Blackwater Wildlife Refuge #123

C and I were wondering about the grass. It takes on this beautiful golden red color - at least when the sky is gray. Later that evening I suspect I learned what it was while reading Day Trips in the Delmarva, by Alan Fisher. (Thank you very much Ward Museum Gift Shop!)

To quote Mr. Fisher, "The predominant plant of southern Dorchester's tidal marshes is Olney three-square, also called American three-cornered sedge. It is an important source of food for Canada geese. Growing about two fee high, it is easily identified by its stiff spikey stems, which are triangular in cross section. The prevalence of three-square reflects its ability to tolerate wide fluctuations in salinity, which in the marshes bordering the Blackwater River ranges from 2 percent to 42 percent of average sea salinity, depending on rainfall and the incursion of tides. Because of it's importance as food for geese and other animals, three-square is maintained at Blackwater NWR by annual burning in the fall. Burning is not harmful to the three-square roots and rhizomes, yet helps to prevent intrusion by other plants. Burning also produces fresh growth on which geese can graze during late winter and early spring, when food is scarce."

Of course, without taking a hard look at it and/or a field guide, I can't be sure what we liked so much is three-square. I'm not sure it would look this way had it been burned. Or maybe we were seeing sections not burned? In conclusion, I'm not sure what it was, but I might know, and now I have another thing to wonder about and research. haha!