Pinhook Bog is a unique bog in Indiana that has been designated a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

. It is part of

Indiana Dunes National Park Indiana Dunes National Park is a United States national park located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the nation ...

, an area that many citizens, scientists, and politicians fought hard to preserve.Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009). The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation. The South Shore Journal, 3. Its sister bog, Volo Bog, is located nearby. The bog contains a large variety of plants, including insect eating plants, tamarack trees, stands of blueberry bushes, and

floating mat A floating mat (german: Schwingrasen) is a layer of mosses and other, especially stoloniferous, plants that grows out from the shore across the surface of a lake or pond. This type of habitat is protected and is designated in the European Habitat ...

s of sphagnum moss. Pinhook Bog is about , a quarter of which is a floating mat of sphagnum peat moss. A "moat" separates the bog from the uplands.

Geology

The bog is a glacial kettle. At the end of the Wisconsin Glacial epoch about 14,000 to 15,000 years ago, a large chunk of ice remained buried at this location as the ice retreated northward. When the ice melted, the clay soil sealed the basins.Indiana Dunes Education, National Park Service, Porter, Indiana, 2006 Precipitation and runoff from higher ground around the bog are the only water sources. There is no stream or groundwater inflow or outflow. Evaporation from the open water and plants is the only loss of moisture. A bog differs from swamps, marshes, and ponds because of this limited exchange of water. The water in the bog is stagnant, acidic, and nutrient-poor.1997, Bud Polk

Plants

The outstanding feature of Pinhook Bog is the tree-covered mat of

sphagnum moss ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, peat moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store w ...

. Sphagnum moss is a stringy, delicate moss of a light-green color. The mat floats on top of the water and can become thick, yet it can have a pocket only a few inches thick in the middle. As the mat thickens, larger and larger plants take root and grow. Under the mat a peat bed develops. The acidic water slows the decay of the sphagnum moss and other plants. With time, the peat may fill the bog from the mat to the bottom. As the moisture becomes less acidic, typical land plants take root and the bog disappears.

Orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

: *Pink lady's slipper, stemless lady's-slipper, or moccasin flower (''

Cypripedium acaule ''Cypripedium acaule'' is a species of flowering plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae. It is commonly referred to as the pink lady's slipper or moccasin flower. The specific epithet ''acaule'' means "lacking an obvious stem", a reference to it ...

'') is pink, deep rose, to white color flower. It is the only lady's slipper with no stem leaves. The plant can grow high. *Yellow fringed orchid, yellow-fringed orchis, or orange-fringed orchid (''

Platanthera ciliaris ''Platanthera ciliaris'', commonly known as the yellow fringed orchid, yellow-fringed orchid, or orange-fringed orchid, is a large and showy species of orchid. It grows in "acid soil of hillside seepage bogs" in the longleaf pine landscapes of t ...

'') is a fairly tall orchid with a flower cluster that can be tall and the entire plant about tall. The flowers can be yellow to orange. *Rose pogonia or snake mouth orchid ('' Pogonia ophioglossoides'') is a small pink orchid found in the bog near the end of the boardwalk. The orchid is about tall and the flower about long. Carnivorous plants:Daniel, Glenda; Dune Country, A Hiker's Guide to the Indiana Dunes; Illustrated by Carol Lerner; Swallow Press; Chicago, Illinois; 1984, pg 121 *Spoonleaf sundew (''

Drosera intermedia ''Drosera intermedia'', commonly known as the oblong-leaved sundew, spoonleaf sundew, or spatulate leaved sundew, is an insectivorous plant species belonging to the sundew genus. It is a temperate or tropical species native to Europe, southeaste ...

'') is a tiny plant with spoon/teardrop shaped leaves covered in mucilage-tipped

tentacle In zoology, a tentacle is a flexible, mobile, and elongated organ present in some species of animals, most of them invertebrates. In animal anatomy, tentacles usually occur in one or more pairs. Anatomically, the tentacles of animals work ma ...

s. *Round-leaved sundew (''

Drosera rotundifolia ''Drosera rotundifolia'', the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribu ...

'') is a tiny plant with rounded leaves covered in mucilage-tipped

s. *Purple pitcher plant (''

Sarracenia purpurea ''Sarracenia purpurea'', the purple pitcher plant, northern pitcher plant, turtle socks, or side-saddle flower, is a carnivorous plant in the family Sarraceniaceae. Description Like other species of ''Sarracenia'', ''S. purpurea'' obtains most ...

'') has heavily-veined reddish or purple leaves in the strong sunlight that are folded to form a pitcher or cup, which is normally about half full of liquid containing digestive juices. *Horned bladderwort ('' Utricularia cornuta'') is a small terrestrial carnivorous plant that possesses bladder-shaped traps that feed on small soil insects. It usually goes unnoticed by rangers and visitors because its leaves are so small and instead is recognized by its flower. *Hidden-fruited bladderwort ('' Utricularia geminiscapa'') is a small aquatic carnivorous plant that possesses bladder-shaped traps that feed on small aquatic insects.

Poison sumac ''Toxicodendron vernix'', commonly known as poison sumac, or swamp-sumach, is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 9 metres (30 feet) tall. It was previously known as ''Rhus vernix''. This plant is also known as thunderwood, particul ...

is prevalent in the bog area, particularly around the outer edge, the '"moat". It is recognized by its compound leaves of seven to thirteen leaflets. The leaflets have smooth edges and are pointed.Daniel, pg 119

Tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

or American larch is an unusual tree for northwest Indiana. It is a conifer, but not an evergreen. It drops its leaves in the winter. As fall approaches, the needles turn golden until they fall off. Blueberry and

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus '' Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species '' Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

shrubs are common along the margins. Rusty cotton grass farther down the trail flourishes. File:Round-leaved Sundews and baby Purple Pitcher Plants.jpg, Round-leaved sundew and baby purple pitcher plants File:Drosera rotundifolia PinhookBog(2).jpg, Spoonleaf sundew File:Cypripedium_acaule_2.jpg, Pink lady slipper File:Rose Pogonia PinhookBog.jpg, Rose pogonia File:Sarracenia purpurea.jpg, Purple pitcher plant File:Sarracenia purpurea PinhookBog.jpg, Purple pitcher plant File:Utricularia cornuta PinhookBog.jpg, Horned bladderwort File:Utricularia geminiscapa PinhookBog.jpg, Hidden-fruited bladderwort File:Tamarack PinhookBog.jpg, Tamarack or American larch

Access

The Pinhook Bog is open for specially scheduled ranger-guided tours and for infrequent open houses. Starting at the parking lot off Wozniak Road, a leisurely trail of about leads through the woods to the entrance to the bog, which is gated and locked during non-tour hours. Within the bog, one can walk along a plastic boardwalk which is about long.

References

Bibliography

*Daniel, Glenda; Dune Country, A Hiker's Guide to the Indiana Dunes; Illustrated by Carol Lerner; Swallow Press; Chicago, Illinois; 1984 *Greenberg, Joel; A Natural History of the Chicago Region; University of Chicago Press; Chicago, Illinois; 2004 {{authority control Bogs of Indiana Indiana Dunes National Park Protected areas of LaPorte County, Indiana National Natural Landmarks in Indiana Nature reserves in Indiana Glacial landforms Protected areas established in 1966 Landforms of LaPorte County, Indiana

Geology

Plants

Access

See also

References

Bibliography