North Shore Naturalist

A few posts ago I focused on black huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata) and my quest to see all Minnesota native species in the blueberry family. Today I made another huge step forward, seeing alpine bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) for the first time. This is yet another of the incredibly rare, arctic-alpine disjunct, state endangered species found in MN. Alpine bilberry was first documented in the state in 1891, then in a second location in 1937. The second population has not been relocated in recent years, whereas the first location was found again in 1982. So, these plants growing along the shoreline, may very well be the only population in the state.  I made my way out to the site early morning through the light sprinkling. After about 30 minutes of walking I sheltered under a black spruce as the rain increased to a drizzle and waited about 2 hours, listening to the rain and waves, until the sun rose around 7:30. There was a large pool mostly protected from the waves; this specifi...

Creeping cedar (Juniperus horizontalis) is an uncommon plant throughout Minnesota, at least native populations of it. Cultivated varieties are quite abundant in a horticultural setting. Its distribution is quite interesting. It is very abundant in intact dune ecosystems, although these habitats are quite rare in the state. Otherwise it can be found on rock outcroppings, and along cliff and talus. These habitats are far more common, but creeping cedar is far less abundant here, completely absent from most of these locations. So, although it has a rather widespread distribution in a variety of habitat types it is still of heightened conservation concern. Similar to huckleberry in my last post, although always uncommon this plant used to be more abundant in the state. Thanks to fire suppression it has been in decline for quite a while. This plants relationship with fire is quite interesting, like its close relative eastern red cedar, it is an extremely fire intolerant species. It grows lo...

One of my goals is to see all of the species within the heath (Ericaceae) family that are native to MN. This family is pretty diverse, with about 4,000 some odd species, making it the 14th most species-rich plant family. In MN, the numbers are a little bit more manageable with 28 species. This family is often found in nutrient poor habitats: fens, bogs, boreal forests, rock outcroppings, dry forests.... As such many of them have very specialized adaptations that allow them to survive these conditions. Not every member has these but some common adaptations include: leathery leaves, pubescence, and evergreen or semi-evergreen leaves. Almost all heath family plants have very strong mycorrhizal associations with fungi in the soil. In fact there is a special group called the ericoid mycorrhiza that form relationships with these plants. This is a key component of these plants' versatility, allowing them to uptake nitrogen in nutrient poor environments. The relationships with these fungal...