Marsh-sloggin' in Cambridge

I ventured out this evening to a complex of marshes on the west side of Cambridge.  The area was new to me which is always exciting.  On my way to Cambridge I stopped in at Talize (a used clothing store) to pick up a shiny new pair of shoes.  I've learned that when you're planning to get right into a marsh, a nice pair of runners, I prefer the heavily ventilated cross-trainers, can't be beat.  Walking the trail to the wetlands I admittedly looked a little 'Euro' in my bright white Adidas, which now sit caked in organics and drying on my front porch.  Anyways, enough about shoes. 

I spotted my first Least Skipper of the year.  About the size of my thumbnail, these are Ontario's smallest butterfly.  You can easily distinguish them from other skippers like the European Skipper by the elongated abdomen which extends out past the hind wings.

Sticking my head into the forest I found a small patch of Virginia Stickweed (Hackelia virginiana).  This species is listed as rare in Waterloo Region but I think it'd be the first to go (possibly along with Hackberry) if a revised list were to be done, it's everywhere.  This species has wider leaves, and more ascending stem pubescence with bristles covering the seed, versus H. deflexa which has narrower leaves, appressed pubescence and limited barbs on the seeds.

Second to the dominant cattails, the marshes contain a tonne of  Broad-fruited Bur-reed (Sparganium eurycarpum).  This species is easy to distinguish from the other Sparganiums in that it has 2 stigmas (shown in the second photo), all of our other species have just 1 stigma.

My best find of the day was this nasty wetland plant, Arrow-leaved Tear-thumb (Persicaria sagittata).  This species is also rare in Waterloo Region.  Check out those spines in the second photo, mess you up! Actually, the plant utilizes these spines to help clamber atop the surrounding vegetation.