This is the bank of Williamsburg pond which is connected to the Wabash River. The plant with the tall dead stems on the right is cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum). This is exceptionally tall for a cup-plant, normally it grows to about half this height. You find it here and there along the Wabash and other wettish places in the county. If you look close at the bottom you see the green new growth of this plant coming up from the roots. The cup-plant attracts a tremendous number of bees and butterflies when the yellow flowers appear. The white flowered tree on the left is another Bradford pear tree, looking a little raggedy. It was probably planted there as part of the landscaping for the trail. They planted a row of these trees along the trail but only this one has survived the constant flooding of the Wabash.
While I was here I noticed a big fish appearing at the surface close to shore. It's said that this pond is home to paddlefish and this fish looked like it could have been a paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) but it could have been a carp too, there are a lot of carp in the Wabash.
The picture was taken April 18, 2009.
Link to cup-plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
Link to Bradford pear
Link to paddlefish
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