Volo Botanizing
A professor of mine recently said that “it is a great time for botanizing”. After today’s stroll through the bog, I’m inclined to agree. August is a great time to admire flowers, especially in the marsh zone; some plants, such as water plantain and meadowsweet, are on their way to seed, but plenty others are blooming in their place.
Arrowhead is abundant across the site. It has three white flowers with a yellow center that grow on wiggly stalks. It’s impossible to ignore when you walk the boardwalk! Often near it are marsh and mad-dog skullcap, two related but distinct species. Both have pointed leaves and uniquely-shaped purple flowers; mad-dog skullcap has larger leaves and smaller flowers than marsh skullcap.
Ditch stonecrop, jewelweed, swamp milkweed, and a mysterious mint species are also in bloom. At first we wondered if the mint was marsh mint, but the growth patterns didn’t line up. Perhaps it’s Mentha canadensis, American wild mint, instead?
As you move from the marsh into the tall shrub zone, fewer and fewer plants are in bloom. If you get to the Eye, though, you’ll be rewarded by a good view of flowering bladderworts. Bladderworts are an aquatic carnivorous plant that use tiny air-filled sacs on the water’s surface to catch insects. Their yellow flowers hover above the rest of the plant on thin stalks, similar to how pitcher plants place their own flowers away from their feeding structures.
Come visit Volo Bog to identify these plants yourself! We have plenty of upcoming tours for you to join.
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