NATURE NOTES FROM ACADIA

SEAWALL HEATH IN EARLY JUNE

The abundance of plants of the heath family in the extensive bog near Seawall, in the southwestern part of Mt. Desert Island, makes its designation as a "heath" an appropriate one. A visit to this region in early June finds many of the heaths in flower. Rose-colored blossoms of the little Bog Laurel (Kalmia polifolia) are abundant while masses of Rhodora (Rhodora canadensis) grow close to the encroaching woodlands. The earliest flowers of Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia) are out and the bog pools are fringed with the pink and white bell-like flowers of the Bog Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia). Flower buds on Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum) and a few stray blossoms on the Leather-leaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata) place them among the six members of the heath family which are conspicuous in this bog in early June.

Of course there are members of many other plant families which grow here as well. Reindeer lichens (Cladonia sp.) and Sphagnum moss form an appreciable part of the soft bog carpet which in places is dotted with the soft white tufts of Cottongrass (Eriophorum sp.). Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia purpurea) and Round-leafed Sundews (Drosera rotundifolia) are here in numbers while careful search will find the splendid Bog Rose Orchid (Arethusa bulbosa). In the pools the Yellow Pond Lily (Nymphaea advena) is in bloom while the Bog Solomonplume (Vagnera trifolia) bears its small racemes of attractive white flowers in the wet brushy thickets which encircle the open heath.

Because man seldom ventures upon the sanctuary of the bog, it retains its primitive wildness and beauty. As it was many centuries ago, so it is today. and so let us hope it will continue to be for centuries to come - unexploited, the refuge of a host of interesting wild plants.

- Margaret Stupka