In Love with a Goblin...Fern

I have fallen in love with the Goblin Fern aka Botrychium mormo. It is by far the most adorable species of Botrychium. This probably because it is tiny (think a quarter inch to three and half inches tall) and looks somewhat like a yellowish-green elongated gummy bear.

The Goblin Fern is a special concern species and can only be found in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan with the most detections in Cass County, which is in the Chippewa National Forest. I'm proud to say I have contributed roughly 20 new detections this summer!

The reason this little guy is of special concern mainly for two reasons: habitat loss and invasive earthworms. I know what your thinking, how can earthworms be invasive? Well, because Minnesota was glaciated back in the day and that wiped out all the native earthworms. But, because there are 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, people love fishing and brought European earthworms, called Night Crawlers, here for fishing. The Goblin Fern calls home in hardwood forests that have a component of sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and basswood (Tilia americana). It roots in the humus layer and leaf litter from these trees. If there is worm impact than the leaf littler layer is thin to nonexistent and B. mormo has nowhere to put down roots.

Because worm invasion is on the rise, elevating the Goblin Fern's status from "special concern" to "threatened"is being considered. To read more check this out.

The Goblin Fern is made up of two parts: the sporophore and the trophophore. In common speak, a spore-bearing structure and a single leaf. The sporangia are the yellowish spherical blobs on the sporophore.  

That is pink flagging tape about the Goblin Fern that we use to mark the location. 

Alien!

This picture appropriately has a heart-shaped leaf in the background. 

Here is an example of a sugar maple and basswood forest. And yes, sugar maple is the species that they use to tap the sap to make maple syrup. 

I can't get over how goofy some of them are!

On the right hand side of the picture is a large basswood, which is generally around which I find B. mormo. 

The sporangia on this one look like evil little goblin eyes. 

Huge!

I'm still surprised that I spotted these two little ones.

You might wonder how I find these tiny ferns. Well, lets just say I have run into and tripped over a fair number of trees while on the hunt. 

Iron Springs and Porcupines...and Orchids of Course!

The snake-like flower of Platanthera orbiculata. 

Platanthera orbiculata is yet another orchid species found in the northern white cedar swamps here. 

My first sighting of the Grass Pink Calopogon tuberosus var. tuberosus. 

Such a beautiful flower!

This is the Dragon's Mouth Orchid Arethusa bulbosa. This species is on the watch list but is not one that we survey for. 

This one is definitely a bit bedraggled but it is the only one I have seen so it will have to suffice. 

The tiny leaves and flower stalk of the very rare orchid Malaxis paludosa. 

It is so tiny! How the heck are we supposed to find this thing?!

Check out those minuscule green flowers. We literally were all sitting right next to this plant and didn't even see it. 

 

A cool iron spring that I found in the woods. It has colored the bases of the cedar red. 

I have seen a few iron springs since I started working here but none this cool and picturesque. I don't know very much about them but apparently they are springs that bring up iron deposits to the surface. 

Some slime mold growing right on a Lycopodium!

Mmmmm....delicious wild raspberries. They definitely make the flies and mosquitos more bearable!

The hardwood forests are so beautiful here. 

Oh yeah, and the lakes too. All 10,000 of them. 

It is pretty cool to hear the loons calling when you are close to lakes like this. 

Some neat looking mushrooms busting through the bark of this rotting log. 

Some Botrychium lanceolatum that I found. It was a huge population, about 80 individuals. It is one of the rarer Botrychium species on the Chippewa. 

What a mammoth B. lanceolatum!

It looks to be around eight inches tall. Quite nice to see one this big when they are usually 1-2 inches tall. 

The really pretty Purple Fringed Orchid, Platanthera psycodes. The color in this photo really does not do it justice. It was a much richer purple than this shows. 

The flower kind of looks like a little ghost. 

The blue bead-like fruits of the Blue Bead Lily (Clintonia borealis). 

I found this Indian Pipe right along the foot path where I was walking. 

Monotropa uniflora

What an adorable little Goblin Fern (Botrychium mormo)!

And here it is, the long awaited porcupine. When it heard/saw me it started climbing up this black ash tree as fast as it could go, which is not very fast. But too fast for me to get a very close picture. 

Here are all the trees it has been munching on. Apparently it eats the cambium layer of the tree and can sometimes girdle the tree, which it is getting pretty close to doing on some of these. 

These Rattlesnake Plantains (Goodyera repens) are blooming all over the place!

This frog was nice enough to stay still for a picture. There are so many baby frogs out right now. Every time I take a step one hops out of my way. 

Here is some Malaxis monophyllos var. brachypoda that I found. Three new detections all in one site!

Such tiny little flowers. It likes to grow next to mossy pools in cedar and black ash swamps. 

One of the nicer looking Sticta fuliginosa that I have seen. 

I leave you with a picture of Malaxis uniflolia. The only one of the three species in Minnesota that we do not survey for.