The Cranesville Swamp, Part 2

Me at the Cranesville Swamp.

 

The Cranesville Swamp consists of a flat expanse surrounded by low hills, populated by trees here and there. A convenient boardwalk allows one to walk without interfering with the vegetation or sinking into the bog, though there were some places farther along submerged under several inches of water. I believe one would call it technically a fen, as the water does flow, albeit very slowly, through the terrain.

 

Skunk cabbage among hillocks of mosses

 

We'd hoped to see the pitcher plants that grew here that we'd read about, and perhaps some of the sundews, but the skunk cabbage had overgrown everything so much that any pitcher plants and sundews were totally obscured. There were plenty of large Cranberry bushes (Vaccinium macrocarpon) with flower buds on them, their leaves still showing red. The name seems deceptive, these plants grew very low in height.

 

 

 

Large Cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon)

 

 

The lowbush and highbush blueberries were a bit taller, but it was hard to distinguish between the two--I'm not sure I have these correctly identified, but it seemed the flowers of the lowbush were paler, as its botanical name indicates, and the highbush blueberry redder.

 

 

 

Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum) 

 

Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

 

As we ambled along the boardwalk some Viburnums in bloom were visible, perhaps wild raisin, (Viburnum cassinoides), or highbush cranberry (Viburnum edulis), hard for me--a non-botanist--to tell. I wish I'd been able to go on the earlier Wildflower Festival walk with some experts, to learn the differences.

 

Viburnum cassinoides?

 

The array of low-growing plants along the boardwalk was fascinating, the tiny berries of Wintergreen, the unfurling fiddleheads of ferns (Bracken?)  and fruiting mosses were just lovely.

 

Low growth along the boardwalk

 

Mosses with spore heads

At the north end of the boardwalk, a few tall tamarack trees (Larix laricina), also known as the American larch, could be seen, only one had rather skimpy foliage. Here is the southernmost occurrence of this deciduous conifer more typical of northern latitudes such as Canada and the upper midwest, and they didn't seem to be prospering. I understand there are a number of insects that can damage these trees, it seemed the few here could use some help.

  

 

Tamarack trees (Larix laricina)

The plants in this setting were so beautiful to my eye, that I'd like to try a painting depicting several of them in their environment later on.

 

 

Fern fronds unfurling

 

Small trees or shrubs

Drooping sedge (Carex crinita)

Maleberry (Lyonia ligustrina)

Towards the northern end the boardwalk was submerged in several inches of water, and when we re-entered the woods, the ground there was so soggy one had to tread with care. The recent rains had really waterlogged this part of the preserve and we were really glad we had waterproof boots!

 

Skunk cabbage among the ferns and cranberries

 

I'd love to visit the Cranesville Swamp again at another time of the year, like in the fall, to observe how the landscape changes with the seasons. I imagine it would be covered in the bloom of goldenrods and native asters, ripe berries, and some colorful foliage in the background... perhaps this coming fall.