Swamp...

1. Eastern American Toad

Order:Anura
Family:Bufonidae
Genus:Bufo
Species:Bufo americanus americanus

The skin color of American toads is normally a shade of brown, but it can also be red with light patches, olive, or gray. The bellies are a white or yellow color. Toad skin color changes depending on temperature, humidity, and stress. The color change ranges from yellow to brown to black. American toads have four toes on each front leg and five toes connected together by a webbing on each hind leg. The pupils of American toads are oval and black with a circle of gold around them. The sexes can be distinguished in two ways. Males have dark colored throats, of black or brown, while females have white throats and are lighter overall.





2. Black Willow Salix Nigra
Order: Salicales
Family: Salicaceae
Genus: Salix

Leaves: Alternate, long narrow lance-shaped, finely toothed on edges;
Very slender, brittle twigs, "whip-like". They are shiny green on top, and pale green below. Leaves are three to five inches long

Habitat: Wet sites -lake borders, along stream banks, wet woods.

Bark: Dark brown or black with ridges; seen as a shrub and as a large tree, up to 100 feet tall. This tree often has multiple trunks, with many small drooping branches.

Flowers: Called catkins, they are yellow and one to three inches long. Fruit is a small capsule, turning reddish-brown. It contains tiny, hairy green seeds.

Special Adaptation:
-They are a food source for White-tailed Deer, rabbits, small rodents, and Beaver which eat the bark, stems and twigs. Black Willow nectar is consumed by bees, butterflies and other insects. Leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of many species of butterflies and moths.

-supplies cover for many birds and small mammals, and cavities for creatures such as woodpeckers, raccoons, and others.

-one of the first to take over a field.

-depend on bees, butterflies, and other insects to help pollinate them. Seeds are also spread by wind and water.


3. Zoned Cork Hydnum /Phellodon tomentosus
Genus: Phellodon

Thin, small to medium, brown cap; flat or shallowly depressed.
Surface velvety, cap is pale color, light to dark brown toward center.
Stalk: often flattened or irregular shape, expanding upward into cap. 2-5 cm long, less than 0.5 cm thick. Spores spherical or nearly so.

4. Slippery/ Red Elm


Slippery Elm / Red Elm ulmus rubra

Leaves: Alternate on twig from single buds, bases strongly asymmetrical, tips pointed;edges coarsely doubly saw-toothed. Dark green above and very rough to the touch. Note how the broad leaves abruptly narrow to a long, thin point. The leaves of Slippery Elm tend to be a little more coarsely toothed.

Bark: Gray-Brown to reddish-brown with shallow furrows and flattened ridges; outer bark uniformly reddish-tan to light brown in cross-section, where as in American Elm, it is more distinct dark layers/ridges running through the inner bark.

Flowers: greenish to reddish cluster on very short stalks before leaves emerge.

Habitat: Floodplain forests

5. Clearweed /Pilea pumila
Order:Urticales Family:Urticaceae Genus:Pilea


-The stems are smooth, round, hairless, and translucent. They are light green, greyish green, or reddish green in appearance; some of the large stems may be slightly ribbed.

-The opposite leaves are 1-5' long and half as much across. They are ovate, hairless, and coarsely serrated. Each leaf has a thin membranous texture with a prominent central vein and two conspicuous side veins. The upper surface is green or dark green, while the lower surface is light green or nearly white.


Special Adaptations:
The flowers are wind-pollinated, therefore they don't attract many insects. The caterpillars of the following butterflies feed on the foliage: Nymphalis milberti (Milbert's Tortoiseshell), Polygonia comma (Comma), Polygonia interrogationis (Question Mark), and Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral). These caterpillars feed on other members of the Nettle family as well.

6. Jewelweed /impatiens
Order: Ericales Family: Balsaminaceae Genus: Impatiens L.

-smooth annual; 3-5 ft. Leaves oval, round- toothed; lower ones opposite, upper ones alternate.
-A bit trumpet shaped, the flowers hang from the plant much as a jewel from a necklace, Pale Jewelweed has yellow flowers, Spotted Touch-Me-Nots have orange flowers with dark red dots.
-Particularly on the underside of the leaves, tiny air bubbles are trapped under the leaf surface, giving them a silvery sheen that becomes pronounced when held under water. The name "jewelweed" possibly refers to these shiny leaves, particularly obvious after rains when water drops reflect the sunlight like a prism.

7. Black Ash /F. nigra

Order: Lamiales Family: Oleaceae Genus: Fraxinus

Leaves: broad, flat, compound, pinnately compound, margins toothed. Leaflets similar in size and shape -leaves opposite
-The Black Ash has a tall trunk with a fairly uniform diameter up to the branches. The soft, ash-gray bark is fissured into scaly plates, which easily can be reduced to powder by rubbing.
-It favors the wet soils of cold swamps, peat bogs, and stream bottoms that periodically are flooded. This is the most northern of the ash trees.

8. Swamp Smartweed /P. hydropiperoides



Order: Caryophyllales Family: Polygonaceae Genus: Polygonum

-A native of North America, swamp smartweed is a highly variable perennial. It exhibits two forms, terrestrial and aquatic. For this reason, the plant will invade shores, wet prairies, swamps, ponds, ditches, and quiet streams.
-Swamp smartweed may also exhibit a red-striped stem. The leaves of the plants are alternate, oblong, and tapering at both ends. They are usually pointed at the tip and exhibit smooth margins.
- The leaves of the land plants are generally more oval than those of aquatic plants, which exhibits floating, arrow-shaped leaves. The leaf stalks of both plant forms encircle the stem to form nodes.
-The plants display extensive root systems. They are known to grow roots at the nodes of the stem. Swamp smartweeds exhibit tall, slender, and erect flower clusters.