Wapusk National Park of Canada

Flora

Wapusk National Park of Canada is where North and South meet. In the park's tundra coastal areas, plants commonly found in the arctic are plentiful, and in forested areas of the park, the plants are typical of the boreal forest.

Lichens and bearberrry
© Parks Canada

The tundra's typical arctic plants paint the landscape with early blooming flowers in late June, and the frosts of early fall turn the arctic bearberry leaves bright red, the larch golden, and the lyme grass pastels of yellow and green. Carpets of small flowering plants like dryas (also called mountain avens) are common in the tundra areas. Many species of orchids grow, in open wetlands and in the forest.

Berries are abundant throughout the park, and are important not just to birds and wildlife, but to the people of the area. Cranberries, blueberries, crowberries, arctic cloudberries, and members of the raspberry family ripen in early September.

The Parks Canada Visitor Centre at Churchill maintains gardens filled with many of the area's flowering plants.