By Paul Harwood
Six participants of the Torrey Botanical Society and the Olive Natural Heritage Society met on Saturday, June 8, 2013 for a joint field trip into the Sundown Wild Forest. An interesting ecological feature called a bear wallow in a Catskill high elevation bog was our goal. A bear wallow is a depression in a wet area caused by bears, namely the American black bear (Ursus americanus), wallowing in the mud to keep cool on hot summer days. Over the years, the wallowing of the bears deepens and widens the depression, affecting the ecology of the area.
Buddy’s Bear Wallow, the target of our expedition has long been known and appears in an 1845 map by John B. Davis, a surveyor. The wallow is located in a sphagnum bog on a topographic saddle at ca. 2160 ft. at the base of Spencer’s Ledge in Denning Township
A slightly rough ride on a dirt road, where colonies of stump sprouting American chestnut (Castanea dentata) grew and a mile bushwack into the mixed northern hardwood forest (Tsuga canadensis, Acer saccharum, Acer rubrum, Fagus grandifolia, Quercus rubra, Fraxinus americana, Tilia americana ) were necessary to reach the bog where the wallow was situated. Along the way goldthread (Coptis trifolia), indian cucumber (Medeola virginiana) and skunk currant (Ribes glandulosum) were found in abundance.
Upon reaching the bog, we noted that Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum sps.) with stands of hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) interspersed with great laurel (Rhododendron maximum) and braces of cinnamon ferns (Osmunda cinnamomea) and sensitive ferns (Onoclea sensibilis) on hummocks dominated the landscape. Some early carices were also present (Carex crinita, C. gynadra, C. arctata, C. debilis) but it was still too early in the season to see many sedges fruiting in the bog. A small stand of marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) was also found along with large populations of marsh blue violets (Viola cucullata). Sam Adams and Steve Parisio of the ONHS had been here on an earlier field trip and noted the Sphagnum as being two feet thick. On this trip, Sam pushed a walking stick 5 feet in length fully into the moss, perhaps denoting a much deeper bog than was previously thought.
Unfortunately for us, we found that we had navigated across the bog without actually finding the wallow. So it was decided to visit a wet meadow, situated nearby that was also on our agenda and then find the wallow on our return out of the forest. Along the way we discovered some lady-slipper orchids (Cyprepedium acaule) and a rich area of lycopods (Lycopodium complanatum, L. digitatum, L. hickeyi, Huperzia lucidula). A very tough bramble of hemlock, mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and white pine (Pinus strobus) had to be traversed to get to the meadow and there was some intense bushwacking before we broke through to the meadow.
Bright sunlight greeted us as we looked over the meadow over a late lunch. Bulrushes (Scirpus sps.) abounded but it was still too early in the season to identify the species. Tearthumb (Persicaria arifolia ) was sighted as well as ? Again, because of the unusually cool spring, much that we saw was in a sterile condition so ID’s were in short supply.
By this time the shadows were lengthening and the sun was close to setting behind Spencer Ledge. So it was decided that we should start heading back and forego the bear wallow till another time. Disappointed a little by our failure to see the wallow, we were nonetheless content to have seen some beautiful, pristine landscapes
| Buddy’s Bear Wallow Plant List |
| Acer pensylvanicum L. – striped maple |
| Acer rubrum L. – red maple |
| Acer saccharum Marshall – sugar maple |
| Amelanchier arborea (F. Michx.) Fernald – common serviceberry |
| Anemone quinquefolia L. – wood anemone |
| Aralia nudicaulis L. – wild sarsaparilla |
| Arisaema triphyllum(L.) Schott – Jack in the pulpitBetula alleghaniensis Britton – yellow birch |
| Brachyelytrum erectum (Schreb.) P. Beauv. – bearded shorthusk |
| Caltha palustris L. – yellow marsh marigold |
| Carex appalachica J.M. Webber & P.W. Ball – Appalachian sedge |
| Carex arctata Boott – drooping woodland sedge |
| Carex debilis Michx. – white edge sedge |
| Carex gynandra Schwein. – nodding sedge |
| Carex prasina Wahlenb. – drooping sedge |
| Carex scabrata Schwein. – eastern rough sedge |
| Carex stipata Muhl. ex Willd. – awlfruit sedge |
| Carex trisperma Dewey – threeseeded sedge |
| Castanea dentata (Marshall) Borkh. – American chestnut |
| Chelone glabra L. – white turtlehead |
| Chrysosplenium americanum Schwein. ex Hook. – American golden saxifrage |
| Clintonia borealis (Aiton) Raf. – bluebead |
| Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb. – threeleaf goldthread |
| Cornus canadensis L. – bunchberry dogwood |
| Cypripedium acaule Aiton – moccasin flower |
| Cystopteris sp. |
| Dennstaedtia punctilobula (Michx.) T. Moore – eastern hayscented fern |
| Dryopteris carthusiana (Vill.) H.P. Fuchs – spinulose woodfern |
| Dryopteris intermedia (Muhl. ex Willd.) A. Gray – intermediate woodfern |
| Dryopteris marginalis (L.) A. Gray – marginal woodfern |
| Epifagus virginiana (L.) W.P.C. Barton – beechdrops |
| Eurybia divaricata (L.) G.L. Nesom – white wood aster |
| Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. – American beech |
| Fraxinus americana L. – white ash |
| Gaultheria procumbens L. – eastern teaberry |
| Hamamelis virginiana L. – American witchhazel |
| Huperzia lucidula (Michx.) Trevis. – shining clubmoss |
| Ilex montana Torr. & A. Gray – mountain holly |
| Impatiens capensis Meerb. – jewelweed |
| Kalmia latifolia L. – mountain laurel |
| Laportea canadensis (L.) Gaudich. – Laportea canadensis |
| lex verticillata (L.) A. Gray – common winterberry |
| Lonicera canadensis Bartram ex Marshall – American fly honeysuckle |
| Lycopodium complanatum L. – groundcedar |
| Lycopodium digitatum Dill. – fan clubmoss |
| Lycopodium hickeyi W.H. Wagner, Beitel & R.C. Moran – Pennsylvania clubmoss |
| Lycopus virginicus L. – Virginia water horehound |
| Maianthemum canadense Desf. – Canada mayflower |
| Maianthemum racemosum (L.) Link – feathery false lily of the valley |
| Medeola virginiana L. – Indian cucumber |
| Mitchella repens L. – partridgeberry |
| Mitella diphylla L. – twoleaf miterwort |
| Oclemena acuminata (Michx.) Greene – whorled wood aster |
| Onoclea sensibilis L. – sensitive fern |
| Osmunda cinnamomea L. – cinnamon fern |
| Oxalis montana Raf. – mountain woodsorrel |
| Panax trifolius L. – dwarf ginseng |
| Persicaria arifolia (L.) Haraldson – halberdleaf tearthumb |
| Pinus strobus L. – eastern white pine |
| Polygonatum pubescens (Willd.) Pursh – hairy Solomon’s seal |
| Polystichum acrostichoides (Michx.) Schott – Christmas fern |
| Potentilla simplex Michx. – common cinquefoil |
| Prunus serotinaEhrh. – black cherryQuercus rubra L. – northern red oak |
| Rhododendron maximum L. – great laurel |
| Ribes glandulosum Grauer – skunk currant |
| Rubus allegheniensis Porter – Allegheny blackberry |
| Rubus canadensis L. – smooth blackberry |
| Rubus hispidus L. – bristly dewberry |
| Rubus pubescens Raf. – dwarf red blackberry |
| Rubus strigosus Michx. – grayleaf red raspberry |
| Sambucus racemosa L. – red elderberry |
| Scutellaria lateriflora L. – blue skullcap |
| Sorbus americana Marshall – American mountain ash |
| Thalictrum pubescens Pursh – king of the meadow |
| Thelypteris noveboracensis (L.) Nieuwl. – New York fern |
| Thelypteris palustris (A. Gray) Schott – eastern marsh fern |
| Tiarella cordifolia L. – heartleaf foamflower |
| Tilia americana L. – American basswood |
| Trientalis borealis Raf. – starflower |
| Trillium erectum L. – red trillium |
| Trillium undulatum Willd. – painted trillium |
| Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carrière – eastern hemlock |
| Uvularia sessilifolia L. – sessileleaf bellwort |
| Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton – lowbush blueberry |
| Veratrum viride Aiton – green false hellebore |
| Viburnum lantanoides Michx. – hobblebush |
| Viburnum lentagoL. – nannyberryViburnum nudum var. cassinoides (L.) Torr. & A. Gray – withe-rod |
| Viola cucullata Aiton – marsh blue violet |
| Viola macloskeyi F.E. Lloyd – small white violet |