Bogs are one of Oakland County’s rarest and weirdest wetlands. A bog started as a glacial lake thousands of years ago, with rainfall as its only source of water. As sphagnum moss grew around the lake edge it acidified the water, slowing the decay of dead plants and causing a layer of peat to build up and slowly fill in the lake. A bog today often has only a small center of open water remaining, surrounded by a thick floating mat of peat topped by living sphagnum and other plants.
Many plant species are specially adapted to the harsh growing conditions and are often unusual, rare and found only in bogs. Among the most well-known are carnivorous plants, which supplement their nutrition by trapping and consuming insects. Pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea) leaves are modified into tubes filled with digestive fluids, while those of the sundew (Drosera rotundifolia) are covered with sticky hairs and curl around their prey.
Common shrubs include the evergreen leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), rash-causing poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), and holiday favorite cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon). Cranberries were historically harvested commercially in modified natural bogs, but today they’re usually grown in manmade ponds.
Tamarack (Larix laricina) is one of the few trees that can survive in a bog and is Michigan’s only conifer that is not evergreen. Its needles turn bright yellow in fall before they drop.
Threats to bogs include commercial excavation for peat, which is widely used in horticulture for its ability to absorb and hold water.
Oakland County Parks are home to several small bogs, all of which are not accessible to the public. Please respect our Parks bogs by leaving them be. A bog’s floating peat mat is dangerous to traverse, especially as you approach the thin edge around open water, and it’s easy to accidentally trample rare plants. Southeast Michigan offers several places to view a bog from a boardwalk: one of the most popular is at the Discovery Center in Waterloo State Recreation Area in Chelsea. Should you find yourself exploring a bog, take only pictures and do your best not to leave footprints in the squishy sphagnum.
For information, please visit OaklandCountyParks.com. Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram.
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