Beulah Bog

garlic mustard

There are only a few bogs in Wisconsin, which should not come as a surprise, since the soil and temperature conditions are not ideal here. The bogs are small here, but this is a very high quality one. Around the bog the dominant vegetation is an overgrown oak savanna, which is still recognizable from the occasional bur oaks and shooting stars. The reason why there's a bog here afterall is that cold air drains down the hill, providing the cool circumstances bogs feel good in.
Going in we were warned to clean off shoes of possible garlic mustard seeds. Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a biennial, and it's one of the number one herbaceous invasive problems in Wisconsin. First year plants consist of a cluster of 3 or 4 round, scallop edged leaves rising 2 to 4 inches in a rosette. Second-year plants generally produce one or two flowering stems with numerous white flowers that have four separate petals. Garlic mustard is the only plant of this height in our woods with white flowers in May. Garlic mustard is an exotic species introduced from Europe presumably by early settlers for its supposed medicinal properties and for use in cooking. It is widely distributed throughout the northeastern and Midwestern U.S. from Canada to South Carolina and west to Kansas, North Dakota, and as far as Colorado and Utah. Garlic mustard grows in upland and floodplain forests, savannas, yards, and along roadsides, occasionally in full sun. It is shade-tolerant, and generally requires some shade; it is not commonly found in sunny habitats. It cannot tolerate acidic soils. The invasion of forests usually begins along the wood's edge, and progresses via streams, campgrounds, and trails.

smooth sumac

poison sumac

Teri pointed out honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) and buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica and Rhamnus frangula) as some other nasty invasives threatening our native ecosystems. We learned the difference between smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix). The poison is similar in effect to that of the closely related poison ivy, but is even more virulent. With both, infection is usually due to contact. The sap becomes gummy on drying and is often carried to other parts of the body by the hands. For first aid, wash the exposed parts with hot water and strong soap to remove as much of the poison as possible. The regular sumac is found on dry sites and has reddish berries in upright clusters.

arrowhead

wild calla

cottongrass (sedge)

leatherleaf

huckleberry

Moving into the bog we saw arrowhead (Sagittaria spp.), wild calla (Calla palustris) and sedges, like cottongrass (Carex spp.). 

tamarack

We learned that to tell apart leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) and huckleberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides) we need to take a look at the leaves: leatherleaf has leaves brown on one side, green the other, where huckleberry is all green; and leatherleaf leaves are also getting smaller towards the tip, where the huckleberry's ones do not. The main tree element in the bog was tamarack (Larix laricina) with its scary-looking but actually very smooth clusters.

Arriving into the middle of the bog we found the three carnivorous plants, pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea), with its smooth-in-rough-out hairs, bladderworts (Utricularia spp.) (review how it gets its food!) and sundews (Drosera ratundifolia and Drosera intermedia).

sundew

pitcher plant

bladderwort