Honoring Stacy Iwanicki | Native Plants of Volo Bog: Tamarack

We continue our tribute to Stacy Iwanicki, the DNR naturalist who has devoted over 35 years to Volo Bog and will be retiring at the end of February. This time, we're featuring Stacy's article on Tamarack (American Larch) from the Bog Log. Although it's winter now, Stacy's article takes us through the tamarack's remarkable journey across all four seasons from soft green needles in spring to summer clusters, golden autumn splendor, and finally stark winter silhouettes awaiting renewal. Tamaracks stand as living symbols of Volo Bog's environment, an ancient window to a colder past that still thrives here today.

Tamarack (American Larch) Larix laricina

In the midst of Volo Bog grows a most unique tree – the tamarack or eastern larch. As a member of the Pinaceae, or pine family, the tamarack is a cone-bearer. Unlike most others in its family, however, it is not an evergreen. In October, as Halloween approaches, the tamarack's clusters of soft green needles will begin to turn gold. A month later, the faint sound of falling needles may be heard as the trees drop their cloaks for the winter. By the end of November, they stand stark naked awaiting a blanket of snow.

Ranging from the Pacific Coast in Alaska across Canada to Labrador and Newfoundland on the Atlantic, the tamarack reaches southward to a point culminating in northern Indiana. Volo Bog, and neighboring Pistakee Bog (also on VBSNA property), lie on the very edge of the tree's domain. Relatively abundant to the north, the tamarack is found in only a handful of other locations in Illinois. Most of these populations are protected on state or county property, and thus the tree is listed as a threatened species by the state of Illinois. As rare as it is here, the species would be listed as endangered if existing populations were not protected.

Tamaracks can reach heights of one hundred feet, although here at VBSNA, sixty is more typical. The bark is thin and often becomes rather flaky, revealing an orangish tinge. The needles are borne in clusters on spur shoots from year-old or older twigs; those on new-growth twigs are borne singly. The needles are soft to the touch and contain tannic acid, which helps acidify the soils below.

And that, in turn, begins to explain why tamaracks are trees of bogs, fens, muskegs and other nutrient-poor, acid habitats, where they have little or no competition for sunlight from other tree species. The tamarack's shallow root system has evolved to give it a steadfast grip on thin peat soils which, in the case of Volo Bog, are floating on up to fifty feet of peaty water! In other habitats, the thin layer of peat blankets permafrost or precambrian rock over 4 billion years old!

That's not to say that the tree is indestructible. When Volo Bog experienced prolonged flooding from 1986 through the spring of 1988, the tamaracks which grew on solid peat deposits were unable to float up with the rising waters, and they drowned. Their "skeletons" remain standing today, providing a unique microhabitat for insects and woodpeckers … as well as an eerie silhouette along the bog's horizon. The tamaracks that survived the flood mark the extent of the floating portion of the bog's peat mat; comfortably rooted in the mat, these trees are free to float up and down as the water level fluctuates from season to season and year to year.

The tamarack's zone in Volo Bog provides habitat for a variety of animals. The veery, a cousin of the robin, is known to nest here. Common yellowthroats, catbirds, robins and cedar waxwings are seen regularly. In fall and spring, white-throated sparrows use the tamaracks during migration. Winter tamaracks shelter American tree sparrows and have yielded a few surprises, including long-eared and saw-whet owls and crossbills. Voles and shrews make their tunnel-homes among the shallow root-system and eat the tamarack seeds, while rabbits may browse on tamarack seedlings and twigs.

Further north, tamaracks sustain snowshoe hares and porcupines, and their seeds are consumed by boreal redback voles and masked and arctic shrews. Red squirrels bite the tips off the branches and cache the cones, while spruce, ruffed, and sharp-tailed grouse eat the leaves and buds.

Human populations have found the tree useful as well. The name "tamarack" probably evolved from the Abnaki word "Akemantak", which translates to "wood for snowshoes." The Chippewa and Ojibwe used the roots to weave bags and sew the edges of their canoes. The bark was used by the Menomini and Potawatomi for a medicinal tea, while the Iroquois used the bark for tanning. The inner bark was used by many tribes as a poultice for wounds.

British colonists used the natural "knees" provided by the tamarack trunk and lateral roots for ship building. The wood is practically indestructible under water. Settlers used larch wood for fence posts, poles, ladders, rail road ties, boxes, crates and flooring. Today, toilet paper and the transparent film in envelope windows are often made of tamarack fibers!

However you look at it, the tamarack is one of Volo Bog's truly fascinating inhabitants, an ancient window to a colder past and a living symbol of the singular environment that thrives here today. Stop by and see it now in all its autumn splendor, keeping in mind the words of Aldo Leopold:

"The needles of yesterday fall to earth building a blanket of smoky gold; at the tip of each the bud of tomorrow, preformed, poised, awaits another spring."

All imperfect photos are taken throughout different seasons by Julia Denne.🌿