SitkaNature: 1000 Species Project

Tufted Bulrush
Trichophorum caespitosum

This plant is quite common in the muskegs. It often grows in distinctive little clumps of short green stems topped by the small flowers.

Other Photos

Bog Rosemary
Andromeda polifolia

Bog Rosemary is a common muskeg plant. Unlike the herb called rosemary, Bog Rosemary has toxins that make it a poor choice to add to any food.

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Purple Sweet-cicely
Osmorhiza purpurea

An early spring flower with very tiny pink-purple flowers. I mainly notice it in groves of Red Alder where it can be very abundant.

Questions:
This is another species with very small flowers that I have never seen being visited by pollinating insects. Of course my lack of observational persistence and/or skill in no way proves that pollinating insects do not visit these flowers, it does make me wonder. What is the primary means of pollination for these plants?

Other Photos

Geometer Moth
Hydriomena irata

My daughter Rowan spotted this moth on the side of an alder tree. Originally it stood out a little bit as it had chosen a section of trunk covered in green bryophytes. It ended up flying down to a darker patch of bark, where I took this picture of it. According to a Canadian Government Forestry Related site, this species would utilize Western Hemlock and Sitka Spruce in its larval stage.

I will definitely be soliciting help with most invertebrates I might happen to find. In this case, in the one book I have of Pacific Northwest insects, the closest match I find is the moth with the genus I’ve tentatively given. This is probably incorrect, and I will be uploading a photo to bugguide.net in hopes that someone who is a fan of moths will be able to offer some help. At such time as I get a better identification, I will update this entry.

Thanks to Bob Patterson via bugguide.net for the help with identification of this moth.

Rusty Peat Moss
Sphagnum austinii

There are apparently a dozen or more species of sphagnum moss that occur in the Sitka area. Some of them can be a challenge to distinguish, so I may need to make corrections and will definitely be needing some help for identification of this group.