Locality: Turtle-Flambeau Patterned Bog State Natural Area. Within the Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters Area, Iron County. T41N-R2E, T41N-R3E, T42N-R2E, T42N-R3E. 5,460 acres.

Abstract: Turtle-Flambeau Patterned Bog features an extensive and diverse landscape containing numerous vegetation communities including patterned bog, northern wet, mesic, and dry-mesic forest, and emergent aquatics. Created in 1926 by flooding lowland wetlands, the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage is located at the top of the Chippewa River watershed at the junction of the Turtle and Manitowish Rivers. The patterned bog community is quite complex and includes water tracks, sphagnum lawns, and discrete areas of large trees. Very rare in Wisconsin, this wetland type can be characterized as an herb- and shrub-dominated minerotrophic peatland with alternating moss and sedge-dominated peat ridges (strings) with saturated and inundated hollows (flarks). They are oriented parallel to the contours of a slope and perpendicular to the flow of groundwater. Within a patterned peatland the peat "landforms" differ significantly in nutrient availability and pH leading to a diverse flora that often includes numerous bog and fen species. The northern mesic forest is dominated by hemlock and large white pine while the northern dry-mesic forest contains hemlock and hardwoods with remnant white pine stands. Both areas are important habitat for bald eagles and osprey. In fact, the flowage contains the largest concentration of eagle and osprey breeding pairs in Wisconsin. Turtle-Flambeau Patterned Bog is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 1996.

Notes: The species listed here were collected during the 2019 Wisconsin Botanical Foray sponsored by the Wisconsin State Herbarium and the Botanical Club of Wisconsin.