i de hte 
Fig. 6.-- The pool of open water in Volo Bog, Lake 
County. Duckweeds grow on the surface of the water. The 
pool is lined with cattails. 
bog and in the adjacent fields. The bog is easily 
viewed from the higher ground of the pastureland on 
the west. A plank walk, fig. 7, extends from the pas- 
ture to the open pool within the bog. 
Within the narrow border is a zone of shmbs in 
which poison sumac and winterberry are very abun- 
dant. Such herbs as sensitive fern, cinnamon fern, and 
marsh fern grow in the muck of the bog surface. To 
venture away from the plank walk is very hazardous, 
as it is possible to sink deep into the muck in those 
places where the plant roots grow sparsely beneath 
the surface and do not form a dense, tight network. 
Farther along the plank walk, tamaracks tower above 
the shrubs. Near the open pool the density of the 
shrubs and trees decreases and herbaceous vegeta- 
tion predominates. 
The pool supports a heavy growth of several 
species of duckweeds. A zone of cattails with some 
giant bur-reed scattered throughout lines the shore 
of this pool. Numerous sedges and some bulmshes 
grow inland from the cattail zone. Some plants that 
are rare or semirare in Illinois occur in this zone. 
They include Scheuchzeria palustris var. americana, 
cotton sedge, Dulichium arundinaceum, Pogonia 
ophioglossioides, and the grass-pink orchid. An un- 
common shrub in Illinois that thrives here is leather- 
leaf. 
Inland from the pool and about 20 feet from the 
plank walk, the rare pitcher plant was once abundant. 
Far too many unscrupulous collectors have visited 
Volo and have almost destroyed the stands. Buckbean 
and purple cinquefoil were associated with the pitch- 
er plant. 
Part of Volo Bog, about 47 acres, is owned by 
the University of Illinois. The remainder is in private 
ownership. The bog is a well-used educational and 
scientific area. Many students from the University of 
Illinois, Northwestern University, and other univer- 
8 
sities and colleges annually visit this bog to study 
ecology. 
4. WAUCONDA BOG 
Wauconda Bog, at the southeast boundary of the 
village of Wauconda, is in the north half of section 
36, T. 44 N., R. 9 E., Lake County. The bog covers 
about 67 acres. 
Like Volo Bog, Wauconda was once part of a 
large lake of which present Bang’s Lake is but a 
Fig. 7.-- The plank walk near the entrance of Volo 
Bog. This walk permits easy access to the pool shown in 
fig. 6. 
small remnant. If the water level of Bang’s Lake 
should rise 8 feet, the surface of Wauconda Bog 
would be covered with water. Unlike Volo, no pool of 
open water exists within the bog; the old lake bed is 
filled with sphagnum and sedge peat. In the cycle of 
development of bogs, Wauconda is an older bog than 
Volo. 
Wauconda can be characterized as a bog with 
cattails, low shrubs, and herbs alternating with tam- 
arack, tall shrubs, stunted deciduous trees, and an 
herbaceous understory, fig. 8. A large stand of common 
reed grows near the center of the bog. Some of the 
tall shrubs are poison sumac, alder buckthom, red 
osier, and winterberry. Some of the smaller shrubs 
are chokeberry, dwarf birch, and a number of species 
of shrubby willows. Deciduous angiospermous trees 
include soft maple, bur oak, quaking aspen, and bass- 
wood. Numerous sedges and grasses, among them 
reed grass, form much of the herbaceous cover. Grow- 
ing among the grasses and sedges are other herbs, a 
few of which are marsh marigold, purple cinquefoil, 
buckbean, swamp thistle, saxifrage, and numerous 
asters and goldenrods. The beautiful pink ladyslipper, 
fig. 9, also grows here. Hummocks of sphagnum moss 
grow throughout, but not so abundantly as in Volo Bog. 
Most of Wauconda Bog will soon be ringed by 
residential areas. The pastureland that once bordered 
