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THE GRASSES & WILDFLOWERS
  
Unlike the prairies of the Great Plains, Kentucky's barrens were never a limitless expanse of tall grass stretching as far as the eye can see. Clumps of trees and shrubs dotted our grassland and the forest was ever-encroaching, held in check only by fire and the migrations of large animals such as bison.
Was it a true prairie? Scientists may debate these finer points. What we know for certain is that warm-season grasses which indicate a prairie out West are native to Western Kentucky, too: for example, big bluestem, little bluestem, Indian grass and switchgrass.
 
It is difficult to imagine the size some warm-season grasses can reach. Early white explorers described seeing grasses "as tall as a man on horseback." Indeed, Indian grass can grow as tall as 11 feet; Big Bluestem can get up to eight feet high. A person walking on foot through such a field could easily be swallowed up!
Some grasses will flower in the fall, but most prairie blooms come from native flowers. Goldenrod, Partridge Pea, Prairie Phlox, Wild Strawberry and Wild Rose are a few of the flowers found on the prairie.
 Native grasses have huge, complex root systems; like an iceberg, sometimes what's underground is more extensive than what's visible above ground. Switchgrass roots can extend more than 12 feet long, Big
Bluestem and Indian grass will go nearly as far.
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