Wildflowers of the Bruce

Let's return to our Bruce Peninsula photo tour for some gorgeous wildflowers you'll find blooming there in late summer, like the Lobelia species shown at right, from the limestone beach area at Dorcas Bay.

Besides containing the largest remaining tract of forest in Southern Ontario, the Bruce Peninsula also includes some unusual habitat types. Protection of the region is important because it is home to many rare plant species.

Never dig up wildflowers, especially those that are few in number. It is illegal to remove plants from any national park. In the 1970s someone dug up dozens of calypso orchids on Flowerpot Island, eliminating the last significant stand of this rare plant in the area. This wildflower does not transplant, so all of them would have died.

The only appropriate way to collect wildflowers for your garden is to learn how to propagate them from seeds or buy them from a native plant supplier such as Grand Moraine Growers. Do not buy plants from a grower who collects them in the wild. This is destructive to the environment. If every gardener collected wild plants, there would be nothing left for the rest of us.

Wildflowers are also vital to attracting wildlife, such as this boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) at Singing Sands, which attracted an Atlantis fritillary (Speyeria atlantis). Many creatures depend on specific plant species for food.

So if you're tempted to dig up an orchid or other rare plant that you can't obtain from a legitimate supplier, give yourself a shake and remember the plant is happier and healthier in its natural environment.

The Bruce Peninsula is noted for its rare orchids and ferns. It is also one of the few places in the world you will find alvars, a habitat type that forms over flat limestone pavement and is characterized by extreme changes in moisture and temperature. You can learn more about them from my Sept. 2000 article, "Alvars, rarest of habitats."

Singing sands, a day use area within Bruce Peninsula National Park, is situated on the shore of Dorcas Bay. There is a guided trail exploring a fen, sand dunes and an alvar. The wildflowers at right are just a few of the unusual species you will find at Singing Sands. They are (from left) a rare species of Spiranthes, or ladies'-tresses; fringed gentian, Gentiana crinita; and sneezeweed, Helenium autumnale.

These are only a few of the many wildflowers to be seen at Singing Sands. Other unusual ones are grass-of-parnassus (Parnassia glauca) and pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea).

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