Light intensity is high under the canopy of tamarack, especially in the spring before the leaves are out. The ground may still be frozen in June while plants are flowering due to the insulating qualities of sphagnum moss. By the same token, the ground sometimes doesn't freeze until February. Species listed below are most likely found in the community. Click here , for a complete list of species that may grow in this forest.
Black spruce is absent in conifer swamps growing in southern Wisconsin.
Bog rosemary, Labrador tea. Most groundlayer species have small, inconspicuous flowers. Sphagnum moss is abundant. The well-known insectivorous plants, pitcher plant and sundew, are members of the northern wet forest. Young forests may contain pure stands of black spruce on peat beds or pure stands of tamarack surrounding open water.