Wetland Team Blog

Last week was a slippery mess collecting Sagittaria platyphylla, Delta Duck potato, from the edges of Fishing Pond 1 at Sheldon. The pickins’ were easy, just really muddy. All in all, we collected and counted out 2760 sprigs of Sagittaria and have them staged for planting by the potting shed.

Seeders also took the Juncus seed to task and tried to get ahead of the “pile”. Thanks to those who worked on the seed—that stuff can be seriously prickly!

Plant of the Week

American Lotus, Nelumbo lutea

As a testament to the hardiness of the seed, American Lotus seed can be dormant in the soil for years and when prime conditions converge, the seed will germinate. We saw this in Phase 1 (in the deepest section of Pond 2) and again, in Phase 2 (deeper sections of Pond 8). American Lotus is truly a deep water species and you expect to see these lovely yellow fragrant flowers in deeper lakes like Sheldon Reservoir. However, the Lotus which has been popping up in Pond 8 is a relic of the days when Sheldon Reservoir included all of the east side of the park.