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Cover art for publication CM109

Developing Effective Communications

Reviewed

Reviewed by Katherine Foran
Extension Communications and Marketing

Dick Lee
Extension and Agricultural Information

Most Americans probably do not appreciate the importance of communication in their personal and workday lives. Hopefully, those of us in extension work recognize the importance of good, effective communications.

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Poison ivy.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 40

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Poison ivy is a vine that can grow up to 60 feet high or a low, upright shrub. It has alternate leaves with three oval to lance-shaped leaflets with a pointed tip.The flowers are greenish white and grow in clusters 1 to 4 inches long on new growth of stems.

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Big bluestem stalks.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 08

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Mature seed stalks of big bluestem are copper colored and often grow more than 5 feet tall. The clumpy growth of big bluestem allows room for other plants to exist and provides excellent habitat structure for nesting and roosting

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Cover art for publication CM360

Writing Columns

Reviewed

Before writing a column, think about purpose, audience, content and structure. Visit our website today to learn more about writing columns.

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Common ragweed.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 43

Reviewed

Common ragweed commonly grows to 18 inches. Leaves are simple, alternate, smooth and deeply lobed. Often the lobes are lobed again.

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Crab grass.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 11

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Often found in disturbed areas, crab grass tends to indicate early successional vegetation, and thus good quail habitat. However, late spring disturbance may result in a crab grass response heavy enough to displace other beneficial or desired plants.

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Sensitive brier.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 46

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Sensitive brier has prostrate stems and seedpods covered with hooked barbs. Doubly compound, featherlike leaves close rapidly when touched or disturbed. Flower clusters are a fuchsia ball dotted with contrasting yellow stamens.

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A meadow vole.

Controlling Voles in Horticulture Plantings and Orchards in Missouri - Page 3

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Meadow voles and prairie voles spend most of their lives above ground, living in and feeding on grasses and seeds. They may travel as far as 1/4 mile in search of food and cover. Their typical habitat includes lightly grazed pastures, old fields and grassy areas, lawns and gardens.

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Red cedars.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 14

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Eastern red cedar is a small to medium-sized tree up to 50 feet tall. It is an aromatic evergreen with a dense pyramid-shaped to cylindrical crown.

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Smartweed.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 49

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Annual smartweeds has abundant, swollen nodes where the leaf meets the stem. Leaves are simple, alternate and parallel-veined; most are lanceolate. Flower clusters are white or pink, and at maturity the plant yields large numbers of seeds.

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Flowering spurge.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 17

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Flowering spurge may reach 3 feet tall on richer soils. Inflorescences are multibranched, with multiple flower heads per branch. Flowers have five white petals with a yellow center and average about one-third inch across.

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Goat's rue.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 20

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Goat’s rue, a member of the bean family, is readily identified by its striking flower, which consists of a cream-colored upper petal above two bright pink lower petals. Leaves are alternate, compound and usually hairy, with a pointed, hairlike tip.

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Switch grass.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 52

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Switch grass exhibits an upright, bunchy growth form. The leaves twist in a corkscrew-like pattern from the base to the tip of the blade.

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Hairy lespedeza in flower.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 23

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Hairy lespedeza leaflets occur in threes. This perennial plant earns its name from its stem and oblong leaflets, both of which are covered with hairs.

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Trailing lespedeza.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 55

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Trailing lespedezas are small, native lespedezas with trailing stems that can readily form thick mats over bare areas if left undisturbed. The small flowers range from purple to white and can produce a large quantity of seeds.

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Illinois bundleflower.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 26

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Illinois bundleflower can be identified in summer by the doubly compound, fernlike leaves and white spherical flower heads. By fall, the stems become tough and woody, and the seedpods are distinctive, bearing a ball-shaped cluster of pods, each containing several flat, brown seeds.

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Palmately lobed leaves of Geranium carolinianum.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 58

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Leaves of Geranium species are deeply cleft and palmately lobed. Seeds are located within the sharply pointed “crane’s bill” formed by the tubelike style of the flower.

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Lambsquarters.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 29

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Lambsquarters is rather nondescript and typically grows 2-6 feet tall. Leaves are triangular or kite-shaped, and their surfaces often have a powdery white appearance.

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Milkpea.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 32

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Milkpea is a herbaceous legume with a hairy surface on the top of its trilobed leaf. Stems are also hairy. Seedpods are about 2-1/2 inches long.

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Osage orange fruit and leaf.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 35

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Osage orange grows as a medium-sized tree up to 50 feet tall. It has yellow-green fleshy fruits with a knobby surface that resembles a brain. Its alternate, simple leaves taper to a long, pointed tip.

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Alfalfa flower.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 03

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Alfalfa leaves are divided into three leaflets, with the middle leaflet on a distinct stalk. Leaflets are serrated along the outer third to half and are somewhat elongated. Flowers are usually purple, sometimes bluish, rarely white. Fruits are usually curved or twisted.

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Paspalums.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 38

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Paspalums seeds are round and flattened and are neatly lined up (but sometimes overlapping slightly) on the seed stalk in two or four rows. Some paspalum species have conspicuous silky hairs at the base of the spikelet.

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Beggar's lice in flower.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 06

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Beggar's lice has triangular seedpods covered with dense hairs that cause them to stick to clothing. During the growing season, it can be recognized by its divided leaf and pink flower.

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Cover art for publication CM201

Clear Writing

Reviewed

Get your point across clearly in writing with these 10 principles of clear writing. Also, learn how to test the clearness of your writing and keep it simple.

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Pokeweed.

Quail-Friendly Plants of the Midwest, Page 41

Reviewed

Pokeweed leaves are smooth, oblong and usually 6 to 8 inches in length, though they may grow up to 12 inches. Stems turn bright purple as the plant matures. Clusters of succulent, shiny purple berries, about 1/4 inch in diameter, occur at the tops of the plants.

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