Hitting the Pavement in Fort Erie

Yesterday I was doing some work at a site in Fort Erie and had the chance to zip down to the waterfront afterwards.  A few years back I spent a week or so at a section of waterfront a little further east, a few photos from a previous post here.  This section of the waterfront, Windmill Point, has a small access for the public which gives way to dunes, limestone pavement and beaches composed of crushed shells.

Upon popping out of the trees you are greeted by dunes stabilized by Marram Grass (Ammophila breviligulata) with the odd Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) also present.  These dunes (as well as the rocky shoreline) serve as valuable habitat for the provincially endangered Fowler's Toad.

The fruits of Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis).  This shrub prefers wetter conditions and can form extensive swamp thickets in some areas.  The leaves tend to be in whorls of 3 on the stem, but younger shrubs can have some leaves in 2's.

Among the large Eastern Cottonwood the back dune contains a fair number of Hop-tree (Ptelea trifoliata).  The leaves really bear a resemblance to Poison-ivy!

The odd Red-osier Dogwood still holding onto a bloom.

Among the rocky areas I found a fair amount of Big Bluestem with smaller amounts of Little Bluestem, Canada Wild Rye and the long, tall seed heads of Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata).

Given the more 'challenging' conditions offered by shallow soils on the lakefront, Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana) tends to stay in check much better than the monster in my garden here at home.  This picture shows the fruit capsules forming, only a few rough-looking flowers were hanging on at this time.

So many nooks and crannies to explore, the Google Earth imagery shows hundreds of small broken limestone plates beneath the water extending out into the lake.

A few patches of Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) were nice to catch in bloom.

Kalm's St. John's Wort (Hypericum kalmianum) is rare in Niagara Region and not overly common throughout much of Southern Ontario, check out the BONAP distribution map here.

I was most excited to catch Low Calamint (Clinopodium arkansanum) otherwise known as Limestone Calamint.  This member of the mint family has distinct 'pocked' leaves.  It's also rare in the region.

The plant has prostrate-growing leaves which don't resemble those of the previous/next photos, the leaves certainly gives off a strong mint odour when crushed.

It seems like 2016 will involve a trip or two down to Fort Erie, I'm looking forward to coming back!