Caddisfly larva

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and this army of rowers and paddlers were ready to learn about the species of freshwater plants that inhabit Horseshoe Pond. This plant paddle was the third and final effort of the summer's "Know Your Natives" campaign. In addition to the 15-20 novice and intermediate plant IDers, we had a species expert join us. It was fun to both work together in small groups to ID species using different guides, and also to check in with the expert. We collected species using weed weasels, bucket scopes, and our keen eyesight. We explored up the west-side of the horseshoe, and we examined nearly every different plant that we saw. We really wanted to know about what was in our pond, and we achieved our goal. We learned so much and saw many of our beautiful native species. We did NOT find any invasives. Phew.