Cabin Creek Bog

Today Dr. Ruch and I completed the second out of three monitoring sessions for the year at Cabin Creek Bog. This wetland is actually a fen and has some wonderful plants. Our research specifically looks at the impact that fire makes on the plant community.

There was a decent number of flowers blooming today. This stand of Phlox maculata caught my eye.


The most exciting flower we found was a Grass Pink (Calopogon tuberosus) in full bloom. We knew this orchid was at the site, but we had not seen it bloom in four or five years. It is nearly impossible to find the plant when not in bloom. This orchid does not bloom every year, and this individual was not the same one that we saw last time. Makes you wonder how many individuals are there.


I got to see a flower today that I had not seen blooming before. I had seen the plant in its vegetative state many times, but I had not been lucky enough to catch it blooming. This little flower is Marsh Bellflower (Campanula aparinoides). Its blooms are tiny and do not last long. The name aparinoides must mean that it is rough/sticky like Galium aparine.

Triantha glutinosa was blooming along the marl runs. This plant is sticky in the other sense; it is sticky like glue. Glutinosa should give that away. One of the common names is Sticky False-asphodel, which always reminds me of Sam and Frodo in the Morgul vale.

Another sticky plant, the round-leaf sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) was just starting to send up their flowering stalk. They cover the moss where there is decent light and plenty of moisture.