Pitt Polder Marsh plants

–Wednesday, Aug. 21, 1974 -

W. Robinson

When we think of nature walks to observe Wild flowers, we usually think in terms of alpine meadows, cool woodland glades, or even just gravelly roadsides (which sometimes offer a surprising variety of blooms). But maybe we should consider the plants which can be found growing in the ponds, sloughs and ditches of areas such as the Pitt Polder Green Belt.

Here, in the warm blackish waters we can find several unusual and highly specialized plants. One of these is the Common Bladder wort. Because it seldom sends up its bright yellow flowers above the dark surface of the slough, many people fail to associate the single flower stalk with the masses of foliage beneath the water and therefore believe it to be rare.

Bladderworst are freefloating plants and, as the name implies, are supported in the water by a series of small black “bladders” which are situated along the stems of their finely-forked leaves.

The bladders serve another purpose, they are ingenious hollow structures with a small valve that is normally held open. when the minute crustaceans or other small organisms that inhabit warm waters swim into the bladders they trip the tiny guard hairs and the valve Closes behind them. The plant then secretes its digestive juices the nitrogenous compounds get absorbed into the plant.

The Round-leaved Sundew  works in much the same way, only above the water. Growing in wet boggy ground, the Sun Dew Suffers from a deficiency of nitrogen and phosphorous and must make up this deficiency with a supplement of insect fare. The leaves of this plant are edged with a ring of hairs, each hair tipped with a dew-drop of ruby red viscid fluid. The insects, attracted by the colour, are trapped by the sticky liquid. The leaf edges curl inward, the digestive juices begin their work, and the plant is fed.. Another common, but not so spectacular plant is the Water Shield. The floating leaves of this plant are oval and are sometimes mistaken for small lily-pads. What makes it unusual is that the stems and leaves are coated with a clear slippery jelly. Only the parts above water (the purplish flower and the flower stem) are free of this film. Water Shield can be found in many of the sloughs of the Green Belt. Buckbean is another plant of the boggy ponds. Massed in the shallow waters of the pond's edge, this hardy plant displays large fleshy leaves, each a group of three leaflets. Above the leaves, on a sturdy 6 to 12 inch stem, is a short raceme holding numerous fringed white flowers which are sometimes flushed with a delicate pink. It is a strange and beautiful flower to come across amongst the sphagnum || moss and cotton grass which usually surround the ponds of the bog. There are many other interesting plants to be found in the waters of the Pitt Polder. including the common yellow Water Lily, the purple flowers of Marsh Cinquefoil, white clouds of Bedstraw, and the pale blue of Forget-me-nots. Many of these can be seen by walking the dykes but for others it may be necessary to go into the marsh, itself.

Whichever way you go about it, you can spend many absorbing hours photographing or just examining and enjoying the wild plants of the Polder.

Try it sometime – you'll like it! -