Another Day, Another Habitat

So many different habitats, so little time!  Just note the variety of habitats I've posted about in only the past two weeks:  oak/pine savanna, riparian islands, marble-paved ice meadows, wooded wetlands, a pocket-sized bog!  And here's another I explored just yesterday in the rain: a densely wooded creekside swamp, home to a couple of wetland plants I have found nowhere else (at least, so far).  More than any other creek I visit in the Saratoga area, this one has the lowest, muddiest shoreline that supports the densest vegetation right up to and even beyond the water's edge. I have to wear boots or water shoes to adequately explore this verdant but mucky environment.

This is the Spring Run Swamp, which borders the Spring Run Creek, a watercourse that feeds into Loughberry Lake, the main reservoir for the city of Saratoga Springs. Some of the shoreline is carpeted with Sphagnum Moss, which imparts a certain acidity to areas of the swamp, but the patches of sphagnum are not extensive enough to create true bog conditions, since I find here none of the other plants I usually associate with bogs.

What I DO find here are two wetland plants I have not yet found in other area wetlands, and this is the time I visit them now, since both are now coming into bloom.  The first is called Swamp Saxifrage (Micranthes pensylvanica),  a plant that will be found only in low, mucky, saturated soils. It has large, tapering basal leaves that grow in a rosette, and the thick, densely hairy stems grow so long they often topple over when the clusters of flowers come into bloom. It is very difficult to get a clear photo of all parts of this plant at once (especially with rain spattering on my camera lens).

Here's a closer look at the Swamp Saxifrage's odd little flowers,  mostly consisting of orange-tipped anthers surrounding a bulbous bi-parted green ovary and ringed with yellowish sepals.

The second species I wade through mud here to find is this tall robust plant called Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica).  Although this is not a plant that is native to North America, it is widespread across the United States. With such a widespread distribution, you'd think I might find this plant in every wetland I explore.  And yet, this swamp is the only wetland where I have happened to see it growing abundantly.

The Water Speedwell's tiny blue flowers display the characteristics common to all speedwell flowers: four-petaled with the lowest petal slightly narrower, and all petals faintly striped a darker blue.

Here's a third wetland species I come here to see, this huge-leaved plant soaring above the others called Swamp Dock (Rumex verticillatus).  I do find this species in other swamps, but this is the only swamp I've visited where I can walk right up to it. To date, there's no record of this plant in Saratoga County, so I hope to collect a specimen of it when its tall flower stalk comes into bloom, in order to submit it to state botanists to voucher its presence in the county.

While I'm here, I also enjoy visiting old wetland friends like Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris).  When blooming, this native plant bears large yellow flowers so showy it's hard to believe this is not a cultivated garden species.  And after the flowers fade, Marsh Marigold produces these spiky starbursts of seedpods that are equally attractive.

Here's a closer look at one of Marsh Marigold's seedhead of spiky pods. Each pod will eventually open to reveal a row of dark shiny seeds within.

Another old wetland favorite are the flowers of Water Avens (Geum rivale), yellow petals and feathery anthers tucked within rosy-red sepals that never open wide.

The bright-white flowers in this semi-circular arrangement of Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) seemed to glow in the dark shade of this swamp.

It is not at all unusual to find a Jack-in-the-Pulpit in any dampish soils, but this particular one had me stop to take a closer look.

Most Jack-in-the-Pulpits display prominent white stripes on the hooded spathes, but I noted that these stripes were actually raised ridges on this particular plant.  That field mark indicates that this plant is the species called Swamp Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema stewarsonii), a common species found only in wetlands.

The rain was falling harder now, and I headed out, afraid the wet would ruin my camera if I tried to take other photos.  But I'm glad I still had my camera in hand when this Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly landed on the frond of a Sensitive Fern, displaying his iridescent beauty.

One more flower stopped me on my run to my car: this gorgeous cluster of bright-white sterile flowers circling the fertile but less-showy blooms at the center of this Highbush Cranberry flower (Viburnum opulus var. americanum).