Dana Boyle Tamarack Nature Preserve A basic Field Guide to a rare rich fen and its surrounding woodland trails, located in Woodbury, Minnesota By Dana Boyle This unique wetland nature preserve, located in the thriving Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, Minnesota, features an amazing diversity of marsh and woodland plants as well as resident animals. It also serves as a habitat for migrating songbirds and waterfowl in the spring and fall. From a human standpoint, the preserve is a valued sanctuary for people of all ages seeking to relax and refresh, exercise and gain inspiration from nature - no matter the season. Located on Tower Drive, just north of Valley Creek Road, the Preserve - which is free to visitors - has well-maintained trails that pass through forests, as well as two floating boardwalks that cross the primary water feature - called a rich fen (a marshy area that is much like a bog). The fen is believed to have been created roughly 10,000 years ago, when glaciers receded from the area. It features quaking peat moss as well as hummocks upon which grow a wide variety of sedges, grasses, rushes and flowering marsh plants, in addition to the deciduous conifers after which the Tamarack Nature Preserve is named. Community leaders, to their credit, developed a plan to
protect this rare wetland system from the results of suburban growth. Citizens and visitors are encouraged to experience the Preserve and learn what makes it such a treasure. For more information on the Tamarack Nature Preserve, including a map and topographical depiction of the fen and forest, visit this link to a brochure produced by the Ramsey-Washington Watershed District (under Managed Sites ): http://www.rwmwd.org/library Peaceful ponds and flowing streams provide refuge for waterfowl and amphibians. Easily accessible hiking and cross-country ski trails through the fen and the surrounding woods are maintained yearround. This is one of the region s most southerly habitats for the tamarack tree - a rare deciduous conifer
Marsh Marigold - Caltha palustris Bog/Water Arum - Calla palustris Turtlehead - Chelone glabra Wild Honeysuckle - Lonicera dioica Marsh Skullcap - Scutellaria galericulata Bog/Buck Beans - Menyanthes trifoliata
Jewelweed - Impatiens capensis Spotted Joe-Pye Weed - Eutrochium maculatum Horsetail Fern - Equisetum sp. Cinnamon Fern - Osmundastrum cinnamomeum Sensitive Fern - Onoclea sensibilis Bracken Fern - Pteridium aqualinum
Common Milkweed - Asclepias syriaca New England Aster - Symphyotrichum novae-angliae Northern Blue Flag Iris - Iris versicolor Marsh Cinquefoil - Comarum palustre Broad Leaved Cattail - Typha latifolia Narrow Leaved Cattail - Typha angustifolia
Common Duckweed - Lemna minor Purple Loosetrife - Lythrum salicaria Dana Boyle Devil s Beggarticks - Bidens frondosa Broadleaf Arrowhead - Sagittaria latifolia Mild Waterpepper - Persicaria hydropiperoides Bottlebrush Sedge - Carex comosa
Drooping Trillium - Trillium flexipes Wild Geranium - Geranium maculatum Goldenrod - Solidago sp. Elderberry - Sambucus canadensis Common Burdock - Arctium minus Wild Cucumber - Echinocystis lobata
Poison Ivy - Toxicodendron radicans Clearweed - Pilea pumila Curly Dock Plant - Rumex crispus Stinging Nettle - Urtica dioica Poison Sumac - Toxicodendron vernix Woolgrass - Scirpus cyperinus
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Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring Visitor Notes Date: