-
26. Vegetation
- University of Michigan Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
26 Vegetation EUGENE E. OCHSNER Eugene Ochsner, a chemist, personnel manager, and plant manager in his 41-year career with the Du Pont Corporation, was a conservationist with an interest in Native American studies, archaeology, camping, and wild›ower photography. Two of his sons were in the National Park Service. When he retired in 1965, Eugene and his wife, Priscilla, moved to their home in northern Michigan. With the ‹nal retreat northward of the great ice sheets that covered Michigan , simple mosses, arctic plants, and dwarf willows began to appear. In the still much cooler temperatures than what are found today, vegetation was mostly ground hugging. The terrain was much the same as what can be seen today in the far north of Canada and around the shores of Hudson Bay. As the climate slowly warmed, other plants, shrubs, and trees moved in from the south. Tundra gradually gave way to shrubs such as the bog laurel , bog rosemary, Labrador tea, sphagnum moss, and black spruce—the ‹rst of the stately trees that eventually covered much of Michigan. Dwarf willows were supplanted by larger trees of the same species, and the larch (tamarack) made its appearance. Frére Marie-Victorin describes what happened: “First came these ever ready pioneers: the Black Spruce, and the Balsam Fir, and the Larch and later the stately Pines. Then followed the Aspens and the Birches, the Alders and the Viburnums. The Sugar Maple took possession of the well drained Glacial Moraines [ridges of sand, gravel, and clay brought down by the ice sheets from Canada] alongside the valleys, and the Hemlock fought 285 its way among the deciduous trees. Meanwhile had come the wiry Grasses and the coarse Sedges, the legions of Goldenrods and the hundreds after hundreds of herbaceous or shrubby plants.” FLORA FOUND IN BOGS Plants that grew after the ice melted are still to be found, particularly in the cooler bogs. These bogs are found along streams and creeks, as well as in glacial lakes that have ‹lled in or are quite shallow such as Hardwood and Grass lakes. These act as microenvironments to preserve boreal (northern) vegetation. Good examples can be found along the Tin Shanty Bridge Road, just north of the Black River bridge, around the shores of Hardwood Lake, and in the extensive bog that borders Hardwood Creek to the south. Orchids bloom in June and sometimes as late as August. These include the ragged fringed, rose pogonia, leafy green rein, tall white bog, queen lady’s slipper (showy), common ladies’ tresses, arethusa, hooded ladies’ tresses, and grass pink (or calopogon). In the entire United States, four main types of insect-trapping plants are found. Three of these types grow in Pigeon River Country bogs; it is too far north for the Venus ›ytrap. In standing northern water, the ›atleaved bladderwort grows with its distinctive small yellow blossom above the water and the rest of the plant submerged. This insectivorous plant captures tiny aquatic life with small, transparent sacs or bladders attached to the roots. When an aquatic insect passes by, it is sucked into the open sac and the trapdoor closes, providing nourishment to the bladderwort. In slightly less boggy areas, the pitcher plant grows. It has quite large ›owers on tall stems and generally grows in clumps. It has tube-shaped leaves, lined inside with downward-pointing hairs. Insects entering the pitcherlike tube cannot crawl out and drown in a reservoir of water at the bottom of the tube. The third type of insectivorous plant in the Pigeon River Country is the round-leaved sundew, which is found in drier parts of bogs, sometimes on decaying logs. It has padlike leaves in a ›at rosette pattern. Each leaf bears numerous radiating hairs, each of which has a highly visible drop of sticky material. Once an insect makes contact with the sticky material it cannot pull free, dies, and provides nourishment to the plant. Other ›owering plants in and around bogs include gentians of several varieties, cranberries, marsh Saint-John’s-wort, tall blue ›ag, marsh bluebell (the stems are covered with stiff, short hairs that resemble thorns), and PIGEON RIVER COUNTRY o 286 several varieties of thistles. In the level, open, tree-free sections of bogs will be found sedge grass, shrubby Saint-John’s-wort, and leatherleaf. On banks sloping up from the bogs, look for polygala (gaywings), which bloom deep pink in early spring. Also found on slopes and in nearby woods are lesser...