The Minnesota River Prairie, Coteau Moraines, and Inner Coteau ecological subsections cover a vast swath of southwestern Minnesota and account for nearly a quarter of the land area in the state. This region contains all or portions of Big Stone, Blue Earth, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Faribault, Freeborn, Grant, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Stevens, Swift, Waseca, Watonwan, and Yellow Medicine counties.

The Minnesota River Prairie is a region of level to gently rolling moraines, with well- to moderately well-drained loamy soils. A few soils are clayey, some sandy and gravelly. A very drying environment for woody plants. Original vegetation was prairie grasses and riparian forests of silver maple, cottonwood, elm and willow.

Soils in the Inner Coteau are well-drained and consist of windblown silt with occasional bedrock outcrops. Plant communities were dominated by prairies and occasional riparian forests.

The far southwestern corner of Minnesota is home to the Coteau Moraines. Here, gently rolling to hilly land with windblown silt soils covers loamy, well-drained glacial material high in lime. Plant communities were dominated by tall grass prairies with occasional forests near streams.

Unlike their forest biome counterparts to the east, this prairie-rich region is not heavily forested. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t any woodlands in this area–they are just smaller and less common. 

The following species are not currently native to Ecoregion 10, but this region's future climate may be suitable  to support habitat for these species. Extension Forestry is interested in learning more about these species, and we want to know if any of these species are already present on the landscape in Region 10. Learn more about each species using the drop-down buttons below.

Photo by US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Pecan, otherwise called hardy pecan, is native to the south-central U.S. and is hardy to zones 5-9. The leaves are alternative and pinnately compound. The nuts are sweet and edible (perfect for pecan pie!), and the husks split into four sections in the fall. Pecan is the largest tree in the hickory genus (Carya), and it develops a wide, spreading growth form where the lower branches becoming sweeping and low to the ground with age. Learn more about pecan on the NC State Extension Horticulture page. 

Photo by Ryan Armbrust, Kansas Forest Service, Bugwood.org

Black hickory is native to the central U.S. primarily in Missouri and Arkansas, with the northern end of its range extending into Illinois. It is a small to medium sized tree, with 5-7 leaflets per compound leave. The bark is not shaggy like other hickories, and is dark gray and coarsely rough-textured.  Like other hickories, black  hickory supports many species of insects, mammals, and birds. It's hardy to zones 5-9. Learn more about black hickory on the Illinois Wildflowers page.

Photo by Brenda K. Loveless, Wildflower Center Digital Library

Sugarberry is a large tree with light green, simple, alternate leaves that have a rough leaf surface but smooth leaf edges. Sugarberry bark is warty. Hackberry, a cousin native to Minnesota, has rough leaves with toothed edges and bark that is warty and ridged. Both trees have small edible fruit. Sugarberry is considered hardy from plant zones 5a-10b. To learn more about this species and how to identify it visit the NC State Extension Horticulture page.

Photo from iNat by sambiology

This small understory tree that has conspicuous small purple flowers along the stem in early spring. It's considered hardy from plant zones 4a-9b. To learn more about this species and how to identify it visit the NC State Extension Horticulture page or the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension website. This tree is not considered native to Minnesota and is planted in some communities including Rochester and the Twin Cities.

Photo from iNaturalist by m_whitson 

Ashe juniper  a conifer native to Texas and parts of Arkansas and is hardy to zones 6-9.  The needles are scale-like, and the tree produces green berry-like seed cones. This species can be found growing in thickets in its native range due to its multi-stemmed growth form. Learn more about ash juniper on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center page.

Photo by Joseph A. Marcus, Wildflower Center Digital Library

Osage-orange is a medium sized tree with large baseball size yellow-green, inedible, fruit on female trees. The name is derived from this orange-like fruit. The leaves are simple, elongated egg-shaped with smooth edges. Thorns form below the leaves on new shoots. The bark is furrowed, orange-brown to gray-brown with an irregular criss-crossed pattern. It is considered hardy from plant zone 4-9. To learn more about this species and how to identify it visit the NC State Extension Horticulture page or the UMN website.

Photo from iNat by mariposa21157

Post oak is a species in the white oak group that is native to much of the eastern and southeastern U.S. The leaves can be distinguished from other white oaks by the two middle lobes that are square-shaped, which gives the leaves a cross-like appearance. Post oak is hardy to zones 5-9. Learn more about post oak on the NC State Extension Horticulture page.

Forest health threat: Post oak is susceptible to oak wilt, a fungal pathogen that kills oaks. Oak wilt kills white white oaks are less quickly than red oaks (such as northern red oak and northern pin oak).

Photo by Chris Evans, University of Illinois, Bugwood.org

Shingle oak is native to the eastern and central U.S. and is hardy to zones 4-8. It develops a round or conical form. Its leaves are glossy, leathery and elliptical in shape, unlike other oaks. Regardless of this difference in appearance, this oak is in the red oak group of oaks, similar to MN's northern red oak. Learn more about shingle oak on the NC State Extension Horticulture page. 

Forest health threat: Shingle oak is very susceptible to oak wilt, a fungal pathogen that kills oaks. Oak wilt kills red oaks more rapidly than white oaks. 

Photo by Richard Webb, Bugwood.org