The goal of this website is to document the diversity of flowering plants in Jackson Park (Chicago, IL) and to share that remarkable diversity with interested users.
I particularly hope that visitors to Jackson Park will be able to use this site to enhance their experience of the park, helping them to identify plants they have seen and to let them experience a variety of habitats in Jackson Park over a range of seasons.
Hello, my name is Michael LaBarbera
I taught biology at the college level for over 40 years. Students often had a nearsighted view of “biodiversity,” thinking it was something found mainly in far-away places, usually in the tropics — always exotic, always remote from human influence. I hope you take a lesson away from this website — that biological diversity is everywhere, if only you take the time to see it, that even deeply urban areas can host a rich mix of native and exotic forms thus forming novel but functional ecosystems. Humans are part of those ecosystems and have been for tens of thousands of years, both shaping ecosystems and being shaped by them.
Biological diversity is everywhere, if only you take the time to see it. Even places in the middle of major cities host a rich mix of native and exotic forms forming novel but functional ecosystems
Please use this form to contact me about:
Regardless of why you submit this form, if you include an email address I’ll try to respond within 48 hours. If you’ve seen a plant not included in the site, try to describe WHERE you saw it (in as much detail as possible; GPS coordinates welcome) and what it looked like or the ID your plant app gave you. If you have pictures, let me know and I’ll contact you if you’re willing to share copies. Such tips will be acknowledged in “What’s new in Jackson Park” on the Discover page and earn my undying gratitude.