Wooded Dune and Swale Complex Plant List

Dune Ridges

Graminoids

  • wavy hair grass (Avenella flexuosa)
  • Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
  • poverty grass (Danthonia spicata)

Forbs

  • wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
  • goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
  • large-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
  • twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
  • Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
  • cow-wheat (Melampyrum lineare)
  • partridge berry (Mitchella repens)
  • gay-wings (Polygala paucifolia)
  • starflower (Trientalis borealis)

Ferns

  • bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)

Fern Allies

  • ground-pine (Dendrolycopodium obscurum)
  • running ground-pine (Lycopodium clavatum)
  • stiff clubmoss (Spinulum annotinum)

Shrubs

  • bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
  • bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
  • wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
  • huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata)
  • common juniper (Juniperus communis)
  • creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)
  • soapberry (Shepherdia canadensis)
  • low sweet blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)
  • Canada blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)

Trees

  • balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
  • red maple (Acer rubrum)
  • paper birch (Betula papyrifera)
  • white spruce (Picea glauca)
  • jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
  • red pine (Pinus resinosa)
  • white pine (Pinus strobus)
  • big-toothed aspen (Populus grandidentata)
  • quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
  • white oak (Quercus alba)
  • red oak (Quercus rubra)
  • hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

Swales

Graminoids

  • blue-joint (Calamagrostis canadensis)
  • sedges  (Carex aquatilis, C. disperma, C. intumescens, C. lasiocarpa, C. leptalea, C. oligosperma, C. stricta, C. trisperma, and others)
  • twig-rush (Cladium mariscoides)
  • tawny cotton-grass (Eriophorum virginicum)
  • fowl manna grass (Glyceria striata)
  • rushes (Juncus spp.)
  • common reed (Phragmites australis subsp. americanus)
  • hardstem bulrush (Schoenoplectus acutus)
  • threesquare (Schoenoplectus pungens)
  • wool-grass (Scirpus cyperinus)

Forbs

  • marsh-marigold (Caltha palustris)
  • marsh cinquefoil (Comarum palustre)
  • Kalm’s lobelia (Lobelia kalmii)
  • swamp candles (Lysimachia terrestris)
  • grass-of-Parnassus (Parnassia glauca)
  • false asphodel (Triantha glutinosa)

Ferns

  • oak fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)
  • sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
  • cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea)
  • royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
  • marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris)

Fern Allies

  • woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum)

Mosses

  • sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum spp.)

Shrubs

  • tag alder (Alnus incana)
  • black chokeberry (Aronia prunifolia)
  • bog birch (Betula pumila)
  • dogwoods (Cornus spp.)
  • leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata)
  • shrubby cinquefoil (Dasiphora fruticosa)
  • sweet gale (Myrica gale)
  • dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens)
  • willows (Salix candida, S. pedicellaris, S. petiolaris, and others)
  • cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon and V. oxycoccos)

Trees

  • red maple (Acer rubrum)
  • black ash (Fraxinus nigra)
  • tamarack (Larix laricina)
  • black spruce (Picea mariana)
  • northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis)

Citation

Cohen, J.G., M.A. Kost, B.S. Slaughter, D.A. Albert, J.M. Lincoln, A.P. Kortenhoven, C.M. Wilton, H.D. Enander, and K.M. Korroch. 2020. Michigan Natural Community Classification [web application]. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University Extension, Lansing, Michigan. Available https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/communities/classification. (Accessed: October 15, 2024).