Ellice Swamp, Perth County

I had a tip off last year about a rare species of fern growing in Ellice Swamp.  Ellice Swamp (along with Gad's Hill Swamp) exist as a massive wetland feature just north of Stratford; in fact, Ellice Swamp is nearly the size of Stratford!  It used to be known as the Ellice Huckleberry Swamp as this shrub was historically (but suspected to be no longer) present.  A large portion of the site is owned by the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority with the Grand River Conservation Authority managing a portion of the northern extent.

I was only able to stop in briefly on my way back from Goderich (last post), but certainly hope to go back again.  If you can brave the bugs and the tangles of shrub thicket, there are goodies to be had.

Walking along a trail which bisects nearly right through the middle of the swamp, I could feel my feet bouncing on the deep organic soils with every step.  Common fern species like Marsh Fern (Thelypteris palustris), Spinulose Wood Fern (Dryopteris carthusiana), Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis) and Cinnamon Fern (Osmundastrum cinnamomeum), pictured below, could be found here and there along the trail.

A bog indicator, Few-seeded Sedge (Carex oligosperma) grows along the snowmobile trail, particularly in the disturbed and wet rut areas.

And there it was, a small patch maybe 1x3m in size,  Massachusetts Fern (Thelypteris simulata), a very rare species, ranked S1 provincially and known only from a few locations in Ontario and Quebec.  It is more common through the northeast U.S., check out this range map.  This population was discovered by Mike Oldham.  This species is best distinguished from Marsh Fern by the venation on the pinules which extends, unbranched right to the margin of the pinule.

When sori appear, the edges of the pinules do not curl around as Marsh Fern does.