Blue Darner Bog And Fen

Today I met a group of natural plant enthusiasts at Stone Lake boat landing. We were going to the Blue Darner Bog to gather plants for the U of M/Duluth herbarium. The Blue Darner Bog is part of the Sax-Zim bog.

 

The bog is a quarter of a mile from the boat landing. We were walking on the bog. As I was walking my mud boots sunk six inches into the bog with my left foot and four inches deep on my right foot. My boot was suctioned down hard. I tried to lift my foot and felt my foot leave my boot. I put my foot back in and tried the other foot. A man behind me saw my troubles. He moved around me, hung onto a black spruce, and offered me a hand. With his help I was able to free myself and put my boots back on. I walked more carefully after that. 

Here we are out on the fen on the edge of East Stone Lake.

One of the 40 specimens we took was cotton grass.

I found a cranberry but it wasn't ripe. One side was red and the other side was white.

Here is a tiny little sundew, a carnivorous plant.

We walked back to the boat landing and prepared our specimens too be dried. Each sample was tucked under two layers of newspapers, blotting paper, and stiff cardboard. The newspapers were labelled with the name  of the plant, the date, the name of the person who collected it and the number. Our first number was 2022-01.

We filled three of these plant presses. After a month or so of drying we can mount the specimens on paper, add a label, and put them in the herbarium collection at the University. I had four hours of fun in the bog but it is nice to wear tennis shoes and to walk on solid ground again.