Back to Barry County, Michigan

The first week of August 2013, Marie and I visited places in Barry County again.  Right off we saw Nodding Ladies' Tresses blooming!

  Nodding Ladies' Tresses   (Spiranthes cernua)   Orchid family
This native perennial plant is usually 4-12" tall and unbranched.   Each flower is about 1/3" long, consisting of 3 white sepals and 3 white petals. The upper sepal and upper two petals are fused together and form a curved hood that curls upward at its tip, forming a small upper lip with 3 lobes. The lower petal has a prominent lip that hangs downward and has a crystalline appearance.    

                      Death Camas was still blooming.

                    Death Camas with dew drops.

Grass of Parnassus (Parnassia glauca) Saxifrage family -  Showy white flowers with green veins, on long stalks.  This plant has a rosette of broad, long stalked, basal leaves, rounded or heart shaped and one stalkless leaf clasping the flowering stalk.  Grows in swamps and wet meadows.

Shrubby Cinquefoil (Pentaphylloides floribunda) Rose family 
I have seen this blooming since the beginning of July.

 

                     Heal All

                   Queen Anne's Lace

                     Spotted Knapweed

 

         Dense Blazingstar (Liatris spicata) Composite family

 Chicory

Agrimony,  I didn't identify which kind...

 

Swamp Milkweed

 

 Pitcher plant

 

 Pitcher Plant

 Pitcher Plant leaves form pitchers to capture insects.

 A bladderwort

 Mad-Dog Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) Mint family 
A  native perennial plant is 1–2½' tall, branching occasionally.
At one time, there was a belief that Mad-Dog Skullcap could cure rabies, which is false. However, the foliage contains a substance with anti-spasmodic and sedative properties, so it does have some medicinal value.
 

 

 

 Sticky False Asphodel (Tofieldia glutinosa) Lily family
 

 

 That's all for this adventure!



Lamberton Lake Nature Preserve, Rogue River Park, Rockford - Kent County, Michigan



The end of July 2013, Marie and I started our day at Lamberton Lake Nature Preserve near Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Owned by the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. 

Then off to Rogue River Park, a Kent County park, address 6300 Belshire Avenue  Belmont, MI 49306.  Rogue River Park is a staging area for White Pine Trail State Park.

We saw Culver's Root blooming.

Groundnut  (Apios Americana)  Pea family, also called Wild Bean.
The fleshy tubers of common ground-nut, a twining vine, were an important food for Native Americans, and the plant has been researched for agricultural use as a food crop.

  Chicory

Rogue River in Belmont, Michigan

Swamp Milkweed

Jack-in-the-Pulpit featuring Marie's hand to show the size of this plant.

Redwhisker Clammyweed
(Polanisia dodecandra)  Caper family
This native plant is a summer annual about 1-2' tall.  Each flower is about 1/3" across, consisting of 4 white petals, 4 triangular sepals that are dull green to reddish purple, 8-12 stamens, and a reddish purple pistil.    The lower to middle leaves are trifoliate, while the upper leaves are simple; both types of leaves alternate along the stems.  Each fertilized flower is replaced by an oblong seedpod up to 2½" long that tapers at both ends.

 

Monkey Flower

Purple Loosestrife

Common Mullein ~7 feet tall

After several miles hiking around Rogue River Park area, we drove north to Rockford, Michigan.  We visited the Memorial Park and Rum Creek Nature Trail.

Rum Creek

Super Secret Cattail Trail

 

 Common Burdock



That was our day!