This series of mystery caches is meant to teach you more about local flora and fauna, specifically the wildflowers of the Adirondacks. It is also meant to serve as a winter friendly geoart, as there are not a lot of winter friendly hides in the area. A little less than half of the caches (A-J) in this series will also allow you to make the TL geoart I am creating and introduce you to the James Frenette Sr recreational trail system. This dog friendly trail system is located next to the Tupper Lake Country club and golf course and has close to 4 miles of trails available mainly for cross country skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking during the winter but are also available for your exploration during the rest of the year as well. See the gallery for trail map and trail names. This series of caches is easiest to do in alphabetical order as this will take you on a big loop through 4 different trails (golf course loop, cranberry lake loop, little logger loop and the skidder trail. All caches are placed just off the trail system in either small or medium lock and lock containers (aside from 1, which is an old nut container). Minimal bushwhacking required.
THIS CACHE IS NOT AT THE PUBLISHED COORDINATES. To get the location of this cache you must figure out the common name of the wildflower below. Once you know the answer, enter it into the puzzle checker and the correct coordinates for the cache and potentially also a hint, shall be revealed. Hope you enjoy this series as well as learning a bit more about the local wildflowers!
Scientific Name: Monotropa uniflora
Family: Ericaceae
Color: white
Flowers: June-August
Habitat: moist, shady areas
This plant is unique in that it does not contain chlorophyll and does not get its energy from the sun. Instead, it grows on fungi that share mycorrhizal networks with trees. This is parasitic behavior and these plants are known as mycoheterotrophic plants. Although this plant is said to be edible, one source suggests that it may be toxic. In any case, it should not be consumed, because it is too scarce to harvest. The plant was used by some native North American Indian tribes for medicinal purposes. Cherokee tribes, for instance, reportedly used the pulverized root as an anticonvulsive, while the Mohegans used an infusion of the root or leaves as an analgesic. The Cree chewed the flower as a remedy for toothache.
The common name for this flower is: _______ _______ ______
check your answer using the puzzle checker below:
