Fig. 8.-- Wauconda Bog, Lake County. At the right are shrubs and small trees. In the middle distance are a few tama- 
racks. A large expanse of common reed grass is visible in front of the trees on the far side of the bog. 
Fig. 9.-- Pink ladyslipper, one of the rare plants of 
Wauconda Bog. 
the bog on the south has recently been subdivided 
into lots and roadways. The north side of the bog 
touches the village. Part of Wauconda Bog is owned 
by the University of Illinois. 
5. TROUT PARK (ELGIN BOTANICAL GARDEN) 
Trout Park, also called Elgin Botanical Garden, 
is_located in the northeast quarter of section 1, T. 
41 N., R. 8 E., on the east bluffs of the Fox River in 
the northern part of Elgin, Kane County. The tract 
now embraces less than 60 acres; formerly it was 
larger. 
‘'Trout Park is not a ‘park’ in the ordinarily ac- 
cepted sense of the term. It is more than a park; it is 
a preserve -- a last refuge for the plant and animal 
life of an extensive region in these morainic_hills of 
northern Illinois known as the ‘Oak Openings’ or Oak 
Grove Savannas because of their prevailing timber 
character.’’ So wrote H. C. Benke (1932) in the Elgin 
Courier-News for March 29, 
Numerous springs and seeps occur on the east 
bluffs, which are composed of glacial drift. The water 
from the springs and seeps, forming pools and brooks, 
makes its way downslope to the base of the bluffs 
and into the Fox River. These water sources appar- 
ently never run dry. The bluffs support a mesic veg- 
etation -- plants that grow in habitats that are neither 
extremely wet nor extremely dry. Along the rivulets 
and bordering the seeps, arbor vitae grows abundant- 
ly, fig. 10. According to Benke, some individuals of 
this species in Trout Park are older than our nation. 
Willows of various species, elderberry, and touch-me- 
not abound in these moist situations. 
The forested ravine slopes of the east bluffs 
support such trees as butternut, quaking aspen, large- 
toothed aspen, northern red oak, hackberry, blue ash, 
and elms. The bluff-top forest includes white oak, 
northern red oak, white ash, and wild black cherry. 
The alternate-leaved dogwood is one of the un- 
derstory trees. Numerous shrubs grow under the forest 
canopy. Witch hazel, several shrubby dogwoods, and 
viburnums are common. Trout Park is rich in an her- 
baceous flora that includes many species in numerous 
genera and families. Over 60 species of grasses thrive 
here. Of rare plants in the Illinois flora, this refuge 
boasts of six orchids and five gentians, including the 
bottle orclosed gentian and the fringed gentian. Benke 
(1932) included in his Courier-News article published 
9 
