Very rare in Wisconsin, this wetland type can be characterized as an herb- and shrub-dominated minerotrophic peatland with alternating moss and sedge-dominated peat ridges (strings) and saturated and inundated hollows (flarks) that are oriented parallel to the contours of a slope and perpendicular to the flow of groundwater. Within a patterned peatland the strings and flarks differ significantly in nutrient availability and pH. Strings are influenced by acidifying Sphagnum mosses and flarks by more calcareous surface or groundwater. The flora may be quite diverse with strings supporting scattered and stunted black spruce, tamarack, northern white-cedar, low shrubs including bog rosemary (Andromeda glaucophylla) and leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), and sedges (Carex oligosperma, C. limosa, C. lasiocarpa). The alternating flarks are often inundated and may support many sedges of bogs and fens, along with ericads, sundews (Drosera spp.), orchids, arrow-grasses (Triglochin spp.), and calciphilic shrubs such as bog birch (Betula pumila) and shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa).
