Granite Cliff Plant List

Graminoids

  • poverty grass (Danthonia spicata)
  • tufted hair grass (Deschampsia cespitosa)

Forbs

  • small-leaved pussytoes (Antennaria neglecta)
  • wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
  • wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)
  • bluebead lily (Clintonia borealis)
  • rock whitlow-grass (Draba arabisans)
  • large-leaved aster (Eurybia macrophylla)
  • wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
  • Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense)
  • downy Solomon seal (Polygonatum pubescens)
  • three-toothed cinquefoil (Sibbaldiopsis tridentata)
  • twisted-stalks (Streptopus spp.)

Ferns

  • maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes)
  • fragrant woodfern (Dryopteris fragrans)
  • marginal woodfern (Dryopteris marginalis)
  • oak fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)
  • smooth cliff-brake (Pellaea glabella)
  • common polypody (Polypodium virginianum)
  • bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum)
  • rusty woodsia (Woodsia ilvensis)

Woody Vines

  • red honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica)
  • poison-ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)

Shrubs

  • serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)
  • bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
  • bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)
  • bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
  • wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)
  • common juniper (Juniperus communis)
  • Canadian fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis)
  • choke cherry (Prunus virginiana)
  • thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus)
  • dwarf raspberry (Rubus pubescens)
  • wild red raspberry (Rubus strigosus)
  • low sweet blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium)

Trees

  • balsam fir (Abies balsamea)
  • sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
  • mountain maple (Acer spicatum)
  • serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.)
  • 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)
  • red oak (Quercus rubra)
  • 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, 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 21, 2026).