Thea Traw (’25), Anna Ursin (’25), Nancy Braker (Director of the Cowling Arboretum), Mark McKone (Professor of Biology), and Stephan Zweifel (Professor of Biology) have published a paper titled “Genetic Evidence for Interspecific Hybridization in a Threatened Legume, Lespedeza leptostachya, in a Southern Minnesota Native Prairie Remnant” in the Natural Areas Journal. They used molecular genetic evidence to verify that the rare prairie bush clover (Lespedeza leptostachya)has been hybridizing with the more common round-headed bush clover (L. capitata) in Carleton’s McKnight Prairie. Hybridization could present a challenge to the genetic integrity of the rare species, so active management may be necessary for long-term maintenance of the population.