BENTON                       13 Big Buffalo Creek Fen

Big Buffalo Creek Fen Natural Area

A 40-acre portion of Big Buffalo Creek Conservation Area 10 miles southwest of Stover in the SW1/4, NE1/4 of Section 12, T41N, R20W, Boylers Mill 7.5 min. topographic map. Access is by county road. Designated June 27, 1972 and August 24, 1982.

Natural Features--A small, spring-fed fen, spring branch and creek, dolomite glades, and a forested buffer zone in the Upper Ozarks Section of the Ozark Natural Division. Sedges dominate the fen vegetation. Blue flag, orange coneflower, Riddell's goldenrod, willow, and the rare bushy aster are characteristic fen plants that occur here. The natural area is owned by the Department of Conservation. For further information contact the District Forester, Clinton Forest District, P.O. Box 250 (2010 S. 2nd), Clinton, MO 64735, phone 816/885-6981.

Viceroy on Riddell's goldenrod (Solidago riddelli)