- Crowberry Bog Natural Area Preserve (dnr.wa.gov)
This 321-acre preserve protects the only known example of a “raised plateau” bog in the western coterminous United States, as well as occurrences of a state-candidate butterfly species, a state-sensitive plant, and two rare moss species. Raised plateau bogs have a central plateau that is noticeably elevated above the surrounding land due to thousands of years of peat accumulation slowly building up the surface of the bog. In the case of Crowberry Bog, the center of the plateau is approximately nine feet higher than the surrounding land. This creates ombotrophic conditions, meaning the bog only receives water and nutrients from direct precipitation rather than from the surrounding landscape. Vegetation in the bog is adapted to these conditions and includes plants such as sphagnum moss, bog laurel, Labrador tea, bog cranberry and black crowberry - after which the bog is named.
- Republic of Ireland (Wikipedia)
Ireland (Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə]), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. Around 2.1 million of the country’s population of 5.13 million people resides in the Greater Dublin Area. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George’s Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann; an upper house, Seanad Éireann; and an elected President (Uachtarán) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, literally ‘Chief’, a title not used in English), who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.