Up North

2011 06 10,11,12  A visit to the Manistee River Trail

Manistee River

                                   Slagle Creek Trail Bridge


Ferns

  

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)

         White Moth?  Look at the fringe on its wings.

                              Along the Manistee River Trail

The next two pictures are from somewhere deep in the Manistee National Forest

                


 Next we drove south on M 37 to Loda Lake National Wildflower Sanctuary.

 Loda Lake is the only Wildflower sanctuary in the National Forest System, a project supported both financially and botanically by the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan for over seventy years.


Loda Lake is an area that includes a small spring-fed lake, a bog-like wetland area, a creek and riparian marshy areas, oak forest, pine plantations, and an old farm site.


Right off we found gorgeous Pitcher Plants!

 Nice group of Pitcher Plants at Loda Lake            
These are the leaves of the Pitcher Plant.  Insects fall into this pitcher then decompose and the plants absorb the nutrients of the insect.

This is the carnivorous sundew plant. All carnivorous sundew plants  have a gel like substance at the tips of the tentacles that cover the leaves. This gel is a sticky substance that captures the insects that fly too near the plant. The plant can then eat it.

We left Loda Lake going south on US 37 toward Newaygo stopping at Coolbough Natural Areas, their webite http://www.brookstownship.org/cool.html .

 The trails can be a bit confusing here but there are many things to see. 

Pond at the Coolbough Natural Areas

This is a Wood Sower Gall - home to a group of developing Cynipid Wasps.