Abies balsamea
Balsam Fir
Labrador : "Silver Pine"
Birch Brook locations : All trails

This symmetrical evergreen conifer makes an ideal Christmas tree. Balsam Fir grows up to 15 meters. Leaves are blunt-tipped and spread upward on the stem to give a flattened appearance. The upper leaf surface is dark green compared to the lighter undersurface. Upright cones are 5 to 8 cm long and are green at first, turning purplish to rusty brown when mature.

Actaea rubra
Red Baneberry
Birch Brook locations : Two sites have been found on Scott's Run in moist, rich, semi- shaded woods.

Baneberry is an attractive plant, but all the parts, particularly roots and berries, are considered poisonous. Red Baneberry grows up to 1 m. Leaves are divided and sub-divided into sharply toothed leaflets. The white flowers grow in tight round clusters at the end of a long stem. Poisonous berries are red with a black dot.

Alnus crispa
Mountain Alder
Labrador : "willows"
Birch Brook locations : All trails

These plants are often vilified because of their tendency to reclaim cleared trails but they are, in fact, valuable inhabitants. They are able to "fix" atmospheric nitrogen, a nutrient often lacking in coniferous forest soil. Mountain Alder grows up to 2.5 m. The leaves are alternate, finely sharp-toothed, rounded or heart-shaped at the base and have 7 to 8 pairs of veins per leaf. The fruit are small winged nutlets in oval woody cones.

Alnus rugosa
Speckled Alder
Labrador : "willows"
Birch Brook locations : All trails

This plant grows up to 3 m. Leaves are alternate and rounded or heart-shaped at the base. They are double-toothed and have 10 or more pairs of veins with prominent cross-veining. Fruits are small wingless nutlets in oval woody cones.

Amelanchier bartramiana
Bartram's Chuckley Pear
Birch Brook locations : A few sites on all trails

Chuckley Pears are one of the first wild plants to bloom along our trails each spring. This shrub grows up to 2 m. Leaves are alternate and are oval-shaped with pointed tips and toothed edges. White five-petalled flowers are solitary or a few grow together, one terminal and the others in leaf axils and they bloom by mid June. The dark purple edible berries which look like rose hips ripen in late summer.

Aralia hispida
Bristly Sarsaparilla
Birch Brook location : Only one site has been recorded - on McLean Lake Trail near Lookout Rock

The leaves of this attractive plant may be steeped for tea. Sarsaparilla grows up to 1 m. The compound leaves have toothed leaflets and the lower stems are bristly. Small white five-petalled flowers form rounded terminal clusters on a long stalk above the leaves in late June. Clusters of small black or dark purple berries later appear.

Betula papyrifera
White Birch
Birch Brook locations : Some sites on all trails

These stately trees form park- like areas along the trails. Birch grow up to 20 m. They are easily recognized by mature white bark which tears into strips. Leaves are alternate, ovate and tapering to a tip.

Betula pumila
Swamp Birch
Birch Brook location : Bog by McLean Lake

This dwarf birch grows as a low shrub up to 2.5 m. Coarsely toothed leaves are alternate and may be oval, circular or ovate. The undersurfaces are paler than the shiny upper surfaces.

Chamaedaphne calyculata
Leatherleaf
Birch Brook locations : Common in wet areas on all trails

Leatherleaf is usually considered a bog plant, but at Birch Brook it grows in a variety of habitats. Its flowers are among the earliest to bloom each spring. The shrub has tough dark green leathery ovate leaves and grows up to 1 m. White urn- shaped flowers growing from leaf axils droop from one side of a long cluster at the end of branches.

Cladonia spp
Caribou Moss
Birch Brook locations : Dry, nutrient poor coniferous sites on Rabbit Run

Caribou "moss" is actually a lichen - a dual organism consisting of a fungus and an alga in a mutualistic relationship. The alga photosynthesizes, providing food for both organisms ; the fungus provides protection and absorbs needed water and nutrients from its environment.

Clintonia borealis
Corn Lily
Birch Brook locations : Shady areas with good soil in sites on all trails

Corn Lily is one of the showiest plants of the forest floor. Berries are inedible but the young leaves are apparently good in salads or boiled. Three sturdy parallel-veined oval leaves grow from the base of the erect stalk upon which six-petalled greenish yellow bell flowers grow in groups of two or three. Later, dark blue decorative bead-like berries form. The plant may reach 40 cm.

Comandra livida
Northern Comandra
Labrador : "Fox Berry"
Birch Brook locations : Several moist areas on Rabbit Run and Brook Trail

Northern Comandra is an obscure little plant that is said to be parasitic on the roots of other plants. Alternate, oval, thin, rounded-tip leaves grow from a slender stem that may grow to 15cm. Insignificant green/brown flowers, 1 to 5 per plant, arise from apexes of leaves. Fruit are oblong-shaped drupes with noticeable calyx-lobes.

Coptis groenlandica
Goldthread
Birch Brook locations : A few sites on all trails

Goldthread is a delicate forest floor plant named for its bright yellow roots. The dark green shiny evergreen leaves are three-parted and grow in a basal pattern. In mid June a single white -'petalled' flower arises from the basal leaves. The 'flower' consists of 5 conspicuous sepals ; the actual petals are much reduced. The plant may grow to 10 cm.