Brook Trout

Brook Trout in an aquarium at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake

New Record Brook Trout -- © Dave Spier

The D.E.C. announced a new state record Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) caught by Rick Beauchamp, who's from Mayfield, Fulton County, while he was fishing in Silver Lake, part of the Silver Lake Wilderness in Hamilton County, on May 16. The six-pound trout was 22.5 inches long.

The news release also stated that this "brook trout ... reflects the ongoing recovery of Adirondack lakes from the effects of acid rain. Until a few years ago, Silver Lake was too acidified to support a trout population. In 1969 the lake was determined to be fishless and in 1976 it had a pH of 5.0 which is too acidic for brook trout to thrive. After water chemistry samples indicated the pH of lake had risen to almost 6.0, DEC began an experimental stocking program for brook trout in 2002. Currently DEC stocks Windfall strain native brook trout in Silver Lake and brook trout are the only fish species known to be present."

The Brook Trout, actually a variety of char in the Salmonidae family, is New York's state fish. It eats smaller fish, crustaceans, frogs, other amphibians, insects, mollusks and an occasional aquatic vole.

Corrections, questions and suggestions are always welcome at northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There is a separate community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Northeast Naturalist and Heading Out.

Goldthread

© Dave Spier

Threeleaf Goldthread (Coptis trifolia, synonym Coptis groenlandica) is a small woodland wildflower of cool bogs, swamps, and mixed coniferous-hardwood forests in the north. Its distribution includes Alaska, most of Canada, Greenland and the Northeast U.S. The descriptor "threeleaf" is somewhat misleading because each evergreen blade is deeply three-lobed, or compound in effect. The common name "goldthread" refers to the long, underground rhizome that is bright golden yellow. Another common name for this species is "yellow root."

Each flower has five to seven white sepals that can be mistaken for petals. The actual petals are yellow-tipped, club-like and smaller than the numerous male stamens. Three long, green, bulb-tipped, female pistils alternate with the petals. Goldthread is a member of the Ranunculaceae or Buttercup (Crowfoot) family which is characterized by numerous stamens forming a button or bushy cluster in the center of the regular [radially symetrical] flower.
   

Goldthread is an evergreen herb, an adaptation allowing it to take advantage of additional sunlight in early spring and late fall whenever temperatures are above freezing an when any deciduous trees are leafless. That's not much help where it grows under coniferous canopies, though.

Additional information can be found on pages 108-109 in the book Adirondack Upland Flora by Michael Kudish. The median flowering date in the Adirondacks is/was May 20 (subject to change in response to global warming). The plant can be found at a wide range of elevations and often near bogs or other cool, moist habitats with acidic soil.

Corrections, questions and suggestions are always welcome at

northeastnaturalist@yahoo.com or connect through my Facebook page and photo page. There is a separate community-type page for The Northeast Naturalist. Other nature and geology topics can be found on the parallel blogs Northeast Naturalist and Heading Out. (If you noticed, the font-size button is not working correctly and I can't make all of the text the same size.)