Bass River Recreation Area, Connor Bayou

June 24 2013
This adventure was to Bass River Recreation Area to look for a Twayblade orchid.  Marie and I have several special places in Bass River Rec Area.  One area we have found Nodding Ladies' Tresses and Loesel's Twayblade, both of the orchid family.  This is a low wet area tucked away from the trails. 

We saw many wildflowers, here are just a few...

Prunella vulgaris, one of our favorites

We did find Loesel's Twayblade, it is very small and I didn't get a great picture.  It is in the orchid family and it is difficult to find.  So seeing it again this year among all the green was fun.

The name honors Johann Loesel, a seventeenth century Prussian botanist.
The distribution range in the United States is the northeastern states to Alabama and the midwest, Washington. The distribution range in Canada is British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan. This orchid can also be found in Europe.

On to another super secret place at Bass River Rec. Area, where in September we find Closed Gentian blooming.

Here we found Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) Primrose family.
Moneywort was introduced from Europe (long ago), this perennial plant is a non-climbing vine up to 3' long that freely branches at the base.

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) The color was perfect on these flowers.

 



This is another area down a long two-track, this pond was completely dry last year.

We saw a large patch of  Foxglove (also Tall or White) Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis).

We saw tons of frogs and tadpoles here, really probably thousands!

Lots of dragonflies too.



We saw a colorful Tall Meadow Rue, We also saw Deptford Pink, Indian Hemp, Common Mullien, Moth Mullein, Thimbleweed, Whorled Loosestrife, Birdsfoot Trifoil, St. Johnswort, Soapwort, Black-Eyed Susan, hawkweed, Rabbit-foot Clover, Sleepy Catchfly, Everlasting Pea, and more.

After Bass we went to Conner Bayou Park (Ottawa County) to check out the new trail.    Connor Bayou    Bladdernut - large shrub sometimes a small tree.

 

 

 

 

 Yes another fun day.  I'm trying to get up to date on this blog but it isn't easy.  This is the reason I don't identify every photo but if you have questions just ask and I will try to answer them.