#prickly bog sedge

[skwonkk]

Plants that grow in both Canada and Finland

* = not native to at least one of the two countries

Acer negundo (box elder)*

Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)

Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard)*

Alopecurus aequalis (shortawn foxtail)

Anemone hepatica (common hepatica)

Arctagrostis latifolia (wideleaf polargrass)

Argentina anserina (common silverweed)

Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)*

Bellis perennis (lawn daisy)*

Berteroa incana (hoary alyssum)*

Betula pendula (silver birch)*

Bryum argenteum (silvery bryum)

Calamagrostis lapponica (Lappland reedgrass)

Calla palustris (marsh calla)

Campanula uniflora (arctic bellflower)

Cannabis sativa (cannabis)

Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's-purse)

Carex adelostoma (circumpolar sedge)

Carex tenuiflora (sparse-flowered sedge)

Ceratodon purpureus (redshank)

Chamaenerion angustifolium (fireweed)

Chenopodium album (common lambsquarters)

Cirsium arvense (creeping thistle)*

Convallaria majalis (European lily of the valley)*

Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed)*

Corallorhiza trifida (early coralroot)

Cornus suecica (dwarf cornel)

Crocus vernus (spring crocus)*

Cystopteris fragilis (fragile fern)

Datura stramonium (jimsonweed)*

Drosera rotundifolia (round-leaved sundew)

Dryopteris filix-mas (male fern)

Echium vulgare (viper's-bugloss)*

Empetrum nigrum (black crowberry)

Equisetum arvense (field horsetail)

Eriophorum scheuchzeri (Scheuchzer's cottongrass)

Festuca vivipara (viviparous sheep's-fescue)

Fragaria vesca (wild strawberry)

Galium trifidum (three-petal bedstraw)

Geranium pratense (meadow crane's-bill)*

Geranium robertianum (Herb Robert)

Geranium sylvaticum (wood cranesbill)*

Glechoma hederacea (ground-ivy)

Gymnocarpium dryopteris (northern oak fern)

Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)

Humulus lupulus (common hops)

Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane)

Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan balsam)*

Juniperus communis (common juniper)

Lathyrus japonicus (seaside pea)

Leucanthemum vulgare (oxeye daisy)*

Lupinus polyphyllus (large-leaved lupin)*

Malus baccata (Siberian crabapple)*

Malus domestica (apple)*

Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweetclover)*

Monotropa hypopitys (pinesap)

Oxalis corniculata (creeping woodsorrel)*

Papaver somniferum (opium poppy)*

Petasites frigidus (Arctic sweet coltsfoot)

Phragmites australis (common reed)

Picea abies (Norway spruce)*

Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)*

Poa arctica (Artic bluegrass)

Prunella vulgaris (common selfheal)

Pteridium aquilinum (common bracken)

Ranunculus lapponicus (Lapland buttercup)

Rosa acicularis (prickly wild rose)

Rubus idaeus (red raspberry)*

Salix lanata (woolly willow)

Saxifraga rivularis

Sceptridium multifidum (leathery grapefern)

Silene dioica (red campion)

Sonchus asper (prickly sowthistle)*

Sorbus aucuparia (European mountain ash)

Tanacetum vulgare (tansy)*

Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)*

Trifolium pratense (red clover)*

Trifolium repens (white clover)*

Ulva intestinalis (gutweed)

Vaccinium myrtillus (European blueberry)

Vaccinium oxycoccos (bog cranberry)

Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry)

Vaccinium vitis-idaea (lingonberry)

Veronica persica (bird's-eye speedwell)*

Veronica verna (spring speedwell)*

Viola palustris (marsh violet)

Viola tricolor (wild pansy)*

* = not native to at least one of the two countries

[cedar-glade]

Platanthera ciliaris

Yellow fringed orchid

Any way you go about looking at this species, full anthesis or not, it becomes clear why people drive out of there way to see them once a year. This orchid, although considered one of the bog orchids, can tolerate a number of xeric conditions as long as an aerated ericaceous soil with correct mycorrohizal groups are present.  It can be found in sedge meadows, marshes, wet sandy barrens, mixed ph barrens(like this one), moist open woods, wet meadows, prairies, and deep humus of upland Eastern Oak Hickory forests at steep hills edge or cliffs edge.  It usually requires some form of disturbance to keep its habitat in check and in most of these areas that means fire dependency to recreate open growing conditions. Currently, although tree species never get big enough in the barren that these photos were taken at, the management has done prescribed burns to mitigate woodies. In the wetter sections of sand barrens fire and sandblasting are associated with preservation of habitat. 

As you may already know, many of the issues involving the development of this species habitat is the major reason for it’s decline. Habitat connectivity is effected constantly by agricultural systems and the use of herbicides in places that may have seen colonies. Other issues involve the destruction of thicket and subthicket food sources for larval stages of large butterflies, specifically the swallowtails, that if not addressed could lead to enough population numbers for a few plant species to potentially go extinct. Although any species feeding on paw paw may be stable as well as species feeding on spicebush/sassafras maybe stable, we have seen the major decline of those species feeding on pipevines, golden alexanders, sub thicket Spirea spp., and the citrus false ashes(wafer/prickly), which is directly associated to the low numbers of those plants in natural landscapes. Both Lillium spp. and many fringed orchid species, despite local abundance in some cases, fail to get pollinated enough to see a real comeback. Although hawkmoths and hummingbirds visit these plants for the nectar at the back of their long orange nectar spur, size/shape and how the would be pollinator positions it’s self on the flower matters to the specific format necessary for pollination. 

The flowers form on a pinwheel raceme, pinwheel seen in the right most photo, blooming from the bottom to the top. The butterflies that seem to visit and properly transfer pollinia have to extend their proboscis far enough down the nectar spur to the point that they too may come in contact with the stigmatic surface and also pop the anther cap and receive the pollinia onto it’s head. Some studies, such as the study of a certain P. ciliaris population’s ecology in a southwestern Michigan bog, (Smith and Snow (1976) ), seems to suggest that the most likely candidate for this would be spice bush swallowtail. Though this and a few other similar studies may not have taken in the concepts associated with local numbers of other swallow tail species being lower due to lack of larval food. 

Other issues with this species involve new/usable habitat loss. In what could of been decent habitat if fire regimes were applied and if left undisturbed by the backhoes, trench sifters, and breaker bars once established are the ditches of grazing/ horse pastures with low amounts of invasive grasses/shrubs/ect. in the area. Connectivity of runoff ditches near the sides of road seem to serve their function in offering footholds to this species as long as the basic ericaceous soil requirements are met with the lack of herbicides fungicides and pesticides. (I will post a ditch image and a pasture/ sedge meadow as an example tomorrow. ) Aside from that issue, poaching is always an issue for these orchid species. People dig them up and sell them, most people trample an area of the single leaf, compact the soil, and even break blooming sized species( multiple leaf with spike). Damaging these species in anyway can cause them issues down the line and will set them back years. In some cases they may even revert to their protocorm stage or die( Case, F. W. 1987. Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region. ) If you are attempting a rescue from a field or ditch that you know will be destroyed, contact your DNR. It’s best to just admire them and study them from a distance though if that is not the case. It is illegal to move them across state lines during any rescue without proper permits. 

That aside, there was a time period when the eastern USA saw these and many other species as abundant. Before the agricultural development and death/displacement of many tribes there were periods when they could be used... when this species was common in wet depressions a few different tribes used this to treat many issues, from headaches and bowel issues to inflammation and snake bites and was considered an important resource for those tribes.

In those early days it was also possible to see a few look-a-likes P. Xbicolor (P. ciliaris x P. blephariglottis), which is a variegated white/orange long labellum species, and the crested orange fringed orchid, P. cristata, which has smaller labellum and nectar spur than the orange fringed orchid, P. cilliaris.

If you are interested about the location where I took these photos, I made a post yesterday explaining what HD Meadow was. 

[swamptromp]

plant #29 – prickly bog sedge

Carex often requires fiddly microscope work to make a positive I.D., but I’m just going for a general idea of what will be at my sites for now. Here we go!

Carex atlantica (syn. Carex howei) – prickly bog sedge – is found in acidic wetlands in the eastern half of North America. It grows in tufts, and its flowers and fruit form relatively small spikes whose spikelets look like they’re stacked on top of one another. Prickly bog sedge blooms in May and June. The name of this common sedge genus comes from the Greek for “cut”, “keiro”.

Photos from here and here. Loving descriptions like these...

[skwonkk]

Plants that grow in both Canada and Mongolia

* = not native to at least one of the two countries

Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)

Alopecurus aequalis (shortawn foxtail)

Arctagrostis latifolia (wideleaf polargrass)

Argentina anserina (common silverweed)

Carex tenuiflora (sparse-flowered sedge)

Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd’s-purse)

Chamaenerion angustifolium (fireweed)

Chenopodium album (common lambsquarters)

Cirsium arvense (creeping thistle)*

Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed)*

Geranium pratense (meadow crane’s-bill)*

Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)*

Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane)

Malus baccata (Siberian crabapple)*

Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweetclover)*

Phragmites australis (common reed)

Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)*

Rosa acicularis (prickly wild rose)

Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)*

Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry)

Vaccinium vitis-idaea (lingonberry)

[skwonkk]

Plants that grow in both Finland and Mongolia

* = not native to at least one of the two countries

Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)

Alopecurus aequalis (shortawn foxtail)

Arctagrostis latifolia (wideleaf polargrass)

Argentina anserina (common silverweed)

Artemisia vulgaris (common mugwort)

Carex tenuiflora (sparse-flowered sedge)

Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's-purse)

Chamaenerion angustifolium (fireweed)

Chenopodium album (common lambsquarters)

Cirsium arvense (creeping thistle)*

Convolvulus arvensis (field bindweed)

Dasiphora fruticosa (shrubby cinquefoil)

Empetrum nigrum (black crowberry)

Eriophorum scheuchzeri (Scheuchzer's cottongrass)

Geranium pratense (meadow crane's-bill)

Helianthus annuus (common sunflower)

Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane)

Larix sibirica (Siberian larch)

Malus baccata (Siberian crabapple)*

Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweetclover)

Phragmites australis (common reed)

Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine)

Polygala comosa (tufted milkwort)

Rosa acicularis (prickly wild rose)

Sagittaria natans (floating arrowhead)

Salix pyrolifolia (pyrola-leaved willow)

Taraxacum officinale (common dandelion)*

Vaccinium uliginosum (bog bilberry)

Vaccinium vitis-idaea (lingonberry)