March 15, 2026
The Big Dead-Fish Clean-Up
A huge thank you to the volunteers who pitched in yesterday to remove all those dead fish from the Celery…
Nature Done Wright
Incorporating the Celery Farm and Screech Owl Companion blogs
October 10, 2018
All about all that CF Aquatic Vegetation
As you may know, we've had an over-abundance of vegetation in and on Lake Appert these past few months.
Deputy Marsh Warden Gaby Schmitt decided to find out whether the plants were natives or invasives. She writes:
I stopped by the CF this afternoon to pull some aquatic mystery plant samples and bring to Jean Epiphan at Thielke Arboretum. I grabbed one sample of the "kelp" we've been pulling and another of the plant in the stream, near where that big tree fell into our neighbors' yard.
The good news: the plant growing under our Duckweed is not Eurasian Milfoil but Coontail (aka Coon's Tail or Hornwort, or Cerstophyllum demersum). It is not considered an invasive. For more information see: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/
I copied you on Jean's email about the stream plant – Callitriche heterophylla - a more definitive ID should be possible when I can take some spring and/or summer samples. Also not considered an invasive.
Floating Pennywort – Hyrdocotyle ranunculoides - it's a member of the carrot family.
It's not an invasive species in the US; it's actually an endangered species in three states – Illinois, New York and New Jersey!
In the case if the Celery Farm this summer, it was likely too much of a good thing.
Although several volunteers helped remove huge amounts, there's still plenty around. (Thanks, Gaby!)
1 comment
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My thanks go to Jean Epiphan at Thielke Arboretum in Glen Rock (she’s also an Ecologist with Rutgers). I attended (and enjoyed) her “Nature Nerd Program” – https://www.thielkearboretum.org/nature-nerd-night.html – which meets the first Friday of the month, 4-6pm.
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Gaby
My thanks go to Jean Epiphan at Thielke Arboretum in Glen Rock (she’s also an Ecologist with Rutgers). I attended (and enjoyed) her “Nature Nerd Program” – https://www.thielkearboretum.org/nature-nerd-night.html – which meets the first Friday of the month, 4-6pm.