Thursday, June 16, 2011

Wild cranberry

Wild cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccos) are blooming now. I didn't recognize the tiny flowers but they were easy to find in a guidebook. Michigan has a similar species, the large cranberry, (Vaccinium macrocarpon) but based on the leaves I think the flowers pictured are the small cranberry. Both plants are native to bogs and grow throughout the northern US and in Canada.
Cranberries are in the blueberry family, but the plants only grow a few inches tall. Wild blueberries grow in the same bog but the plants are much taller. The blueberry bushes have already set fruit.

Other nearby plants included Lady's Slipper, whose flowers were mostly gone, and Snake's Mouth orchid which are just starting to bloom.

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