of its best known sites.

Why It's Threatened: Limestone quarrying, which has increased in recent years, destroys the daisy's habitat. Collectors may also pose a threat, since the daisy is now found in just a handful of sites.

The wide area encompassing known Lakeside daisy sites suggests that the species was once widespread in prairie habitats throughout the midwestern United States and along Huron's northern shore. Fire suppression practices have eliminated the wildfires which once regularly cleared prairie grasslands of the encroaching woods. Now the expansion of shrubs and trees threatens the daisy, which needs full sun to survive.

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