Common Shrub Species – Northwestern Ontario Forest

Table of Contents Acer spicatum – Mountain Maple – “White Maple” Alnus crispa – Green Alder Alnus rugosa – Speckled Alder Amelanchier bartramiana – Mountain Juneberry Amelanchier humilis – Shadbush Amelanchier sanguinea Saskatoon – “Red-twigged Serviceberry, Juneberry” Andromeda glaucophylla – Bog Rosemary Arctostaphylos uva-ursi – Bearberry Chamaedaphne calyculata – Leatherleaf Chimaphila umbellata – Pipsissewa – … Read more

Meadow Horsetail – Equisetum Pratense

General – Green, bottlebrush-like perennial, from spreading rhizomes; stems annual, erect, hollow, slender, 10 – 50 cm tall, 1 – 4 mm thick, die back each year; fertile and sterile stems dissimilar; fertile stems unbranched at first, later develop many whorls of branches; sterile stems mostly single, whitish green, with 10 – 18 minutely roughened … Read more

Woodland Horsetail “Wood Horsetail”- Equisetum Sylvaticum

General – slender perennial from deep, creeping rhizomes; stems die back each year, erect, hollow, 15 – 60 cm tall; 2 markedly different stem types; fertile stems unbranched at first, later have mostly compound branches, green to tan; sterile stems much branched, usually single, green, with 10 – 18 minutely spiny ridges; many branches, again … Read more

Common Polypody – Polypodium Vulgare

General – smallish evergreen fern of rock crevices, 10 – 25 cm high; fronds form a network of spreading, mat-like rhizomes. Leaves – single; leathery, green, erect or spreading; blade elongated, tapering to a pointed tip, deeply cut almost to the central axis; leaflets almost altemate, hairiess, margins entire or shallowly toothed, blunt-tipped; central axis … Read more

Ground Cedar – Lycopodium Complanatum

General – perennial with rooting, horizontal stems creeping on or near ground surface, up to 1 m long; erect-ascending stems, whitish green, much branched, 5 – 30 cm tall, flattened (cedar-like). Leaves – in 4 vertical rows, sharp-pointed, partially fused to a stem, in 3 forms; largest on upper side, with elevated base; smaller on … Read more

Hair Cap Mosses

General – dark green, robust, unbranched, 4 – 15 cm tall or more; single-sexed, males have enlarged heads at plant tips, females produce sporophytes; lower portion covered by grey rhizoids. Leaves – 6 – 10 mm long, lance-shaped, sharply pointed; spread at right angles when moist, erect-flattened and rolled when dry; membranous, sheathing base; edges … Read more

Common Tree Species – Northwestern Ontario Forest

Table of Contents Abies balsamea – Balsam Fir Acer rubrum – Red Maple Betula papyrifera – Paper Birch Fraxinus nigra – Black Ash Larix laricina – Tamarack Picea glauca – White Spruce Picea mariana – Black Spruce Pinus banksiana – Jack Pine Pinus resinosa – Red Pine Pinus strobus – Eastern White Pine Populus balsamifera … Read more

Shrubs, Herbs and Other Plants

  World Boreal Species of Common Shrubs   Acer circinatum – Vine Maple Alnus incana – Mountain Alder Amelanchier alnifolia – Western Serviceberry Cassiope mentensiana – White Mountain Heather Crataegus douglasii – Black Hawthorn Elaeagnus angustifolia – Russian Olive Kalmia angustifolia – Sheep Laurel Malus baccata – Siberian Crab Apple Myrica pensylvanica – Northern Bayberry … Read more