Cedar Creek Natural History Area

Plants of Cedar Creek

The Willow Family includes two genera of woody shrubs or trees.   All are dioecious (some individuals bearing only male catkins, others only female) and generally clonal (vigorously reproducing by suckering).

Cedar Creek has an excellent representation of the large genus Salix; there are 18 species in the state and 15 here.  The three most abundant willows at Cedar Creek are S. gracilis (Slender Red-stem Willow), S. bebbiana (Bebbs Willow), and S. discolor (Pussy Willow) .  They are dominant shrubs in wet meadows, fens, and shrub swamps.  S. pyrifolia (Balsam Willow) and S. pedicellaris are reliably found on the sphagnum mat at Beckman Lake and in other poor fens.  S. exigua (=interior: Sand-bar Willow) and S. eriocephala (=rigida:   ) are found in the marsh NE of Fish Lake and are otherwise uncommon. S. candida is uncommon in the tamarack swamp near Cedar Bog Lake and here and there in other peaty swamps.  S. serissima (Autumn Willow) is found in the marsh west of Tamarack Island.  S. lucida (Shining Willow) occurs in the marsh near 70 ft. Tower and in ditches with alders.  S. humilis (Prairie Willow) is a small knee-high shrub occurring in several field and savanna depressions.  It frequently bears the cone-like galls of a Cecidomyiid midge.

The other willow species at Cedar Creek are tree species.  S. amygdaloides (Peach-leaved Willow) occurs along the drainage ditch near Norris Cabin.  S. alba, S. fragilis and S. nigra are difficult to distinguish.  S. nigra is found along the creek near Co.Rd 26.  The other two may have been planted and occur at homesites.

Five species of Populus occur on the Area.  The most abundant is P. tremuloides (Quaking Aspen).   It is found at wetland fringes and occasionally uplands throughout the Area. Several stands of P. grandidentata (Large-toothed Aspen) are found on the Area.  One occurs in Field 35 and another near WPW Residence.   Others can be found in many of the Area’s woodlots.  Only a few individuals of P. deltoides (Cottonwood) occur here—east shore of Fish Lake, EBB.  P. alba (White Poplar) is an introduced planting that has proven to be invasive by vegetative spread in a couple of spots (Field 76, ARSW).  A rather vigorous stand of P. balsamifera (Balsam Poplar) is developing in BGN.  It has not been documented for Cedar Creek during the 1900s even though it has been searched for.  Mature trees have possibly been hiding in North Section swamps.  While abundant in northern Minnesota, P. balsamifera is rare or absent from the Anoka Sandplain.