Cedar Bog, just off U.S. 68 near Urbana, is home to 40 percent of Ohio’s rare and endangered plant species, said Sally Engle, a board member for the Cedar Bog Association. Residents can find varieties of plants including the Shrubby Cinque Foil, Small Purple Fringe Orchid and Wand Lilly that are rare throughout the rest of the state.
“The bog changes from week to week,” Engle said. “New things come in, some go out.”
Among the new additions, the Ohio Association of Garden Clubs has donated benches, and a viewing deck was added this winter from a grant obtained through the Ohio Historical Society. With help from volunteers from the Greater Cincinnati Herpetological Society, a site on Woodburn Road was cleared to help improve habitat for the endangered Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake, and there has been at least one sighting this year.
In addition, the Bog hosts 120 species of birds that either live in or migrate to the site. A recently built education center can seat as many as 32 people and is a great place to watch the birds, Engle said.
This week, an expert on exotic plants will help lead visitors on a tour of the bog. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Jim McCormac, an Ohio Division of Wildlife specialist, will lead a lecture and walk to discuss the varieties of plants found at the site. An author and blogger, McCormac will discuss how a glacier changed Ohio’s landscape and made Cedar Bog home to so many unusual plants, including 11 species of orchids.
Admission for the lecture and walk is $6 per person.
Visitors should always be on the lookout for something unexpected, Engle said.
“You never know when you’ll have a five-lined skink or a broad-headed skink running in front of you on the boardwalk,” Engle said.
Cedar Bog is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $4 for students. It is free for children six years old and younger. Senior discounts are also available upon request.
The bog is located at 980 Woodburn Road. For more information, residents can call 937-484-3744 or visit www.cedarbognp.org.
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