Queen of the Prairie

Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) is one of the spectacular blooms at the fen this time of year. The flower stalks stick up about five feet. For as pretty as it is, it is not rare plant at the fen. Dr. Ruch and I are in the middle of our second vegetative sampling session at Cabin Creek Bog (really a fen) this week, so I get to spend a lot of time identifying and counting plant species.