Ipperwash Dunes Pt. I

In 2010 I spent part of my summer doing field work in Lambton County.  I came across a property owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) among the cottages at Ipperwash, just south of the reserve.  The property is largely treed dunes with openings here and there which provide habitat to some really neat dune specialists.  It's a great place to explore.

A common low-growing shrub in the openings, bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is also known as mountain tobacco.  The Algonquins refer to it as kinnikinnick.  It's seldom more than ankle-high but can form colonies alongside common juniper (Juniperus communis) throughout the dunes. It's one of few ericaceous shrubs that doesn't require acidic soils.

This gangly looking milkweed is green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora).  If you click the link (does anybody?) you'll see that the leaf shape is highly variable in this species.  I'm not sure if it's reflective of nutrients, time of year, or regional variation within the species; most of what I see in Ontario takes on this thin, droopy look.

This grass is easily over-looked when not in flower.  It's leaves form a short bluish tuft and the inflorescence (seed head. flowering part) sticks up like a bunch of birthday cake sparklers or a pin cushion.  June grass (Koeleria macrantha) is listed as rare in every county which it is found in Ontario.  It has a coefficient of conservatism of 10 meaning that it requires very specific ecological conditions to sustain itself.  Basically, a CC of 0 indicates that a plant could be found growing in a crack in the asphalt, so that gives you an idea of scale (0-10).

 This last grass has an interesting way of spreading and establishing.  Porcupine grass (Hesperostipa spartea) has a long awn (kind of like the point coming off of the end of each seed) which, when the seed falls form the plant, this awn, maybe 5-10cm, twists up.  Moisture causes it to untwist and another dry period will cause it to twists agin.  By these means it wedges and drills its way into the soil (and my socks).  This species also has a CC of 10 and is rare in every county it is found.

Both june grass and porcupine grass can be found as far north in Ontario as Stanley, just west of Thunder Bay near Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park.  There are prairies in and around that area chock full of goodies.  I found this paper on NHIC surveys form the area, it's a good, albeit lengthy read.  I almost got a chance to go check them out last year but I was busy hiking car batteries up a ski hill for work.  Maybe next time.