This slideshow requires JavaScript.

In a watery hollow within Bald Mountain State Recreation Area, bloom a huge number of unusual and elegant native plants with the mundane name, Bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata).  Along each plant’s petals, fine white hairs create a frilly effect.  Why frills?  I couldn’t find much information, except for one Finnish website that thought they probably defended the flower’s nectar from small insects that weren’t much help in pollination.  Bees, especially bumblebees, are attracted to these lovely flowers which also spread through rhizomes (underground stems) in shallow water or on the muddy shore.  This hollow is a “kettle” which was created by the melting of  a huge chunk of glacial ice. What a sight to come upon in the forest – a bed of white shining in the sun beneath a huge gap in the tree canopy!