Post by Adam on Jul 15, 2018 19:17:45 GMT -5
I went to visit a local kettle bog with a fellow botanist/good friend. Since he aligned the proper permits earlier in the year, we had access to the entire bog under the agreement that we put together a plant list of everything we encountered. The first part of the hike was great with a lot of diversity, but this bog is in desperate need of some work. Many consider the high bush blueberry a good thing (in many places it is perfectly fine), but this place has a history of being a farm. The current hypothesis is that the previous owners had selected for the best of the best, and added cultivars. The result of this probable manipulation is a dense wall of blueberry with next to no diversity underneath it. There are some areas that have been restored, but the majority remains untouched due to the lack of funds.
That being said, we still decided to venture into the dense growth in search of the open areas we could find from aerial maps, which resulted in exhaustion from the high heat and humidity as well as shedding some blood. I looked at it as payment to enjoy the species shown in the photos and much more. This isn't the first time I've wandered through excessively dense shrub growth and it certainly won't be the last.
Sarracenia purpurea by Adam B., on Flickr
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Platanthera ciliaris by Adam B., on Flickr
Platanthera ciliaris by Adam B., on Flickr
I climbed roughly halfway up a white pine to get this overview photo. This is one of the few open sections throughout the entire kettle bog, and easily one of the best. It is still partially surrounded by dense blueberry stands, but restoration efforts have pushed back a lot of it.
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr
The sundews are so dense in some areas that one cannot walk through without stepping on them (they do like disturbance).
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Lycopodiella inundata by Adam B., on Flickr
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Ilex mucronata by Adam B., on Flickr
Rhynchospora alba by Adam B., on Flickr
Eriophorum virginicum by Adam B., on Flickr
Xyris difformis by Adam B., on Flickr
Carex trisperma by Adam B., on Flickr
I didn't know my photo was being taken, so now I know I don't keep track of my facial expressions while focused on taking photos.
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr
That being said, we still decided to venture into the dense growth in search of the open areas we could find from aerial maps, which resulted in exhaustion from the high heat and humidity as well as shedding some blood. I looked at it as payment to enjoy the species shown in the photos and much more. This isn't the first time I've wandered through excessively dense shrub growth and it certainly won't be the last.
Sarracenia purpurea by Adam B., on Flickr
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Platanthera ciliaris by Adam B., on Flickr
Platanthera ciliaris by Adam B., on Flickr
I climbed roughly halfway up a white pine to get this overview photo. This is one of the few open sections throughout the entire kettle bog, and easily one of the best. It is still partially surrounded by dense blueberry stands, but restoration efforts have pushed back a lot of it.
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr
The sundews are so dense in some areas that one cannot walk through without stepping on them (they do like disturbance).
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Lycopodiella inundata by Adam B., on Flickr
Drosera intermedia by Adam B., on Flickr
Ilex mucronata by Adam B., on Flickr
Rhynchospora alba by Adam B., on Flickr
Eriophorum virginicum by Adam B., on Flickr
Xyris difformis by Adam B., on Flickr
Carex trisperma by Adam B., on Flickr
I didn't know my photo was being taken, so now I know I don't keep track of my facial expressions while focused on taking photos.
Untitled by Adam B., on Flickr