The following article was written by Max Kornetzke, the Land Manager at the Woodland Dunes Nature Center.
The next few weeks are an excellent time to enjoy Woodland Dunes trails as they are brimming with emerging vegetation, eager to bask in the spring sunshine. Like the rest of Two Rivers, Woodland Dunes proximity to Lake Michigan gives us a slightly cooler microclimate that means many things that have fully emerged or are finishing their flowers elsewhere in the state are just beginning here.
Walking down the trails you are likely to encounter several of these abundant species along the ridges and swales of Woodland Dunes.
Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) is technically a small shrub. It has a rhizomatous root system and is very abundant on our ridges and small hummocks. They have several pairs of leaves that whorl around the stem and have four large greenish to creamy bracts (modified leaves) that look like petals surrounding their actual flowers. Later in the season their pollinated flowers will transform into a bunch of bright red berries.
Bluebead Lily (Clintonia borealis) is a unique wildflower that I am always excited to see. It has a rhizomatous root system that spreads slowly to create small colonies. They have two to four glossy, simple leaves with a distinct middle vein that emerge before their four to six, greenish-yellow flowers emerge on a long stalk. Later in the summer these flowers will have transformed into a bunch of blue bead-like berries.
Alleghany Serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) is a small tree found at Woodland Dunes. Its leaves have a beautiful bronze hue as they emerge in the spring. This color persists as long clusters of white flowers unfurl. These flowers are highly attractive to our native bumble bees. Later in the summer these flowers will transform into reddish to blue-black berries.
Limber Honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica) is one of our native, vining honeysuckles that is abundant across the preserve. This plant is easy to identify in the spring as it has distinct purplish coloration on its waxy pair of opposite facing leaves. It will climb over neighboring vegetation before its unique circular, terminal leaf appears. At the center of this circular leaf is a group of red, tube-shaped flowers that attract Ruby-throated hummingbirds, clearwing moths and native bumble bees. Later in the summer these flowers will transform into a bunch of red fruit.
These are just a few beautiful wildflowers you might encounter right now. From showy to subtle and abundant to rare, there are hundreds of other plants to be seen and admired along our trails here at Woodland Dunes.
