Three plant worlds sit within a half hour of the harbor. The Lake Superior shore is cold, wet rock with a few plants that belong hundreds of miles farther north. The ridge behind town carries the familiar flowers of the northern forest. Inland, along the Gunflint Trail, spruce bogs hold orchids, heaths and carnivorous plants.
The shore: arctic plants at lake level
The rock shelf along the lake is its own plant community. It is open, lichen-covered bedrock where storm waves can wash 100 feet or more inland, and flowering plants survive only in crevices and at the edges of rock pools. The lake keeps this strip cold all summer, so it shelters disjunct species, plants that usually grow much farther north or high on mountains.
Two are worth knowing by name:
- Bird's-eye primrose (Primula mistassinica, also called Mistassini primrose) has pink to lavender flowers with a yellow eye on a wiry stem 2 to 6 inches tall. It grows on wave-splashed rock and blooms in May and June, and the show is brief.
- Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris) has a deep violet flower over a flat rosette of sticky leaves that trap small insects. It blooms in June and July. Minnesota has listed it as a species of special concern since 1984, and trampling by people on the shore is one of the named threats.
Encrusted saxifrage, tufted bulrush and spike trisetum are among the other arctic and alpine plants of this shore. More common companions on the same rock are harebell, three-toothed cinquefoil, shrubby cinquefoil and ninebark.
These plants grow in thin pads of soil that a boot can peel off the rock. Walk on bare, dry rock, stay out of the moss and sedge around pools, and photograph from where you stand.
Bloom calendar
Bloom months are the statewide seasons from Minnesota Wildflowers. Treat them as a range. The lake keeps the shore much cooler than the inland forest in May and June (see the weather guide), so the same flower will not open on the same day at the harbor and up the Gunflint Trail.
| Bloom months | Flower | Scientific name | Where it grows |
|---|---|---|---|
| April to May | Marsh marigold | Caltha palustris | Wet ditches, seeps, stream edges, swamps |
| May to June | Bird's-eye primrose | Primula mistassinica | Wave-splashed shore rock |
| May to June | Bluebead lily | Clintonia borealis | Moist woods, swamps |
| May to June | Starflower | Lysimachia borealis | Moist, shaded woods |
| May to June | Canada mayflower | Maianthemum canadense | Woods |
| May to June | Labrador tea | Rhododendron groenlandicum | Spruce bogs, lake and stream shores |
| May to June | Bog laurel | Kalmia polifolia | Bogs, acidic lakeshores |
| May to July | Bunchberry | Cornus canadensis | Moist woods, bogs |
| May to July | Stemless (pink) lady's slipper | Cypripedium acaule | Acidic forest, swamps, bogs |
| May to August | Purple pitcher plant | Sarracenia purpurea | Peat bogs |
| June to July | Butterwort | Pinguicula vulgaris | Cold, wet shore rock and cliffs |
| June to July | Showy lady's slipper | Cypripedium reginae | Spruce and tamarack bogs, swamps, wet meadows, damp woods |
| June to July | Thimbleberry | Rubus parviflorus | Woodland edges and clearings near the lake |
| June to July | Three-toothed cinquefoil | Sibbaldiopsis tridentata | Rocky shores and outcrops |
| June to August | Twinflower | Linnaea borealis | Cool northern forest |
| June to August | Fireweed | Chamaenerion angustifolium | Clearings, woodland edges, shores |
| June to October | Harebell | Campanula rotundifolia | Shore rock, rocky slopes |
| July to October | Large-leaved aster | Eurybia macrophylla | Open woods |
Where to look
Shore rock
Look on any public stretch of bedrock shore, including the state parks along Highway 61. The DNR's reference photo of this plant community was taken at Temperance River State Park, southwest of Grand Marais in Cook County. Cascade River, Judge C.R. Magney and Grand Portage state parks are closer. The Minnesota DNR guide covers all three.
Butterwort Cliffs Scientific and Natural Area
This strip of shore is named for the plant and is noted for its flora. It is also a sanctuary for nesting herring gulls and peregrine falcons and is closed to visitors for part of the year. Check the DNR's Scientific and Natural Areas pages first. If the sign says closed, stay out.
Ridge woods
The Superior Hiking Trail follows the ridge through the woods where bluebead lily, bunchberry, starflower and Canada mayflower bloom in late spring. Thimbleberry lines trails near the lake. It is nearly continuous along the shore from Duluth north and thins out quickly inland.
Bogs and wet roadsides
The Gunflint Trail and the forest roads off it cross spruce bog and swamp in the Superior National Forest. Look from the road shoulder or a trail. A bog mat is fragile, and it is not solid ground.
Orchids and the state flower
The showy lady's slipper, a white and pink orchid 1 to 2 feet tall, is Minnesota's official flower (Minnesota Statutes 1.142). It flowers from early June to mid-July. It is one of 43 orchid species in the state, some plants may be 100 years old, and it is uncommon. The state has regulated its collection and sale since 1925. The leaves can give some people a rash, one more reason not to handle it.
The stemless lady's slipper is the other one to know. It has a single pink, veined pouch with a cleft down the front, on a bare stalk above two broad leaves at the ground.
The rules on picking and digging:
- The state wildflower law, Minnesota Statutes 18H.18, covers every orchid, plus trilliums, lilies, gentians, trailing arbutus and a few others. Collecting them from any land, public or private, to transplant or to pass on to someone else requires the written permission of the landowner, and selling them requires a state permit.
- In a state park you may not pick, dig or damage any plant, wildflowers included (Minnesota Rules 6100.0900). The exception is edible fruit and mushrooms for your own use.
- On national forest, tribal, county or private land, ask the land manager or owner before you collect anything.
Take pictures and leave the plant. A transplanted wild orchid will most likely die anyway.
Invasive plants to know
Some of the showiest roadside color here does not belong. Many invasive species common elsewhere in the Midwest are not yet well established in the Arrowhead, which is the reason to keep them from spreading.
| Plant | What you see | Blooms | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large-leaved lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus) | Tall spikes of blue-violet, pink or white pea flowers | May to July | A western species planted along North Shore roadsides that now forms solid stands |
| Common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) | Flat clusters of yellow buttons on stems 3 to 5 feet tall | July to October | Crowds out native plants. Toxic if eaten. Wear gloves when handling it |
| Orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) | Orange flower heads on a hairy, leafless stalk | June to October | Colonizes roadsides and forest openings fast and can take over a site |
| Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare) | The familiar white daisy | June to August | On the DNR's list of invasive plants |
| Spotted knapweed (Centaurea stoebe) | Pink-purple thistle-like flowers | June to October | A state noxious weed of dry roadsides |
Do not collect lupine seed to scatter somewhere else. Invasive species travel on campers, firewood, boats, vehicles and the mud on your boots, so clean your boots and gear before you move to the next trail. The DNR's invasive plant pages have photos for identification.
Berries by season
Picking berries to eat is allowed in state parks and on the Superior National Forest. Blueberries, raspberries, thimbleberries, dewberries, juneberries, cranberries and strawberries all grow on the forest.
- Blueberries ripen from mid to late July through August. They do best on sunny rock ridges and in areas that burned a few years earlier.
- Raspberries are ripe from midsummer through late summer.
- Thimbleberries follow their June and July flowers. The soft red caps fall apart in your hand, so eat them where you stand.
Be sure what you are picking. Do not pick along roadsides where herbicide may have been sprayed. Leave some for the wildlife and the plants. Bears use the same patches, so read the wildlife guide before you go.
Flower etiquette
- Stay on the trail or on bare rock, and keep your dog there with you.
- Do not pick, even when the flower is common.
- Be vague online about where you found orchids or butterwort.
