PEATLAND PLANTS

Bogs and Poor Fens

LOW CALCIUM

Sphagnum

Cladonia type lichens

Heather Family shrubs: Ericads

Conifers

Wiry Sedges

Insectivorous plants

Wetlands with an accumulation of peat= PEATLANDS

1) Peatland dominated by bryophytes and graminoids

aa. Peatland not influenced by groundwater=

ombrotrophic BOG (Sphagnum the driver)

aa. Peatland influenced by groundwater flow = FEN

1) Peatland dominated by trees and shrubs

> seasonal drawdown

waters are rich in dissolved minerals

= peat SWAMP

PEATLAND PLANTS

Sphagnum: The Driver

Look for rosette like heads, “capitula”

Hydrogen Ion Pumps

Dead cells raise water table

By capillary action

Habitat Result:

Wet

Acid

Low nutrient

PEATLAND PLANTS

Insectivorous plants: 1. Sundews..

Drosera rotundifolia Drosera intermedia

PEATLAND PLANTS

Insectivorous plants: 2. Pitcher plant

Sarracenia purpurea

PEATLAND PLANTS Insectivorous plants

3. Bladderworts: Utricularia spp.

Intermediate bladderwort

Utricularia intermedia

PEATLAND PLANTS

Heather Family: Ericaceae

ERICACEAE, heather family

acidophilic shrubby plants with mycorrhizal roots

flower parts in 4s or 5s, usually some fusion

leaves simple, usu. tough (often evergreen)

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

GENUS: GAYLUSSACIA

Deciduous leaves

Bell flowers

Berries

Gaylussacia baccata = Black huckleberry

UPLAND BARRENS to WET PEATLANDS = FAC but FACU in USA

Hand lens: LOOK FOR UNSTALKED,

ORANGE GLANDS ON LEAVES

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

GENUS: GAYLUSSACIA

Deciduous leaves

Bell flowers

Berries

Gaylussacia dumosa = Bog huckleberry

BOGS = OBLIGATE WETLAND PLANT

Look for stalked

orange glands on

leaves

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

GENUS: Kalmia

Evergreen leaves

Saucer-like flowers

Dry capsule

Kalmia angustifolia = sheep laurel

Upland barrens to wet peatlands

= FAC

← Whorled

leaves;

Flowers below

leaves

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

GENUS: Kalmia

Evergreen leaves

Saucer-like flowers

Dry capsule

Kalmia polifolia = bog laurel

BOGS

= OBLIGATE

Opposite leaves

Terminal flowers (at top of stem)

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

GENUS: Andromeda

Bog Rosemary

Evergreen leaves

bell flowers

Dry capsules

Need to differentiate from Bog

Laurel:

Lvs not opposite, leaf veins

white, leaf not shiny

Stem usually arches over,

flowers in pale lilac bells point

downward

BOGS & POOR FENS: OBLIGATE

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

Chamaedaphne calyculata

Leatherleaf

Evergreen leaves

White bell flowers

Dry capsules

BOGS & POOR FENS: OBLIGATE

Earliest to flower (azure

butterflies)

Look for pebbled white

surface on leaves

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

Rhododendron

Dry capsules

Rhododendron

groenlandicum

Labrador tea

FACW

Rhododendron canadense

Rhodora

FACW

Heather Family: Ericaceae;

Small cranberry

Vaccinium oxcoccos

Vines

Berries

BOG PLANTS: Wiry Sedges..

sedges, clubsedges, cottonsedges and

beaksedges

Sedge Family = CYPERACEAE

Sedge genus = Carex “sedges have edges

rushes are round

grasses are hollow

now what have you found”

Carex flowers are grouped

into spikes

Grouped by sex,

male spike = staminate

female = carpellate

Sedge Family = CYPERACEAE

Sedge genus = Carex

←← staminate spike

←← carpellate spike

Sedge Family = CYPERACEAE

Sedge genus = Carex

Carpellate spikes break apart:

Equal number of

perigynia and scales

Perigynia are single seeded

ovaries (achenes) inside sacs

BOG PLANTS: Wiry Sedges..

Sedges..Carex

Sedges with only one

spike:

←coastal sedge

Carex exilis

few-flowered sedge →

Cx. pauciflora

Section Stellulatae = sedges with starlike

spikes:

Carex echinata and Carex atlantica

BOG PLANTS: Other Sedges..

sedges

Carex magellanica

Boreal bog sedge

BOG PLANTS:

Wiry Sedges: Beaksedges= Rhynchospora

Beaksedges ↑

inflorescences

have beaked

achenes

White beaksedge Brown

beaksedge

BOG PLANTS:

Wiry Sedges: Cottonsedges= Eriophorum

Hare’s tail

Eriophorum

vaginatum

“cotton” = bristles

around the achenes

BOG PLANTS:

Wiry Sedges: Cottonsedges= Eriophorum

One spikeletTypical dry bog

species.

Several spikelets

(E. angustifolium has reddening of

leaves; Corner Brook has fen and swamp w

E. gracile, E. viridicarinatum)

BOG PLANTS:

ORCHIDS

←Platanthera blephariglottis

Northern white fringed orchid

&

←Arethusa bulbosa

Dragon’s mouth

BOG PLANTS: The Three Pink Orchids

Pogonia ophioglossoides Arethusa bulbosa Calopogon

tuberosus

Rose pogonia Dragon’s mouth Grass pink

BOG PLANTS: ROSE FAMILY

Radial symmetry, many stamens

Bake apple

Rubus chamaemorus

Bog Rose

Rosa nitida

high shrub, bog border

note colours...purple lvs

false holly

Nemopanthus mucronata

high shrub, bog border

wild raisin

Viburnum nudum

bog

N2 fixation

aromatic

flood-tolerant

Myrica gale

N2 fixation

aromatic

In bogs but

prevalent in

seashores

Myrica

pensylvanica

(syn. Morella

pensylvanica)

A. Dwarf shrubs or trailing vines, less than 10cm above bog surface

B. Vines

C. stem with appressed hairs= SNOWBERRY

C. Stem naked = SMALL CRANBERRY

B. Upright, glossy leaved, tastes of wintergreen = TEABERRY

A. Shrubs more than 10cm tall

A. Shrubs more than 10cm tall

D. leaf margin inrolled

E. margin slightly inrolled at tip, lvs blue-green above

whitish below = RHODORA

E. leaves strongly inrolled

F. underneath leaves, wooly = LABRADOR TEA

F. not wooly, leaves narrow

G. under leaf dense white tomentum, upper

leaf with pale veins notable against dark green

flowers drooping = BOG ROSEMARY

G. under leaf merely white, upper leaf shiny green

flowers borne upright = BOG LAUREL

D. Leaves not inrolled

H. Leaves aromatic, toothed at apex only, resin dots: SWEET GALE

H. Not aromatic

I. Leaves opposite

J. Lvs serrate, terminal bud scurfy brown and long: WILD RAISIN

J. Not toothed, small buds: SHEEP LAUREL

I. Leaves alternate

K. Petiole long (1/3 of blade), usu. purple: FALSE HOLLY

K. Not as above

L. Upper midrib (use handlens) w black hairs, margin serrate

CHOKEBERRY

L. Hairless leaves and not serrate

M. Old leaves bronzed, new lvs w white dots on upper surface

LEATHERLEAF

M. Not as above and not as leathery

N. Shrub small (usu. less than 30cm), glands on leaf

margin stalked (handlens) BOG HUCKLEBERRY

N. larger shrubs (30-150cm), yellow glands not stalked

BLACK HUCKLEBERRY