Chilling in the Bruce, Part 2

On Kemble Rock Road

The wind died down and the water was calmer on our second day, though it was cloudy. We drove out through the town of Wiarton towards the western side of the Bruce and the rich woods of Kemble Rock Road. The Niagara Escarpment is a rock formation that runs from western New York state through the Bruce Peninsula and across the Great Lakes to the west. The harder dolomitic stone of the escarpment forms sheer cliffs that tower above the softer shale which has eroded over the centuries. Our route today traced the edges of the Niagara Escarpment.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.)

We drove through beautiful groves of flowering Bradford pear, apple and service berry trees--whether naturally spread or planted long-ago and gone wild, it was hard to tell, but they dominated the open fields. We stopped at one rocky outcrop to examine the plants growing under an enormous beech: Herb Robert, bulblet and Woodsia ferns, liverwort, jack-in-the-pulpits, an incredible array of shade-loving plants. 

Herb Robert ((Geranium robertianum)

Bulblet fern (Crystopteris bulbifera) and liverwort 

Stopping at another stretch of woods under sugar maples, basswood and hop-hornbeam trees we found blue cohosh, trout lilies past bloom, ramps, Trillium grandiflora, several kinds of violets, ferns, sedges, doll's eyes in bloom, and downy Solomon seal. The edge of the Niagara Escarpment bordered one side of the wood.

Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)

Doll's eyes (Actaea pachypoda) setting seed

Ramps (Allium tricodium) with flower stalk

Canada violets (Viola canadensis)

Downy Solomon's seal (Polygonatum pubescens) with yellow violet

Rattlesnake fern (Botrypus virginiana)

Edge of the Niagara Escarpment