Flora of Saskatchewan - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Indigenous (ecology)

In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...

flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

of the Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

includes vascular plants, plus additional species of other plant

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s and plant-like organisms such as algae, lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

s and other fungi, and mosses. Non-native species

Introduced species

An introduced species — or neozoon, alien, exotic, non-indigenous, or non-native species, or simply an introduction, is a species living outside its indigenous or native distributional range, and has arrived in an ecosystem or plant community by human activity, either deliberate or accidental...

of plants are recorded as established outside of cultivation in Saskatchewan, of these some non-native species remain beneficial for gardening, and agriculture, where others have become invasive, noxious weeds. Saskatchewan is committed to protecting species at risk in Canada. The growing season

Growing season

In botany, horticulture, and agriculture the growing season is the period of each year when native plants and ornamental plants grow; and when crops can be grown....

has been studied and classified into plant hardiness zones

Hardiness zone

A hardiness zone is a geographically defined area in which a specific category of plant life is capable of growing, as defined by climatic conditions, including its ability to withstand the minimum temperatures of the zone...

depending on length of growing season and climatic conditions. Biogeographic factors have also been divided into vegetative zones, floristic kingdoms, hardiness zones and ecoregions across Saskatchewan, and natural vegetation varies depending on elevation, moisture, soil type

Soil type

In terms of soil texture, soil type usually refers to the different sizes of mineral particles in a particular sample. Soil is made up in part of finely ground rock particles, grouped according to size as sand, silt and clay...

landforms, and weather. The study of ethnobotany uncovers the interrelation between humans and plants and the various ways people have used plants for economic reasons, food, medicine and technological developments. The Government of Saskatchewan has declared 3 indigenous plants as provincial symbols.

Growing season

Saskatchewan possesses a continental climate

Climate

Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...

and the seasonal variations in temperature provide a short growing season. On average the province supports 159 to 160 frost free

Frost free

Auto-defrost, automatic defrost or self-defrosting is a technique which regularly defrosts the evaporator in a refrigerator or freezer...

days, in the far north that number dimishes to 85 to 95 frost free days. In 1967, Canadian scientists created a map outlining Plant Hardiness Zones. The hardiness zones examine climatic gradations such as length of frost-free period, summer rainfall, maximum summer temperatures, minimum winter temperatures, and wind speed. The harshest plant environment is 0 and the mildest is rated as 8. Corresponding data was correlated for plant requirements. Such an examination provides direction to which flora may survive the geographical hardiness zone conditions. A development in the late 1800s encouraged homesteaders to pursue agriculture. Red Fife wheat (Triticum aestivum)

Red Fife wheat

Red Fife is a heritage bread wheat and is a landrace, meaning there is genetic variability in the wheat, allowing it to adapt to a diversity of growing conditions. Red Fife is the name of a bread wheat variety that David Fife and family began to grow in 1842...

matured 20 days before other wheats, which allowed plants to ripen before the autumn frost.

Protected and invasive species

Saskatchewan has 367 rare species

Rare species

A rare species is a group of organisms that are very uncommon or scarce. This designation may be applied to either a plant or animal taxon, and may be distinct from the term "endangered" or "threatened species" but not "extinct"....

of vascular plants of which 135 of these have been listed as endangered.
There is listed Small White Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium candidum)

Cypripedium candidum

Cypripedium candidum, also known as Small White Lady's Slipper or White Lady's Slipper, is a rare orchid of the Cypripedium genus. It is found in wet prairies and fens, in rich, highly calcareous soils, sedge meadow edges, calcareous roadside and railway ditches. Cypripedium candidum grows to a...

as the only local extinction

Local extinction

Local extinction, also known as extirpation, is the condition of a species which ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere...

, (extirpated) plant. Endangered plants include the Sand Verbena

Abronia (plant)

Abronia, the sand-verbenas or wild lantanas, is a genus of about 20 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the family Nyctaginaceae. Despite the common names, they are not related to Verbena or lantanas in the family Verbenaceae...

(Abronia micrantha),
Western Spiderwort (Tradescantia
Tradescantia
Tradescantia , the Spiderworts, is a genus of an estimated 71 species of perennial plants in the family Commelinaceae, native to the New World from southern Canada south to northern Argentina. They are weakly upright to scrambling plants, growing to 30–60 cm tall, and are commonly found...

occidentalis), Tiny Cryptanthe (Cryptantha minima), and Hairy Prairie-Clover (Dalea
Dalea
Dalea is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as prairie clover or indigo bush. Its name honours English apothecary Samuel Dale .-Species:-Formerly placed here:...

villosa). Threatened plants

Threatened species

Threatened species are any speciesg animals, plants, fungi, etc.) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future.The World Conservation Union is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories,...

include the Slender Mouse-Ear Cress

Arabidopsis thaliana

Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa. A spring annual with a relatively short life cycle, arabidopsis is popular as a model organism in plant biology and genetics...

(Halimolobos virgata). These two reports to aid in the protection of plants; Species at Risk In SK and Rare Plant Survey Guidelines. Saskatchewan has implemented the Noxious Weeds Act (NWA) to control plants introduced to Saskatchewan which have become a threat to the natural biodiversity such as leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula). There are two reports in this regard; Invasive Species

Invasive species

"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....

and Noxious Weeds of Saskatchewan.

Provincial symbols

The tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

which was designated in 1988 as a symbol of Saskatchewan

Symbols of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is one of Canada's provinces, and has established several provincial symbols.-Symbols:...

is the Paper Birch

Paper Birch

Betula papyrifera is a species of birch native to northern North America.-Description:...

Betula papyrifera. Saskatchewan's provincial flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

is the Western red lily

Lilium

Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though the range extends into the northern subtropics...

Lilium philadelphicum var. andinum (a protected species) designated in 1941. Needle-and-thread grass

Stipoideae

Stipoideae is the name of a subfamily of the true grass family Poaceae. It is not recognised by most botanists....

Hesperostipa comata is Saskatchewan's provincial grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

declared in 2001.

Floristic kingdom

Saskatchewan is within the Holarctic Kingdom. There are two regions within this kingdom, the Circumboreal floristic region

Circumboreal Region

The Circumboreal Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom in Eurasia and North America, as delineated by such geobotanists as Josias Braun-Blanquet and Armen Takhtajan....

or which provides a cool northern temperate zone

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

and the North American Atlantic Region

North American Atlantic Region

North American Atlantic Region is a floristic region within the Holarctic Kingdom identified by Armen Takhtajan and Robert F. Thorne, spanning from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts to the Great Plains and comprising a major part of the United States and southeastern portions of Canada...

in Southern Saskatchewan which is part of a warmer Midwestern Plains zone. These zones are characterized by a certain degree of endemism.

Ecoregions

An ecoregion encompasses soil types and landform similarities. The Taiga Shield ecozone in the far north includes the Selwyn Lake upland and Tazin Lake Upland ecoregion. This would have vegetation generally corresponding to the Subarctic Woodland. The Boreal Shield ecozone is further divided into the Athabasca Plain and Churchill River

Churchill River (Hudson Bay)

The Churchill River is a major river in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. From the head of the Churchill Lake it is 1,609 km long. It was named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and governor of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1685 to 1691...

Upland, and this area of Northern Saskatchewan has been described by the World Wildlife Fund as part of the Midwestern Canadian Shield forests

Midwestern Canadian Shield forests

The Midwestern Canadian Shield forests ecoregion, in the Taiga and Boreal forests Biome, are of northern Canada.-Setting:This is an area of rolling hills with lakes both small and large, wetlands, and rocky outcrops on the Canadian Shield in northern Saskatchewan, north-central Manitoba and...

ecoregion. The ecozone Boreal Plains comprises the Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland and Boreal Transition ecoregions. Further south is the Prairie ecozone which consists of the Aspen Parkland, Moist Mixed Prairie, Mixed Grassland and Cypress Upland ecoregions. The ecoregions are further divided into Landscape Areas.

Vegetative zones

Several biogeographic

Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

factors contribute to the richness and diversity of Saskatchewan flora. From north to south there are a variety of vegetative zones. To the far north are the Subarctic Woodland and Northern Boreal Forest. The Southern Boreal Forest is north of the treeline. The Prairie is divided into the Aspen Parkland, Moist Mixed Grassland, Mixed Grassland, Cypress Upland and Fescue Grassland. In southeast Saskatchewan are Dry Mixed Prairie of the Great Sand Hills area and the Cypress Hills.

Subarctic Woodland

Upon the Canadian Shield

Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...

and in the coolest weather, are subarctic lichen woodland. The black spruce (Picea Mariana), jack pine (Pinus banksiana), and white spruce (Picea glauca) are commonly occurring trees. This area is interspersed with peatlands, bog

Bog

A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....

s, fen

Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by mineral-rich surface water or groundwater. Fens are characterised by their water chemistry, which is neutral or alkaline, with relatively high dissolved mineral levels but few other plant nutrients...

s, permafrost

Permafrost

In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...

areas, and areas of arctic tundra. Yellow and Grey Reindeer moss

Cladonia rangiferina

Cladonia rangiferina, also known as Reindeer lichen , lat., is a light-colored, fruticose lichen belonging to the family Cladoniaceae. It grows in both hot and cold climates in well-drained, open environments. Found primarily in areas of alpine tundra, it is extremely cold-hardy.Other common names...

(Cladonia mitis) provide ground cover

Groundcover

Groundcover refers to any plant that grows over an area of ground, used to provide protection from erosion and drought, and to improve its aesthetic appearance .- Ecosystem :...

. The Subarctic Woodland corresponds to Canada's hardiness zone 0a.

Northern Boreal Forest

The circumpolar boreal forest

Boreal forest of Canada

Canada's boreal forest comprises about one third of the circumpolar boreal forest that rings the northern hemisphere, mostly north of the 50th parallel. Other countries with boreal forest include Russia, which contains the majority, and the Scandinavian and Nordic countries . The boreal region in...

or taiga

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

is dominated by conifers or aspen and poplar stands. Throughout this area are lakes, bogs, forest and rock outcroppings. Black spruce, jack pine once again are the main trees of the area. Forest fires are a concern in this area, and Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium)

Fireweed

Epilobium angustifolium, commonly known as Fireweed , Great Willow-herb , or Rosebay Willowherb , is a perennial herbaceous plant in the willowherb family Onagraceae...

occurs in burnt areas. Cladonia
Cladonia
Cladonia is a genus of moss-like lichens in the family Cladoniaceae. They are the primary food source for reindeer and caribou. Cladonia species are of economic importance to reindeer-herders, such as the Sami in Scandinavia or the Nenets in Russia. Antibiotic compounds are extracted from some...

cetraria and C. tereocaulon are lichen

Lichen

Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...

species which provide ground cover. Feather mosses such as Stair-Step Moss (Hylocomium splendens)

Hylocomium splendens

Hylocomium splendens, commonly known as Glittering Wood-moss, Stair-step Moss and Mountain Fern Moss, is a perennial clonal moss with a widespread distribution in Northern Hemisphere boreal forests. It is commonly found in Europe, Russia, Alaska and Canada, where it is often the most abundant moss...

and Hypnum are amongst the undergrowth. Where the rock is covered in soils, the forest takes on the characteristics and species of the Southern Boreal Forest ecozone. The plant hardiness zone would be Zone 0b.

The Athabasca Basin

Athabasca Basin

This article is about the uranium mining region near Lake Athabasca. Not to be confused with the drainage basin of the Athabasca River.The Athabasca Basin is a region of Northern Saskatchewan and Alberta Canada that is best known as the world's leading source of high grade uranium...

provides a separate ecosystem. The Athabasca Sand Hills protected by The Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park
Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park
Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park is a unique geophysical land feature in the boreal shield ecosystem of the province of Saskatchewan. It first came to attention that it should be a protected area in 1969, finally becoming the Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Wilderness Park on August 24, 1992. ...

are unique feature of the Canadian shield. The hills are located in northern Saskatchewan and border Lake Athabasca

Lake Athabasca

Lake Athabasca is located in the northwest corner of Saskatchewan and the northeast corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N.-History:The name in the Dene language originally referred only to the large delta formed by the confluence the Athabasca River at the southwest corner of the lake...

, which straddles the Alberta and Saskatchewan border. There is sparse plant life in the sand hills area. Blueberry

Blueberry

Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...

, Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi )

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, with names for this species including Kinnikinnick and Pinemat manzanita, one of several related species referred to as Bearberry...

, Sand Heather (Hudsonia tomentosa), Crowberry (Empetrum)

Crowberry

Crowberry is a small genus of dwarf evergreen shrubs that bear edible fruit. They are commonly found in the northern hemisphere, from temperate to subarctic climates, and also in the Southern Andes of South America and on the South Atlantic islands of South Georgia, the Falklands and Tristan da...

and grasses survive here. In this ecozone there are 10 species of endemic plants. There are unique four species of Willow (Salix)

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

Southern Boreal Forest

Mixedwood boreal forest with jack pine, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides )

Populus tremuloides

Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, commonly called quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, and Quakies,. The trees have tall trunks, up to 25 metres, with smooth pale bark, scarred with black. The glossy green leaves, dull beneath, become golden...

, white spruce, and tamarack (Larix laricina)

Tamarack Larch

Tamarack Larch, or Tamarack, or Hackmatack, or American Larch is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and also south into the northeastern United States from Minnesota to Cranesville Swamp, West Virginia; there is also a...

populate the Southern Boreal Forest which also houses the forestry industry. The ground cover is lichen and stair-step moss. Bearberry, low-bush cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

Vaccinium vitis-idaea is a short evergreen shrub in the heath family that bears edible sour fruit, native to boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. In the past it was seldom cultivated, but fruit was commonly collected in the wild. ...

, Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea, syn. C. stolonifera, Swida sericea)

Red Osier Dogwood

The Red Osier Dogwood is a species of dogwood native throughout northern and western North America from Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to Durango and Nuevo León in the west, and Illinois and Virginia in the east...

predominate the shrub layer.

Peatlands, fens, marsh complexes occur with wetter soils such as those found above the basin of the Quaternary

Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

Glacial Lake Agassiz

Lake Agassiz

Lake Agassiz was an immense glacial lake located in the center of North America. Fed by glacial runoff at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined, and it held more water than contained by all lakes in the world today.-Conception:First...

in the south eastern portion of the Southern Boreal Forest. 16% of the boreal forest are wetlands which have a water table

Water table

The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...

at or above ground level. The province is the world's largest producer of wild rice

Wild rice

Wild rice is four species of grasses forming the genus Zizania, and the grain which can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China...

Bog Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum)

Labrador tea

Labrador tea is a name commonly applied to three closely related species:* Rhododendron tomentosum ,...

, Sphagnum

Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...

mosses, and cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus)

Cloudberry

Rubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry...

flourish in the peatland areas. Bogs have a high acidic layer, high water table and low nutrients. Fens support the brown mosses such as Drepanocladus, Brachythecium , Calliergonelia, Scorpidium, Campylium. Reed Grass (Calamagrostis)

Calamagrostis

Calamagrostis, or Small-reed or Reedgrass, is a genus in the Grass family Poaceae with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of Calamagrostis generally occur at higher elevations in...

, Willows, marsh cinquefoil (Potentilla)

Potentilla

Potentilla is the genus of typical cinquefoils, containing about 500 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbs in the rose family Rosaceae. They are generally Holarctic in distribution, though some may even be found in montane biomes of the New Guinea Highlands...

, and False Solomon's Seal (Maianthemum racemosum)

Maianthemum racemosum

Maianthemum racemosum is a species of flowering plant, native to North America....

gow in fen regions. Fens have a high water table with slow drainage which is rich in nutrients. Marshes are surrounded by willows and support Marsh reed grass (Calamagrostis)

Calamagrostis

, Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis)

Smooth Meadow-grass

Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky Bluegrass, Smooth Meadow-grass, or Common Meadow-grass, is a perennial species of grass native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.-General description:...

, Fowl blue grass (Poa palustris)

Poa palustris

Poa palustris is a species of grass native to Asia, Europe and Northern America. This plant is used as fodder and forage, and it also used for erosion control or revegetation.-External links:****...

, beaked sedge (Carex rostrata)

Carex rostrata

Carex rostrata, bottle sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic fens....

, bulrush (Scirpus validus and S. acutus)

Scirpus

The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...

. Marshes have slow moving slightly alkaline water and are very rich in nutrient and minerals. Bogs, fens, and marshes together comprise muskeg regions. Hardiness zone 1a describes the Southern Boreal Forest.

Aspen Parkland

The Aspen parkland

Aspen parkland

Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections; the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area stretching from central Alberta, all across central Saskatchewan to...

corresponds to the Transitional Grassland Ecoclimatic Region with lower precipitation and a higher average annual temperature of about 1.3 °C (34.3 °F).

Trembling aspen form bluffs (small islands or shelter belts) which are typical in this area. The Aspen Parkland is a transitional area between the mixed woodland and prairie grasslands. The Aspen Parkland can be divided into eastern central and western. The eastern area produces tall grass prairie

Tallgrass prairie

The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America, with fire as its primary periodic disturbance. In the past, tallgrass prairies covered a large portion of the American Midwest, just east of the Great Plains, and portions of the Canadian Prairies. They flourished in areas with...

featuring big bluestem (andropogon gerardi)

Big Bluestem

Andropogon gerardii, known also as Big bluestem, Turkey foot, Prairie tallgrass, or simply Tallgrass, is a tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and Prairie regions of central North America- Description :...

and Porcupine grass (Stipa spartea)

Stipa spartea

Stipa spartea is a grass species in the genus Stipa and is often called porcupine grass.The seeds are needle like with sharp tips and long tails. The tails are composed of two different strands that dry at different rates and twist around each other, causing the sharp head of the seed to be driven...

. Trees in this area are Bur Oak, (Quercus macrocarpa)

Bur oak

Quercus macrocarpa, the Bur Oak, sometimes spelled Burr Oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section Quercus sect. Quercus, native to North America in the eastern and midwestern United States and south-central Canada...

, Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), Manitoba maple (Acer negundo)

Acer negundo

Acer negundo is a species of maple native to North America. Box Elder, Boxelder Maple, and Maple Ash are its most common names in the United States...

, and balsam poplar (Populus sect. Tacamahaca)

Balsam poplar

The balsam poplars — also known as Populus sect. Tacamahaca — are a group of about 10 species of poplars, indigenous to North America and eastern Asia, distinguished by the balsam scent of their buds, the whitish undersides of their leaves, and the leaf petiole being round in cross-section...

as well as aspen. Fescue grasses

Fescue

Festuce is a genus of about 300 species of perennial tufted grasses, belonging to the grass family Poaceae . The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, although the majority of the species are found in cool temperate areas...

such as Festuca hallii and western porcupine grass (Stipa curtiseta) make up the native Fescue grasslands of central Saskatchewan. The aspen tree stands are still poplar, and interspersed with willow in wetter areas.

The western parkland has ground cover of plains rough fescue Needle and trhread grass (Hesperostipa comata)

Hesperostipa comata

Hesperostipa comata, commonly known as needle-and-thread grass, is a species of grass native to North America, especially the western third. It has a wide distribution spanning from northern Canada to Mexico.-Description:...

. Tree groves are aspen, willows and balsam poplar. Throughout the Aspen Parkland in low lying areas with more moisture are dense shrub stands. Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia), pin cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), choke cherry (Prunus virginiana)

Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana, commonly called chokecherry, bitter-berry, or Virginia bird cherry, is a species of bird cherry native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the Deep South and the far north.-Growth:It is a suckering shrub or small tree growing to 5 m tall...

,hawthorn (Crataegus)

Crataegus

Crataegus , commonly called hawthorn or thornapple, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the rose family, Rosaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Europe, Asia and North America. The name hawthorn was originally applied to the species native to northern Europe,...

, western snow berry (Symphoricarpos)

Symphoricarpos

Symphoricarpos, with common names in English of Snowberry, Waxberry or Ghostberry, is a small genus of about 15 species of deciduous shrubs in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. All species are natives of North and Central America, except one native to western China...

, woods rose (Rosa woodsii
Rosa woodsii
Rosa woodsii is a species of rose known by the common name Woods' rose. It is native to North America including much of Canada and Alaska and the western and central United States. It grows in a variety of habitat types, including disturbed areas....

), Wolf willow (Elaeagnus commutata)

Elaeagnus commutata

Elaeagnus commutata , is a species of Elaeagnus native to western and boreal North America, from southern Alaska through British Columbia east to Quebec, south to Utah, and across the upper Midwestern United States to South Dakota and western Minnesota...

and Canada buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis) are a few of the shrubs of the area. The marshes and prairie sloughs of the Aspen Parkland support flora similar to the marshlands of the Southern Boreal Forest. The Aspen Parkland ranges between 1b, 2a and 2b for plant hardiness areas.

Mixed Prairie

The Mixed Grass Prairie correlates to the Arid Grassland Ecoclimatic Region and hardiness zone 2a and 3a. Big sandgrass, blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis)

Blue grama

Blue Grama, Bouteloua gracilis, is a long-lived, warm season, C4 perennial grass native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Midwest states to Mexico...

grass grow in the higher dry areas. At lower saline sites alkali grass (Puccinellia alroides)

Puccinellia

Puccinellia is a genus of grasses which are known as alkali grass. These grasses grow in wet environments, often in saline or alkaline conditions...

, salt grass (Distichlis spicata), foxtail or wild barley (Hordeum jubatum)

Hordeum jubatum

Hordeum jubatum is a perennials plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in...

, and arrowgrass (Triglochin maritima) are found. Needle and thread grass, northern wheat grass

Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass is a food prepared from the cotyledons of the common wheat plant, Triticum aestivum. It is sold either as a juice or powder concentrate. Wheatgrass differs from wheat malt in that it is served freeze-dried or fresh, while wheat malt is convectively dried. Wheatgrass is also allowed to...

, hair sedge (Carex atherodes)

Carex

Carex is a genus of plants in the family Cyperaceae, commonly known as sedges. Other members of the Cyperaceae family are also called sedges, however those of genus Carex may be called "true" sedges, and it is the most species-rich genus in the family. The study of Carex is known as...

, bottle sedge (Carex rostrata)

Carex rostrata

Carex rostrata, bottle sedge, is a perennial species of sedge in the family Cyperaceae native to Holarctic fens....

grow in the intermediate mesic sites, with cottonwoods and willow growing along riverbanks.

Dry mixed prairie

Southwest Saskatchewan has very dry climatic conditions. Dry mixed prairie is found south of Cypress Hills

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is an interprovincial park straddling the southern Alberta-Saskatchewan border, located southeast of Medicine Hat...

and the Great Sand Hills area near Leader

Leader, Saskatchewan

Leader is a town in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, located approximately 350 km directly east of Calgary, Alberta and is near the border between Saskatchewan and Alberta. It has a population of 881 as of 2006.-History:...

. Prickly pear cactus (Opuntia)

Opuntia

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...

, blue gama, needle and thread grass, silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana) and June grass (Koeleria)

Koeleria

Koeleria is a genus of true grasses which includes species known generally as Junegrasses. The genus was named after German botanist Georg Ludwig Koeler.Selected species:*Koeleria asiatica - Eurasian Junegrass*Koeleria caudata...

are found in the areas.

Cypress Hills

The Cypress Hills has an elevation over 1200 metres (3,937 ft), with cooler resulting temperatures and higher preciptation which are more similar to the boreal forest than the prairie grasslands.

Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta)

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

occurs only in the Cypress Hills area of Saskatchewan and also in the Rocky Mountain forests. Aspen, and white spruce are other trees of the Cypress Hills forests. Shining leaved meadowsweet (Spiraea lucida)

Spiraea

Spiraea , is a genus of about 80-100 species of shrubs in the family Rosaceae, subfamily Spiraeoideae. They are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest diversity in eastern Asia....

, low larkspur (Delphinium bicolor )

Delphinium bicolor

Delphinium bicolor is a species of larkspur known as little larkspur and low larkspur. It is native to northwestern North America from British Columbia to South Dakota, where it grows in mountain forests and foothill scrub and prairie. This is a perennial herb growing from a thickly branching root...

, pinegrass (Calamagrostis rubescens )

Calamagrostis rubescens

Calamagrostis rubescens is a species of grass known by the common name pinegrass.It is native to western North America, including Canada from British Columbia to Manitoba and the United States from California to Colorado...

provide ground cover.

Ethnobotany

There are many native plants of Saskatchewan which can be prepared as vegetables, teas, wine, jams, syrups and flour. Other plants have medicinal qualities. The harvest of various plants varies. Shoots, and leaves of some plants are harvested, while roots and tubers of others are picked like potatoes. When locating native plants, it is important to note which season to harvest them and what habitats to search for. Marshy pond edges reveal broad leaf cattail

Typha latifolia

Typha latifolia is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is found as a native plant species in North and South America, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa...

, or yellow pond lily (Nuphar advena)

Nuphar lutea

Nuphar lutea is an aquatic plant of the family Nymphaeaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe, northwest Africa, and western Asia.-Growth:...

. Disturbed sites produce chickweed, and plantain (Musa)

Plantain

Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...

. Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis)

Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...

shoots grow near roadsides. There are plants which are poisonous, and edible plants which have poisonous look alike.

Strawberry (Fragaria vesca), wild mint (Mentha arvensis)

Mentha arvensis

Mentha arvensis is a species of mint with a circumboreal distribution. It is native to the temperate regions of Europe and western and central Asia, east to the Himalaya and eastern Siberia, and North America.It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 10–60 cm tall...

, and Labrador tea leaves can be steeped in boiling water for tea. Saskatoons, blueberries and other berries can be hand-picked for jam, jelly, syrup and juice preparation. Blackberry, dewberry, blueberry, buffaloberry, currant, huckleberry, prickly pear, raspberry, and rose hip

Rose hip

The rose hip, or rose haw, is the fruit of the rose plant, that typically is red-to-orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form in spring, and ripen in late summer through autumn.-Usage:...

s all make delicious jams or jellies. Pies can be made of currants, blackberries, mountain ash

Mountain Ash

Mountain Ash is a name used for several trees, none of immediate relation. It may refer to:* Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest of all flowering plants and other floral species* Fraxinus texensis, an ash tree species in Texas...

, or strawberries, for example. Hull grass seeds and grind them down into flour.

Herbal solutions used as remedies for ailments could be ingested as tea, used as ointments, or poultices or inhaled as smoke or steam from a decoction. Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum)

Cow Parsnip

The Cow Parsnip is the only member of the genus Heracleum native to North America. Its classification has caused some difficulty, with recent authoritative sources referring to it variously as Heracleum maximum or Heracleum lanatum , as H. linatum, or as either a subspecies, H...

and broad-leaved water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica)

Alisma plantago-aquatica

The Common Water-plantain , also known as Mad-dog weed, is a perennial flowering plant native to most of the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe, northern Asia, and North America. It is found on mud or in fresh waters....

are two herbal remedies

Herbalism

Herbalism is a traditional medicinal or folk medicine practice based on the use of plants and plant extracts. Herbalism is also known as botanical medicine, medical herbalism, herbal medicine, herbology, herblore, and phytotherapy...

which were cultivated by the Cree

Cree

The Cree are one of the largest groups of First Nations / Native Americans in North America, with 200,000 members living in Canada. In Canada, the major proportion of Cree live north and west of Lake Superior, in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the Northwest Territories, although...

. However, the cow parsnip does have a poisonous look-alike species, the western water hemlock, (Cicuta douglasii, poison hemlock).

Flora of Saskatchewan have also aided humans in other ways; trees provide wood such as birch bark

Birch bark

Birch bark or birchbark is the bark of several Eurasian and North American birch trees of the genus Betula.The strong and water-resistant cardboard-like bark can be easily cut, bent, and sewn, which made it a valuable building, crafting, and writing material, since pre-historic times...

for canoes, reeds could be fashioned into whistles and baskets. Sphagnum mosses were used for their insulating qualities, as well mosses were absorbent for diapers, and had antibacterial properties.

Botanists

Eugène Bourgeau

Eugene Bourgeau

Eugène Bourgeau was a native of Brizon in the département of Haute-Savoie in France. He had previously been a botanical collector in Spain, North Africa and the Canary Islands before joining the British North American Exploring Expedition of Western Canada from 1857 to 1860.-External links:*...

(1813 - 1877) was the botanist who traveled with Captain John Palliser

John Palliser

John Palliser was an Irish-born geographer and explorer. Born in Dublin, Ireland, he was the son of Colonel Wray Palliser and a brother of Major Sir William Palliser , all descendants of Dr William Palliser, Archbishop of Cashel .From 1839 to 1863, Palliser served in the Waterford Militia,...

(1817–1887) and Henry Youle Hind

Henry Youle Hind

Henry Youle Hind was a Canadian geologist and explorer. He was born in Nottingham, England, and immigrated to Toronto, Ontario in 1846. He taught chemistry and geology at Trinity College in Toronto....

(1823 - 1908) during the British North American Exploring Expedition

Palliser Expedition

The British North American Exploring Expedition, commonly called the Palliser Expedition, explored and surveyed the open prairies and rugged wilderness of western Canada from 1857 to 1860. The purpose was to explore possible routes for the Canadian Pacific Railway and discover new species of plants...

The results of these investigations between 1857 and 1861 reslted in reporting the area unsuitable for agriculture and an area of particularly dry land was named the Palliser's Triangle

Palliser's Triangle

Palliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a largely semi-arid steppe region in the Prairie Provinces of Western Canada that was determined to be unsuitable for agriculture because of its unfavourable climate. The soil in this area is dark brown or black in color and is very nutrient-rich....

. John Macoun

John Macoun

John Macoun was an Irish-born Canadian naturalist.- Early life :Macoun was born in Magheralin, County Down, Ireland in 1831, the third child of James Macoun and Anne Jane Nevin. In 1850 the worsening economic situation in Ireland led his family to emigrate to Canada, where he settled in Seymour...

(1831-1920) was a naturalist who accompanied Sir Sanford Fleming

Sandford Fleming

Sir Sandford Fleming, was a Scottish-born Canadian engineer and inventor, proposed worldwide standard time zones, designed Canada's first postage stamp, a huge body of surveying and map making, engineering much of the Intercolonial Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, and was a founding...

to the prairies in 1872 and he offered agricultural possibilities for the region. Isabel M. Priestly (1893-1946) was a botanist who made botanical collecitons and formed the Yorkton Natural HIstory Society. Dr. William P. Fraser is the namesake of the W.P. Fraser Herbarium. His botanical collection was donated to the Biology Department at the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...

where he was a professor. Later the Fraser collections were transferred to the Department of Plant Ecology

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

in the College of Agriculture. Dr. John K. Jeglum was a research botanist with Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

Forestry Centre (GLFC). He received his doctorate at the University of Saskatchewan

University of Saskatchewan

his thesis on Lowland vegetation at Candle Lake, Southern Boreal Forest Saskatchewan resulted in a collection of Saskatchewan specimens.

Agriculture

Agriculture in Saskatchewan is the production of various food, feed, or fiber commodities to fulfill domestic and international human and animal sustenance needs. The newest agricultural economy to be developed in renewable biofuel production or agricultural biomass which is marketed as ethanol or biodiesel. cultivation and livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

production have abandoned subsistence

Subsistence economy

A subsistence economy is an economy which refers simply to the gathering or amassment of objects of value; the increase in wealth; or the creation of wealth. Capital can be generally defined as assets invested with the expectation that their value will increase, usually because there is the...

agricultural

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

practices in favor of intensive technological farming resulting in cash crops which contribute to the economy

Economy

An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

. The particular commodity produced is dependent upon its particular biogeography or ecozone

Ecozone

An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...

of Geography of Saskatchewan

Geography of Saskatchewan

The geography of Saskatchewan , is unique among the provinces and territories of Canada in some respects. It is one of only two landlocked regions and it is the only region whose borders are not based on natural features like lakes, rivers or drainage divides...

. Agricultural techniques and activities have evolved over the years. The first nation nomadic hunter-gatherer

Hunter-gatherer

A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...

lifestyle and the early immigrant ox and plow farmer proving up on his quarter section of land in no way resemble the present farmer operating huge amounts of land or livestock with their attendant technological mechanization.

Challenges to the future of Saskatchewan agriculture include developing sustainable water management

Water management

Water management is the activity of planning, developing, distributing and managing the optimum use of water resources. In an ideal world. water management planning has regard to all the competing demands for water and seeks to allocate water on an equitable basis to satisfy all uses and demands...

strategies for a cyclical drought prone climate in south western Saskatchewan, updating dryland farming

Dryland farming

Dryland farming is an agricultural technique for non-irrigated cultivation of drylands.-Locations:Dryland farming is used in the Great Plains, the Palouse plateau of Eastern Washington, and other arid regions of North America, the Middle East and in other grain growing regions such as the steppes...

techniques, stabilizing organic definitions or protocols and the decision to grow, or not to grow genetically modified food

Genetically modified food

Genetically modified foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms . Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques...

s. Domestically and internationally, some commodities have faced increased scrutiny from disease and the ensuing marketing issues.

Canada's production of wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, oats

OATS

OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...

, flaxseed, and barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

come mainly from Saskatchewan and the prairie provinces. Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

still has cattle ranching along the southwestern corner of the province, However, grain

GRAIN

GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...

farming and growing crops such as wheat

Wheat

, oats

OATS

, flax

Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

, alfalfa

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...

, and rapeseed

Rapeseed

Rapeseed , also known as rape, oilseed rape, rapa, rappi, rapaseed is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae...

(especially canola
Canola
Canola refers to a cultivar of either Rapeseed or Field Mustard . Its seeds are used to produce edible oil suitable for consumption by humans and livestock. The oil is also suitable for use as biodiesel.Originally, Canola was bred naturally from rapeseed in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur R...

) dominate the parkland area. Mixed grain farming, dairy farms, mixed livestock and grazing lands dot the central lowlands region of this prairie province. As of 1996, March 24 to
30, has been proclaimed Agriculture Week in Saskatchewan.

Forestry

In the northern part of the province, forestry is significant. North of the treeline in Saskatchewan are 350000 square kilometres (135,135.8 sq mi) of forests which provide resources for the Saskatchewan forestry industry. The forestry industry comprises lumber and sodium sulphate

Sodium sulfate

Sodium sulfate is the sodium salt of sulfuric acid. When anhydrous, it is a white crystalline solid of formula Na2SO4 known as the mineral thenardite; the decahydrate Na2SO4·10H2O has been known as Glauber's salt or, historically, sal mirabilis since the 17th century. Another solid is the...

for pulp and paper

Pulp and Paper

Pulp and Paper is the name of the largest United States-based trade magazine for the pulp and paper industry. See also: Paper engineering, Pulp and Paper Merit Badge...

resources.

Physiographic regions

**Physiographic regions -with some of the area's main features**
Physiographic Region	Bedrock Geology	Dominant soils	Natural Vegetation
Canadian Shield Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...
Rock knob complex	Igneous rocks and Precambrian Missi Series	Lodzolic forest soils	Lichen woodland black spruce pine
Athabasca Plains	Precambrian Athabasca Formation	Rough rock land; bedrock exposures	pine
Central Lowlands Central Lowlands The Central Lowlands or Midland Valley is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and the Southern Uplands Fault to the south...
Manitoba Lowlands	Cretaceous formations	Chernozemic soils	Aspen fescue spear/wheat grass
Saskatchewan Plains	Cretaceous formations	Chernozemic soils	Aspen fescue spear/wheat grass
Great Plains Great Plains The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
Alberta Plateau	Tertiary formations	Regozolic and solonetzic soil mixtures	spear grass / blue grama

External links

Flora of Saskatchewan Project
University of Saskatchewan: Virtual Herbarium Database Search by Scientific Family or Plant Name
Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre Database Projects and Publications

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