Drosera rotundifolia in the north

The last couple weeks have been eventful for us. Unfortunately, I can't say that all of these events were nice; some events were unexpected and highly unpleasant.  My son, Taiga, got a second-degree burn on his thigh during the Memorial day camping in Anchorage.  This occurred 360 miles away from home, but it was fortunate that an emergency room was close to the campground.  I'm thankful that this didn't happen at a place where there is no hospital within a hundred miles (most place in Alaska, I think).  I appreciated all efforts of doctors and nurses who had to work during the holiday.   He could start to run after 1 week or so, and has been showing good recovery now.

Although this was a painful experience for Taiga and us, I'm again amazed how tough the little boy is; he kept his spirit high, and his giggle was somewhat back by the next day.  We got to do some fun time fishing, biking, visiting a museum, and Chuck E. Cheeze's.  Particularly, Imaginarium Discovery Center of Anchorage Museum was great fun even for adults!  I was having fun, so I forgot to take any photos...  A couple photos from this trip.

Magnificent Denali from Denali Viewpoint North Campground of Denali State Park.  This was the view in the early morning when I was set to go to the gas station without pulling the camper.  The empty gas light came on before we pulled into the campground previous night.  The sign at the campground said that the nearest gas station was 50 miles either north or south.  Oops, I have forgotten that the truck uses lots of gasoline with the camper behind.  I was pretty sure that I had to hitch-hike.  To maximize mpg, I drove the truck at 40-45mph. Fortunately, I didn't have to hitch-hike, but it was stressful 1 hour.  I made back to the campground around the time when my wife and son woke up, and breakfast with the magnificent view was great!

At Anchorage Museum.  It is kind of funny to see a snow machine displayed in a museum.

S'more face.  At Centennial campground in Anchorage

Fishing at Byers Lake, Denali State Park.  Quite dense mosquitos in the campground.  It was a bit chilly, but we enjoyed watching loons fishing right next us in this quiet lake.   Taiga started to use my spinning gear in this trip.  By the end of the trip, he became quite good in casting.

Nenana river along Parks Highway.  This is south of Denali National Park entrance. 

Moving to a more pleasant surprise.  For the summer solstice and father's day, we went to morel hunting with our friends.  Taiga found a couple morels in our backyard last week, and our friend filled up a couple bags with morels recently, so we were hopeful.  We visited a site from 2015 forest fire, north of Fairbanks, Alaska.  2015 Aggie Creek fire occurred slightly north of Wickersham Dome.  We didn't find any morel after wondering around the recently burned boreal forest quite a bit (within the limit of 3 & 4 year olds).  The area is dominated by short black spruce with some Aspen patches. When we were almost ready to leave, Taiga shouted "Sundew".  Indeed, Drosera rotundifolia was everywhere and it is amazing that we don't notice them when we aren't looking for them!  Even though we were within the burned area, the sphagnum moss were not disturbed at the wet forest floor, and D. rotundifolia is growing densely on the moss. I have been looking for Drosera in Alaska for a while (two species, D. rotundifolia and D. anglica, occur in Alaska), this is the first time I saw it in situ.  Taiga has been fascinated by insects, plants, mushrooms, animals and rocks, partly due to his parents who are both biologists, and he is good at finding them. This was a great father's day present!

Observing his discovery.  He was very proud after seeing how excited his daddy was about his discovery.

This population is close to the northern edge of the distribution in Alaska.  According to the herbarium records, there are a couple records from Kobuk Valley National Park, located in the south side of the western Brooks Range. This species is wide-spread in northern hemisphere, and they can be found in Europe, Russia, Japan, and north America (link to wikipedia).

Habitat of Drosera rotundifolia. Aggie Creek fire (2015).  But this patch is pretty green because it is close to a small creek, and it is covered by wet sphagnum moss.