Boreal Forest Plant List
Graminoids
- sedges (Carex deweyana and C. eburnea)
- blue wild-rye (Elymus glaucus)
- false melic (Schizachne purpurascens)
Forbs
- red baneberry (Actaea rubra)
- trail-plant (Adenocaulon bicolor)
- wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
- calypso (Calypso bulbosa)
- bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)
- goldthread (Coptis trifolia)
- ram’s head lady-slipper (Cypripedium arietinum)
- large-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
- fragrant bedstraw (Galium triflorum)
- Menzie’s rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera oblongifolia)
- creeping rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera repens)
- twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
- Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
- starry false Solomon-seal (Maianthemum stellatum)
- false mayflower (Maianthemum trifolium)
- partridge berry (Mitchella repens)
- naked miterwort (Mitella nuda)
- one-flowered pyrola (Moneses uniflora)
- broad-leaved twayblade (Neottia convallarioides)
- one-sided pyrola (Orthilia secunda)
- northern wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)
- sweet-coltsfoot (Petasites frigidus)
- gay-wings (Polygala paucifolia)
- green shinleaf (Pyrola chlorantha)
- lesser pyrola (Pyrola minor)
- twisted-stalks (Streptopus spp.)
- starflower (Trientalis borealis)
Ferns
- wood ferns (Dryopteris spp.)
- oak fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)
- bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)
Fern Allies
- ground-pines (Dendrolycopodium dendroideum and D. obscurum)
- shining clubmoss (Huperzia lucidula)
- running ground-pine (Lycopodium clavatum)
- stiff clubmoss (Spinulum annotinum)
Lichens
- usnea lichens (Usnea spp.)
Mosses
- dicranum moss (Dicranum montanum)
- stair step moss (Hylocomium splendens)
- largetooth calcareous moss (Mnium spinulosum)
- big red stem moss (Pleurozium schreberi)
- oncophorus moss (Oncophorus wahlenbergii)
- ostrich-plume moss (Ptilium crista-castrensis)
- shaggy moss (Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus)
Shrubs
- tag alder (Alnus incana)
- mountain alder (Alnus viridis)
- bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
- bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
- round-leaved dogwood (Cornus rugosa)
- bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
- wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
- common juniper (Juniperus communis)
- Canadian fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)
- prickly gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)
- skunk currant (Ribes glandulosum)
- thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
- dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens)
- soapberry (Shepherdia canadensis)
- snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
- Canada yew (Taxus canadensis)
- tall bilberry (Vaccinium membranaceum)
- Canada blueberry (Vaccinium myrtilloides)
- oval-leaved bilberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium)
Trees
- balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
- striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
- red maple (Acer rubrum)
- mountain maple (Acer spicatum)
- paper birch (Betula papyrifera)
- white spruce (Picea glauca)
- black spruce (Picea mariana)
- jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
- red pine (Pinus resinosa)
- white pine (Pinus strobus)
- balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera)
- quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
- American mountain-ash (Sorbus americana)
- mountain-ash (Sorbus decora)
- northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
- hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
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, M.E. Anderson, M.R. Parr, T.J. Bassett, and K.M. Korroch. 2025. Michigan Natural Community Classification [web application]. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Michigan State University Extension, Lansing, MI. Available https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/communities/classification. (Accessed: March 27, 2026).