Along the Cabot Trail the other day, we stopped at a site where there was a boardwalk across a bog and fen that made for a great look at plant adaptations. Have a look at some unique plants of the area.
Scattered throughout the bog/fen are patches of fluffy white cotton grass which is actually not a grass but a sedge, a close relative of grass. It looks like cotton has been scattered throughout the area.
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| Patches of cotton-grass (actually a sedge). |
Two different insectivorous plants live in the bog: pitcher plant and sundew.
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| Pitcher plant. |
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| Shelley taking photo of flower of pitcher plant. |
Growing conditions for trees so poor that some of the tiny spruce may be as old as one hundred years.
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| Small spruce perhaps as old as one hundred years. |
One genus of orchids is fairly common in this bog:
Habenaria
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| Orchid, Habenaria, in bloom. |
In the little pools of water can be found yellow water-lilies,
Nuphar
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| Nuphar, yellow water lily, in bloom. (Photo by Shelley Fink-Brackett.) |
Although we saw no moose, there was evidence that one had been there. A fresh path, littered with moose scat, led to a flattened area where a moose had slept.
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| Moose scat in foreground of moose path. |
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| Trail of moose leading to flattened area that was its bed for the night |
This was indeed a fun nature walk where we encountered unique plants adapted to the harsh conditions of the bog.
I suspect it was a Habaneria Orchid that bloomed in my yard recently.
ReplyDeleteThere were some here in the meadow, but they were mowed down when we had the meadow mowed.
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