Bass River Recreation Area

September 9, 2019
I took myself for a walk at Bass River Recreation Area to check on the beautiful Bottle Gentian and I found them blooming. 

 

 



And the white variety...

I also found the Nodding Ladies Tresses blooming along with some other pretty flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A peek at a few places - Ottawa County and Muskegon County

Muskegon State Park is where we found Cross-Leaved Milkwort in 2010 so we thought we might find this plant blooming again.  And we did.  It is a very small plant, as you can see compared to the cranberry in the background.

Cross-Leaved Milkwort (Polygala cruciata aquilonia) Milkwort family

Lost Lake at Muskegon State Park - September 27, 2016

  We hiked through the dunes near Lake Michigan, it was windy, cloudy, and sunny.

Lake Michigan

We have been to Bass Recreation Area in Ottawa County to check on the Bottle Gentian and Nodding Ladies' Tresses.

 This is the white variety of Bottle Gentian we find at Bass, the photo above was taken on August 23, 2016. 
And the photo below was taken on September 13, 2016.

The more common color of the Bottle Gentian is a beautiful purplish blue like in the photos below.  These plants were also found at Bass, only in a different area.

Can you see all of the Bottled Gentian blooming in the photo?  We find this cluster of Bottled Gentian near a place at Bass that we call Cardinal Flower lane. 
Below is Cardinal Flower Lane in bloom August 23, 2016.

At Bass we also find many Nodding Ladies' Tresses which are in the orchid family.

The orchid book is 8 inches tall, so this plant was about a foot tall.

One of the many ponds to explore at Bass Recreation Area in Ottawa County, Michigan.

Ladies and Gents!

We saw so many Ladies' Tresses and Gentians this September, it was a good year for both.

 

          Nodding Ladies' Tresses Spiranthes cernua Orchid family
It is a native perennial orchid and it grows at Bass River Recreation Area by the dozens!  
Bass River Recreation Area, a 1,665-acre site in central Ottawa County, Michigan consists of open meadows, open brush land, mature hardwoods, small ponds and 300-acre Max Lake. It has approximately three miles of frontage on the Grand River.  Owned by the State of Michigan.

Along the trail there were groups orchids - Nodding Ladies' Tresses orchids!  Just in this one small space thirteen were  blooming!

My sister, Marie, and I made several visits to Bass in September, going places that we had never been to before.  One day we were out for seven hours exploring before coming back to the car.  We use Bing maps to identify places we want to try to get to, which isn't always possible -  due to high water or more growth than what shows up on the maps.

 Map of Bass River Rec. Area 
The red X marks one of our target areas.

  Bass River Recreation Area

We also saw Gentian.

             Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii Gentian family

                                     Bottle Gentian 
                    We saw more of these than usual too!

 I found fifteen plants of Bottle Gentian blooming in just one small space! We found evidence of recent beaver activity at Bass. Trees freshly gnawed down and runways in the reeds at the edge of the ponds.

Views from the interior of Bass River Recreation Area in   Ottawa County, Michigan.

        Buddy's Pond

                      Max Lake at Bass River Recreation Area

 We saw some interesting critters.

      In Barry County we found Fringed Gentian.

 

 Fringed Gentian Gentianopsis crinita Gentian family
This native wildflower is a biennial about 1-3' tall. During the first year, it forms a low rosette of leaves, while during the second year it bolts, forming flowering stalks.

A group of Fringed Gentian in Barry County, Michigan.

  So that was some of the great adventures of September 2014.