Field course day 2 - Bancroft & Eels Creek

On the second day of the field course (two weeks ago), we drove to Eagle's Nest Trail in Bancroft and then Eels Creek near Stoney Lake.  The weather was more of less overcast throughout the day.

At the lookout where we had our lunch.

View of Bancroft from the lookout.

Sheep sorrel (Rumex acetosella) found on rocky substrates.  It can be identified based on its spear-shaped leaves.  There were a lot more flowering along the highway in Algonquin last week.  It is a dioecious species.

Pale corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens) in the Poppy (Papaveraceae) family.  It was also found on rocky sites.

Ground cedar (Lycopodium sp.) is a type of clubmoss that grows lowly to the ground.

Blue-bead lily (Clintonia borealis) found in forested areas.

Eels Creek

Seneca snakeroot (Polygala senega) in the Milkwort (Polygalaceae) family.  We saw another species of the genus in Algonquin (P. paucifolia) and I will share those photos later on but they don't look alike at all - P. senega flowers are small and occur on a raceme, whereas P. paucifolia flowers are large and purple and interesting-looking.

Another interesting species from this course - Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) in the Honeysuckle (Caprifoliaceae) family.  The scientific name is named after Carolus Linnaeus (creator of the binomial scientific naming system) and the distribution of the species (i.e., boreal).

Bullhead pond-lily (Nuphar variegata) in the Water-lily (Nymphaeaceae) family.

Mink frog (Rana septentrionalis) resting on a water-lily pad.  I think this is my first time seeing this species, and it can be identified based on the mottled dorsal markings.  Very cool.