Bracken Fern – Pteridium Aquilinum

General – only large northern fern with a three part form on a tall stalk (all other large ferns have single fronds rising from the rootstalk); fronds arising singly from a deeply subterranean, much-branched rhizome; commonly found in large patches; up to 1 m high. Bracken Fern Leaves – single, horizontally growing; broad, triangle-shaped; leaflets … Read more

Large-toothed Aspen – Populus Grandidentata

The Large-toothed aspen is also called bigtooth aspen, poplar, or popple. General – medium to large-sized averaging 18 – 24 m (60 – 80 ft) high, broadleaved hardwood. Crown loose, open, irregular. Branches coarse, spreading. Branchlets dull brownish-gray with gray buds which are usually pubescent and divergent. Trunk with little taper, mainly branchless below the … Read more

Wild Lily-of-the-Valley “Canada Mayflower”

General – a perennial from slender, branched, creeping rhizomes; stems single, erect, 5 – 25 cm tall, hairy at least above. Wild Lily-of-the-Valley Leaves – alternate, 1 – 3 on flowering stem; broadly heart-shaped to oval, 2 – 8 cm long, pointed at tip, somewhat hairy; short stalked or stalkless; 1 long-stalked leaf at stem … Read more

Canada Fly Honeysuckle – Lonicera Canadensis

General – a loosely branched or straggling shrub, up to1 m high, erect; branchlets green to purplish, smooth; shredding bark on older stems. Canada Fly Honeysuckle Leaves – opposite; ovate to elliptic; thin, bright pale green; margins entire; surfaces essentially hairless; margins fringed with fine hairs. Flowers – in drooping pairs from long, slender stalks; … Read more

Showy Mountain Ash – Sorbus decora

General – a smooth-barked deciduous shrub or small tree up to 10 m high with a short trunk, slender, spreading branches, and a narrow, open round-topped crown; similar to American Mountain Ash but winter buds are sticky. Showy Mountain Ash Leaves – alternate; compound with 13-17, similar to American Mountain Ash but shorter and more … Read more

Trailing Arbutus – Epigaea Repens

General – perennial, evergreen, hemicryptophyte, subshrubs, autotrophic, monoclinous, with adventitious roots and with fibrous roots, 0.02-0.4 m tall, with rhizomes. Trailing Arbutus Leaves – alternate, 1 per node, spaced evenly along stem; petiolate, petiole 0.4-3(-5) cm long, hairs short and unbranched, erect. Flowers – formed on short shoots, monomorphic, with sepals and petals readily distinguishable … Read more

Brook Moss – Dicranum Scoparium

General – erect, little branched, densely matted rhizoids on lower stems; forms large cushions and sometimes mats, 2 – 8 cm high. Leaves – 5 – 12 mm long, erect to curved, pointed in 1 direction, moist or dry; lance- shaped and sharply pointed; midrib single, ends in tip; uppper leaf cells longer than wide, … Read more

Northern Starflower – Trientalis Borealis

General – a low perennial from slender, creeping rhizomes, stems simple, erect, hairless or with tiny glands; growing up to 20 cm tall. Leaves – simple, in whorls of 5 to 9 at stem tip, with a few small, scale-like leaves below, lance-shaped, 3 – 10 cm long, stalkless or short-stalked, thin, toothless or finely … Read more

Sweet Coltsfoot “Palmate-Leaved Coltsfoot”

General – a perennial from slender, creeping rhizomes; flowering stems stout (appear before leaves); growing up to 50 cm tall. Sweet Coltsfoot Leaves – round to heart- or kidney-shaped at stem base. 5 – 20 cm wide, deeply divided (more than halfway to centre), into 5 to 7 toothed lobes, green, essentially hairless above, thinly … Read more

Prickly Wild Rose – Rosaceae (Rose Family)

General – bushy shrub, 0.3-1.5 m tall; stems stout, usually densely covered with many straight, weak bristles and straight slender thorns. Leaves – alternate; compound, 3-9 oblong leaflets (usually 5), each 2-5 cm long, (usually 3-4 cm), sharply double-toothed, usually somewhat hairy beneath. Flowers – single, on short side branches; pink, showy, 5-7 cm across; … Read more