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IL 9. Wauconda Bog. Acreage: About 67. 



Location: Lake County; Wauconda 7.5' Quadrangle; immediately S of Waucon- 

 da. 



Description: Wauconda Bog was once part of a large lake of which present 

 Bang's Lake is but a small remnant. If the water level of Bang's Lake should rise 

 8 ft, the surface of Wauconda Bog would be covered with water. No pool of 

 open water exists within the bog; the old lake bed is filled with sphagnum and 

 sedge peat. This is a bog with cattails, low shrubs, and herbs, alternating with 

 tamarack, tall shrubs, stunted deciduous trees, and an herbaceous understory. A 

 large stand of common reed grows near the center of the bog. Some of the tall 

 shrubs are poison sumac, alder buckthorn, red-osier dogwood, and winterberry. 

 Some of the smaller shrubs are chokeberry, dwarf birch, and a number of spe- 

 cies of shrubby willows. Deciduous trees include soft maple, bur oak, quaking 

 aspen, and basswood. Numerous sedges and grasses, among them reed grass, 

 form much of the herbaceous cover. Growing among the grasses and sedges are 

 other herbs, a few of which are pink ladyslipper, marsh marigold, purple 

 cinquefoil, buckbean, swamp thistle, saxifrage, and numerous asters and golden- 

 rods. Hummocks of sphagnum moss occur throughout. 



References: Evers, R. A. 1963. Some unusual natural areas in Illinois and a few 

 of their plants, ///. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biol. Notes, No. 50, p. 8-9. 



Encroachments: Most of Wauconda Bog will soon be ringed by residential 

 areas. The pastureland that once bordered the bog on the south has recently 

 been subdivided into lots and roadways. The north side of the bog touches the 



village. 



Ownership: Part of Wauconda Bog is owned by the University of Illinois. 



Data source: Robert A. Evers (1963), Some Unusual Natural Areas in Illinois 

 and a Few of Their Plants, ///. Nat. Hist. Surv. Biological Notes, No. 50. 



Other knowledgeable persons: George B. Fell, Secretary, Illinois Nature 

 Preserve Commission, 819 North Main St., Rockford, 111. 61103. Cyrus Mark, 

 1900 Dempster St., Evanston, 111. 60200. 



