The Bruce Peninsula Part II: Singing Sands of Dorcas Bay

 *Part I* *Part II* *Part III* *Part IV* *Part V* *Part VI* *Part VII*

Recently, I've had the pleasure of talking to a number of people who've taken the time to compliment this blog. It always means a lot to hear someone say such positive things about the countless plants, places, and topics I've shared on here for nearly six years. But that praise is almost assuredly followed with the regret that I'm barely active on here anymore. Believe me when I say no one understands that more than your blogger. It seems just about every post I've managed to get on here the last couple years is prefaced by more or less the same message of "not enough free time and energy", which is Nature's honest truth but getting a bit old to type. I'll never post on here like I did back in the first few years but it's nice to know this blog is always waiting for new adventures to be shared.

And new adventures will be shared, indeed! Starting with my long overdue series on my botanical whirlwind tour of Ontario's Bruce peninsula back in early June 2015. Devotees may remember my intro piece from last summer that was the planned starting off point but never went any further. Until now! The Buckeye Botanist is back to take you vicariously along to one of eastern North America's most incredible displays of botanical and geological wonder. If you'd like to read the intro, which I encourage you to do, you can click this link here to do so.

Limestone cobble and alvar shorelines of the Singing Sands at Dorcas Bay

My intrepid group of botanists/naturalists and I visited so many wondrous spots on the Bruce that it's difficult to know where to begin. However, when one really thinks about it there's no wrong answer so it might as well be the picturesque shorelines of Dorcas Bay. I'll warn you ahead of time this is a lengthy post but more in pictures than anything. So read it all, peruse the photos only: just have fun and enjoy!

Sprawling shoreline fen complex near the shores of Lake Huron

This parcel of Bruce Peninsula National Park known as the Singing Sands sits near the northern tip of the peninsula on Lake Huron's western shores. It's home to a nice array of both wetland and forested habitat with the likes of alvar, shoreline fen, and mixed coniferous woodland all merging together in a tapestry of diversity.

Scarlet Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea) on the limestone cobble shorelines

The Singing Sands allegedly gets its moniker from the eerie howl the sand makes as its blown over the limestone cobble shorelines and alvar. It's true the wind is nigh on always whipping about at this site and it is one of the only sandy beaches on the northern end of the Bruce, so I guess we can let our imaginations do the rest. Due to the western shores of the Bruce constantly battling the unbroken fury of Lake Huron its landscape is much more flat and topographically docile than the eastern shores as you'll come to see in this series.

Odd yellow colored form of the scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)

Odd yellow colored form of the scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)

One of the more common and delightful denizens of Dorcas Bay's wet, open shorelines is the scarlet paintbrush (Castilleja conncinea). It's certainly hard to miss when aglow in its traditional red garb, but an uncommon lemon yellow color form was even more conspicuous. However, my friends and I did not come to swoon over the paintbrushes but rather a rare, elusive orchid that haunts the adjacent woodlands.

Ram's Head Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

During my initial foray on the Bruce back in 2011, I was just a bit too late to see the ram's head lady's slippers (Cypripedium arietinum) in their prime. It was a bittersweet thing to be so close and yet too late for the plant you came so far to see. So this time around I made sure to adjust our arrival to coincide with their brief peak bloom schedule.

Ram's Head Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

Ram's Head Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

Perfection! I dare say Dorcas Bay could not have put on a nicer show of these miniscule orchid wonders if it tried! Literally hundreds of them peppered the ground in the best spots and brought a literal tear to this orchid nut's eye. Ram's heads are a globally rare species largely restricted to sandy upland conifer woods characterized by hemlock, cedar, and pine with an association of limestone beach cobble. That's some habitat specificity right there and the Singing Sands has it in spades. It's little wonder then the Bruce is one of the continent's last strongholds for this disappearing orchid. Climate change is not doing this northern boreal species any favors.

Ram's Head Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

Ram's Head Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)

The spectacular snow white labellum of this lady's slipper is marked with a rich purplish-crimson reticulate venation that jumps out at you from the surrounding emerald vegetation. Its striking color and architecture is equally matched by its diminutive size. None of the other eastern Cypripediums are this small and a large specimen can fit on your thumbnail. It really takes seeing them in person to understand how truly tiny they are!

Large Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium pubescens)

Speaking of lady's slippers, I'd be remiss if I didn't throw a shout out to the Bruce's 'weed' of an orchid in the large yellow lady's slipper (Cypripedium pubescens). Yes, I did in fact say weed and you'll see and read what I mean in posts to come. As pretty as the pair is in the photo above, I'm much more interested in the colony of familiar looking leaves at their feet...

Federally threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris)

Federally threatened dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris)

At first glance any Ohioan might see this majestic little iris and scribble the name dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata) into their notes but remember we're not in Ohio anymore. This iris is much, much more special and another of the Bruce's most rare specialists. The dwarf lake iris (I. lacustris) is so rare that it's listed as federally threatened in both the United States and Canada. It's endemic to the limestone shorelines of northern Lake Huron and Lake Michigan along the Niagara Escarpment and found nowhere else on the planet. Although, in certain spots such as Singing Sands you'd never know it was so globally scarce. The Bruce is one Canada's best strongholds for the dwarf lake iris and easy to spot, especially when in bloom. The photos do nothing for scale but the word dwarf is very accurate in this plant's case as the flowers are only the size of a silver dollar!

Shoreline flora awakening as summer appears on the horizon

Not to be outdone by its aforementioned brethren, the blue flag iris (I. brevicaulis) was beginning to unfurl its purple tepals in the marshy areas between the lake and wooded dunes. Notice the pink flower buds of the tuberous Indian-plantain (Arnoglossum plantagineum) among the iris, too. It's a rarity back in Ohio and even more rare further north in Canada where it's restricted to high-quality fen complexes as well.

That gang exploring the cobble shorelines of Dorcas Bay

When I say that Dorcas Bay may be one of the most magnificent beaches I've yet experienced it's truly through the eyes of a botanist and ecologist. I'm not sure many beach goers would agree after looking out across a landscape of bare rock, muck, and vegetation. They prefer their sand and palm trees with towering concrete behind and I say they can keep it!

Northern Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) 

Perhaps the neatest plant to call the rocky shorelines of Dorcas Bay home was the peculiar and always exciting northern butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris). This oddball of an insectivorous plant thrived in a seemingly sterile environment in specialized areas where water seeped out from the bedrock and formed mucky pools along the forest's edge. The butterworts are much more diverse along the coastal plains of the Atlantic and Gulf states with this lone species making due in the north.

Northern Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris)

Northern Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris)

There's certainly no mistaking this plant for anything else with its insidious highlighter yellow leaves. While greasy and slick to our touch, these conspicuous leaves are the things of insect nightmares. Each leaf produces two types of glands: one that secretes a sticky substance for nabbing its prey; and another that secretes a digestive enzyme that helps break down the helpless insects into a more usable form. The butterworts were in full bloom during our visit and are adorned with blue-purple flowers quite reminiscent of a violet in my opinion.

Great Lakes Bulrush Sedge (Carex scirpoidea subsp. convoluta)

If you've been a follower of this blog and my botanical adventures for a while you know without a doubt I'm head-over-heals for sedges. A self-diagnosed sedgehead and I'd have it no other way. The Bruce is well known for its diversity of photogenic plants like ferns and orchids but it's a sedgehead's dream, too! Honestly, I could do a whole post on sedges but I'll let you off the hook with a handful of photos of my favorite species. The one featured above, the Great Lakes bulrush sedge (Carex scirpoidea subsp. convoluta) gets special mention as a globally rare endemic of the Great Lakes limestone shorelines and alvars; it's other more common subspecies spread throughout the western states.

Buxbaum's Sedge (Carex buxbaumii)

Mud Sedge (Carex limosa)

Hair-like Sedge (Carex capillaris)

Pale Sedge (Carex livida)

Sedges come in so many different shapes, colors, sizes, patterns etc. that it makes them hard to not love and appreciate when you realize just how wonderful they are. The Bruce is home to over 150 different species from the sedge family (Cyperaceae) and during my group's week we saw nigh on 30 different taxa.

A cool, foggy mist blowing off Lake Huron

Singing Sands attempted to somewhat live up to its name during our time there when Lake Huron blew in a bank of cool fog. It was awesome to watch it race across the waters, up onto the beach and envelope us all in a very refreshing wave of mist. It went as quickly as it came and I have no idea what caused it to develop but it certainly made for a unique experience that I won't forget anytime soon.

Great Lakes Sand Cherry (Prunus pumila var. pumila)

Scattered about Dorcas Bay's rocky shorelines was scads of the regional endemic Great Lakes sand cherry (Prunus pumila var. pumila) in picture-perfect bloom. This straggly shrub never attains much size and is happy to grow in tangles about its prime beachfront property. Its confined to the beaches and dunes of the northern Great Lakes with its narrow leaves and glabrous twigs excellent ID characters. Unfortunately, this species has long been extirpated from Ohio's extremely limited lake shore habitats, so I always take immense pleasure in seeing it while up north.

Immense expanse of shoreline fen at Dorcas Bay's Singing Sands

I'll wrap up this marathon of a post with another of Singing Sands signature rare habitats it protects in the immense expanses of shoreline fen meadow. Unlike the small, isolated fens that pocket west-central and northeast Ohio, the Bruce's can stretch for as far as the eye can see and contain hundreds upon hundreds of acres of graminoid-dominated goodness. Their species assemblages and associations are quite similar but their hydrology differs in adjacent Lake Huron's water levels playing a key role.

Northern Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea var. purpurea)

Slender-leaved Sundew (Drosera linearis)

One of the first things you'll notice when exploring these shoreline fen complexes is the overwhelming abundance of insectivorous plants. This habitat is naturally low in nutrients and plants have evolved to combat that by attaining these much-needed items by outside means. Literally thousands upon thousands of northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea var. purpurea) dot the fens, which happened to be just a week or so away from flowering during our visit. At their bases in the saturated muck is thousands more of the alien-like slender-leaved sundew (Drosera linearis) waiting for a passing insect to meet its sticky demise.

Green-keeled Cotton Sedge (Eriophorum viridicarinatum)

I can't help but go back to the world of sedges in order to share one of the fen's most iconic and beautiful of scenes. Hundreds of green-keeled cotton sedge (Eriophorum viridicarinatum) plants waving their namesake cotton-like perianth bristles in the cool breeze never fails to put me at peace and in a mood of tranquility. A sapphire blue sky above can only make it better, eh?

Bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia)

Labrador Tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum)

Of all the things I love about the northern woods its plethora of woody wetland shrubs may take the cake. Dozens of species occur throughout the region's diversity of habitat and the two featured above are arguably the best, at least in my opinion. Both the bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) and labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) are extirpated from Ohio and more commonly found in acidic boggy habitats, but select areas of fen meadow can have peat accumulations that turn the pH low enough for these gorgeous Ericaceous shrubs to occur and persist. Bliss!


With that I do believe I'll give my keyboard a rest and continue my series on the ever-fascinating Bruce peninsula at a later time. I certainly have the desire to get to it much sooner than later but I've learned it's best to not make any hard promises. I hope you've enjoyed this look at the Singing Sands and its incredible wealth of plant life and look forward to more. Please leave your thoughts and comments below and I thank you for your time!


- ALG -

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Of all the countless things your narrator looks forward to throughout any growing season, there's one moment in particular that stands out among the rest.  For a brief week or two in the latter half of June, a handful of special wet meadows in our state come alive with my favorite and most anticipated of wildflowers in the federally threatened eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea).

Handful of prairie fringed orchids in perfect flower in their open wet meadow habitat

I've taken the time to publish a post commemorating their culmination of beauty each of the last few years and see no reason to give up on the tradition anytime soon.  You can view the previous posts and dig deeper into this great rarity's past by clicking the links HERE and HERE for more information.  There's just something about this magnificent species that I struggle to put into words but the least I can do is try, right?

Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid

Only being 15 minutes or so away from my childhood home in west-central Ohio, the site and plants featured in this post and the ones previous are a quick and easy visit and allow for plenty of opportunities to soak in their detail and extraordinary charm.  An evening visit is the best of all as the late-June sun sits low in the sky and its last vestiges of sunlight seem to make the orchids glow in the twilight.  The allure of their off-white, creamish flowers is accented by a soft but sugared aroma that is nocturnally emitted and used to attract the plant's nighttime hawk moth pollinators.

Portrait of the rare prairie fringed orchid

The eastern prairie fringed orchid was once much more common across its Great Lakes and Midwest distribution with accounts from the early pioneers and settlers speaking of wet prairie and meadows ensconced with dense blazes of tall spikes of white flowers come late June into July.  Since then, habitat loss and degradation from both agricultural pressure and the forces of natural succession has pushed this species to the brink of extinction with nearly all of its former grandeur long lost to the plow or tile.  Its affinity for deep, rich, and moist soil was undoubtedly its own undoing as farmers replaced these marvelous orchids with their corn, soybeans, and wheat.

Impressive specimen of prairie fringed orchid

If I was ever asked to pick and elaborate on my favorite moment and view of my home state it would be an incredibly difficult and painful process to narrow down but I would most likely ultimately settle on the prairie fringed orchid in perfect full bloom out across a wide expanse of grasses, sedges, and rushes.  I don't expect everyone to appreciate let alone understand my passion for this plant or why its beauty intoxicates me the way it does; heck, I don't even know why exactly it strikes such a chord with me but it does and I am eternally thankful for that.  With as busy and hectic as life often is, it's important that we all seek out small opportunities of peace and happiness where we can feel whole and as one with everything else.  They may be fleeting and few and far between but even the smallest of things can have the biggest of impacts in our lives and for your narrator, any time out in the field with these wonders is time well spent.

A friend of mine recently mentioned that the great orchid mind that was Fred Case used to say that the blooming of the prairie fringed orchid was a bittersweet moment each year where the culmination of another growing season has come and gone and ushered in the waning sunlight and slow but steady return of fall and winter.  Wise words worth taking to heart if you ask me.

Gone Fennin' in Southeast Michigan

Gone fennin'.  I think I might have made that word up just now but it fits and to be honest I kind of like it.  If you can go boggin' like myself and naturalist friends Todd Crail and Bill and Deb Marsh did a couple weekends ago, then our time spent in a couple fen complexes later in the day deserves its own designation too.  If you didn't catch part one of this trip, you can read all about it by clicking this link HERE.

As much fun as was had exploring the morning's sphagnum bog, we knew we had to press on with our day in order to see the rest of the sites on our itinerary.  We traded in one glacially influenced habitat in the acidic sphagnum bog for another in a couple alkaline fen complexes not too far away.  Fens are specialized wetlands that have mineral-rich neutral/alkaline groundwater percolate to the surface and keep its typically sedge and grass dominated meadows saturated and mucky year round.  Bogs differ in being acidic, more or less stagnant water with no in/out flow, and are very low in minerals.

Small, shrubby sedge meadow full of unseen orchids

The first fen we visited wasn't too far from the bog we had just left but what a night and day difference a little distance can make.  The small maze-like patches of sedge meadow were dotted with shrubs and trees trying to reclaim the open ground to the march of natural succession.  Despite the encroachment, the site remained diverse and intact with a spectacular display of your typical sedge associates in Carex stricta, C. sterilis, C. suberecta, C. pellita, and C. sartwellii for starters.  Sedges are always nice but it was what was hiding among them that we really had our sights set on.

Northern Small Yellow Lady's Slippers

Dozens upon dozens of northern small yellow lady's slippers (Cypripedium parviflorum var. makasin) were scattered throughout the meadow like lemon gum drops in a sea of green.  A large majority were well past bloom and setting to seed but here and there was a fine specimen in spectacular flower like the trio above.

Northern Small Yellow Lady's Slipper

This species is excruciatingly rare in Ohio with only two extant populations and both sites are home to only a handful of individual plants each.  Further north they become considerably more frequent in large part due to their preferred habitat of fen meadows and white cedar swamps becoming more common.  I'd love to revisit this site next year just as these orchids hit their peak.

Andrew's Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium x andrewsii var. andrewsii) 

Even better than the presence of small yellow lady's slippers was an additional Cypripedium tucked back in an isolated patch of sedge meadow known as the Andrew's lady's slipper (C. x andrewsii).  As cool as it would be to claim I have some affiliation with this plant, alas I do not and the name "Andrew's" is after Edward Andrews, a botanist who first discovered the hybrid.

Close up of the Andrew's Lady's Slipper

Andrew's lady's slipper is a naturally-occurring hybrid between the small white (C. candidum) and the aforementioned small yellow (C. parviflorum var. makasin) species and is an increasingly rare occurrence throughout the range of both species.  This particular cross has left the slipper (labellum) a pearly white with magenta venation and speckling inside the lip from the small white parent, while the darkened, almost mahogany lateral and dorsal sepals come from the small yellow.

Side profile portrait

Unfortunately, the small white lady's slippers are long gone and extirpated from the site likely due to either being shaded out by the encroaching woody vegetation or perhaps a change in the site's hydrology.  The handful of hybrids are all that remain as any evidence they ever existed there.  I've seen this hybrid only once before back in Erie county, Ohio and their situation was the reciprocal with the small whites extant and the small yellows long missing.  You can get the full details on that site by following this link HERE.

Common Juniper (Juniperus communis)

Other than the lady's slippers, the fen meadow was pretty on par with what to expect from such a habitat even from an Ohio perspective except for the presence of common juniper (Juniperus communis) shrubs in a select few places.  This species is listed as endangered back home but like so many other things, a short drive north turns the rare into the expected and predictable.  The glaucous blue cones almost seem like they are the botanical world's attempt at making turquoise.

Huge expanse of fen sedge meadow in southeastern Michigan

If the first fen gives off the vibe of being a bit claustrophobic then our second stop should allow for much easier breathing and calmed nerves as it was the largest fen complex I've ever experienced.  Over 100 acres of open fen sedge meadow play home to a dizzying diversity of plant and animal life including the rare spotted turtle and eastern Massasauga rattlesnake.  While we never encountered either of those desired reptilians, our group still had an unforgettable time exploring the depths and extent of the fen.

Buxbaum's Sedge (Carex buxbaumii)

Bottle Brush Sedge (Carex hystericina)

Right off the bat it was the sedges that drew me in.  Dozens of species were present in the subtle but different habitat zones of the fen meadow including one of my very favorites in the Buxbaum's sedge (Carex buxbaumii). Its bright green perigynia go hand in hand with their corresponding dark pistillate scales to create one of the most striking sedges you'll ever see.

Virginia Iris (Iris virginica)

Exquisite patches of Virginia iris (Iris virginica) were at peak bloom and nigh on impossible to miss as their electric purple blossoms floated in the warm early summer breeze.

Fen Orchis or Loesel's Twayblade (Liparis loeselii)

The aptly-named fen orchid or Loesel's twayblade (Liparis loeselii) is one of the most common species of orchid to occur in the mucky, saturated soils of open fen meadows but their lime green color and tiny stature make finding them relative to a needle in a haystack.  The secret to discovering one seems to be this: don't look for them.  Let them come to you and hopefully your eyes will catch a glimpse.

Northern Pitcher Plant in flower

The northern pitcher plants (Sarracenia purpurea) must have followed us from the bog as while out in the middle of the sedge meadow, we came across an area with quite a few still exhibiting their strange and unique flowers. With so many deer flies and annoying gnats buzzing around your head and face, you can't help but root for the pitcher plants and hope they get their fill of the Diptera irritations.

Swamp Valerian (Valeriana uliginosa)

Towards the end of our time in the immense fen meadow, Todd, Bill and Deb, and I came across a sizeable patch of tall flowering stems each topped with cluster of stunning white flowers.  I'd never seen the plant in person before in my life but knew right away those spectacular blooms belonged to the swamp valerian (Valeriana uliginosa), a species I'd long daydreamed of making acquaintances with.

Swamp Valerian (Valeriana uliginosa)

Swamp valerian has to be one of the most sensational wildflowers of the open fen meadows come early summer. Even each individual flower when looked at up close exhibits a beauty all its own and when combined together in a whole inflorescence, you're left with a tough task of finding a better looking plant.

Portrait of the Swamp Valerian (Valeriana uliginosa)

Swamp valerian was only recorded from Ohio a couple times at likely the same site in Stark county back in the late 1800's and has not been seen since 1899.  Never say never but it's pretty clear this species isn't coming back to our state anytime soon so finding it unexpectedly in southeast Michigan was hands down the most pleasant surprise and find of the day in your blogger's opinion.  I had no idea if and when I'd ever get to cross this one off the life list due to its relative rarity throughout its range and century-plus period of extirpation from Ohio.

Prairie Valerian (Valeriana ciliata)

Prairie Valerian (Valeriana ciliata)

As if finding one rare valerian wasn't good enough, this particular fen wasn't done yet as in close proximity to the swamp valerian was a nice scattering of prairie valerian (V. ciliata).  In Ohio, prairie valerian is only known from two west-central Ohio fens and that's it state-wide, making it one of our rarest vascular plants. It's pretty clear it doesn't hold a candle to its brethren in the looks department with its small greenish-yellow flowers.

Needless to say, southeastern Michigan treated your blogger and his companions in fantastic fashion with a bounty of botanical goodies I could not have predicted we'd come across during our foray.  I think it's safe to say another visit during a different time of the year is in order.  There's always more to see and explore, especially in places you've only scratched the surface of.