Field Guide

Bottomland forest
FIELD GUIDE A-Z
Learn about the habitat, diet, and life cycle of Missouri's animals, plants, and mushrooms.
What to look for this month
Cottontail Rabbit
Hoppin’ Down the Bunny Trail

Peter & Co. are busy in spring and will keep busy through September. Courting males and females rush at and spring over each other.

Photo of blue-eyed Mary flowers
Blue-Eyed Mary

This pretty woodland wildflower usually appears in abundance, covering a patch of forest floor with little sky-blue and white “faces.”

Red buckeye flower cluster
Red Buckeye Blooms

Native to southeastern Missouri, but cultivated statewide, this attractive shrub or small tree has showy red flowers that attract hummingbirds.

Male blue corporal dragonfly resting on a weathered wooden surface
Blue Corporals

While many dragonfly species fly all summer long, adult blue corporal dragonflies occur only in spring: March through May. Only the males are blue.

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