Prairie Gardens

Staff and volunteers have worked hard over the years to create and maintain garden spaces around the schoolhouse and featuring indigenous species of grasses and flowers. Take the time to explore the grounds and brush up on your plant ID skills before going into the Park. Below is a sampling of what you might see.

Buttercup family

Canada anemone

Anemonastrum canadense

Also known as: crowfoot, meadow anemone, round-leaf thimbleweed, windflower

The Canada anemone is found throughout the Prairie Provinces in large patches at the edges of woodlands, in low moist areas, and in hollows. The plant stands 30cm high and with a hairy stem. White flowers are found at the end of a bract.

The plant, generally poisonous, may be used to aid with bruises and sore muscles, as its mashed leaves serve as a counterirritant when used in small amounts.

Prairie crocus

Pulsatilla nuttaliana

Also known as: common pasqueflower, cutleaf anemone

Often the first flower to bloom in the spring, crocuses grow between 8-12cm tall. The leaves and stem are covered in a white fuzz which helps protect the plant from cool weather. The flower is typically a light purple with a bright yellow stamen.

Like other pasque flowers, the prairie crocus is poisonous when consumed and irritant when contacted. Still, some First Nations used crushed crocus leaves as a counterirritant, similarly to the Canada anemone (pg. 2). This species is the provincial flower of Manitoba.

Cactus family

Pincushion cactus

Escobaria vivipara

Also known as: ball cactus, bell cactus, cushion cactus, spinystar, viviparous foxtail cactus

This small perennial cactus grows low to the ground and can often be missed when not flowering. These plants prefer rocky or sandy soil and south-facing hills. Flowering after rains, flowers are pink in hue and last briefly.

Prickly-pear cactus

Opuntia polyacantha

Also known as: hairspine cactus, panhandle prickly-pear, plains prickly-pear, starvation prickly-pear

Flowers from June-July with numerous showing blossoms with a distinct waxy lemon/yellow colour. The blossoms produce an edible spicy-sweet berry. This cactus grows on the open dry prairie and is edible.

The fruits of this plant are edible (once the seed is removed), and have been eaten raw, cooked into stews and soups, or dried for later use.

Composite family

Black-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta

This biennial plant grows 30-45 cm tall. It occasionally grows with a purplish stem, and its Flowers appear in July-September. It needs good moisture conditions to flourish.

The black-eyed Susan has had many purposes, including as a food for good health, a kidney medicine, and a treatment for sores, among many other uses.

Pasture sage

Artemisia frigida

Also known as: Arctic sage, fringed sagebrush, prairie sagewort

Pasture sage is a perennial flowering plant of the composite family and found throughout North America, including the dry grasslands. It is a food of the sage grouse.

Although most sages cause allergic reactions, they have found use as a medicine and treatment for many purposes. As well, its smudges repel insects and have found ritual and practical use in many First Nations.

Prairie coneflower

Ratibida columnifera

Also known as: Mexican hat, upright prairie coneflower

This plant grows to be 30-90 cm high with hairy leaves and flower heads that range from yellow to almost orange. The flowers have distinct backward-bending strap-like florets and a cone-shaped brown centre. The prairie coneflower blooms in June till September on open, dry land. This flower is an important nectar plant and will attract butterflies.

As an entirely edible species and one of the most important American medicinal plants indigenous to the Americas, cornflowers have found many uses, most notably as a treatment for colds and respiratory infections.

Silver sagebrush

Artemisia cana

Also known as: sticky sagebrush, silver wormwood, hoary sagebrush, dwarf sagebrush

This perennial woody shrub is a true sign of the prairies. Small dusty yellow flowers that bloom in July and August. The feathery achenes give the plant an overall woolly appearance. Flowers appear in August. Sage is distinguished by its distinctive aroma.

Although most sages cause allergic reactions, they have found use as a medicine and treatment for many purposes. As well, its smudges repel insects and have found ritual and practical use in many cultures.

Velvety goldenrod

Solidago mollis

Also known as: ashly goldenrod, soft goldenrod

The velvety goldenrod is common on dry prairie land and roadsides growing 20-50 cm high. The entire plant is covered with very fine, short velvety hairs.

Goldenrod plants have found use in salads, soups, stews, and teas, as well as many medicinal uses. They are, however, a common allergen to some.

Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

Also known as: devil’s nettle, milfoil, old man’s pepper, soldier’s woundwort, thousand sea.

Yarrow is a flowering plant native to grasslands and forests of temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere. The perennial plant grows erect, with stems of 20 to 100cm in height. Its flower heads are white, dense, and flat-topped.

Yarrow is one of the most used medicinal plants worldwide. It has been used as a styptic, a painkiller, an antiseptic, and an anti-inflammatory plant, among many other medicinal uses. As well, it has found use as a perfume and an insect repellent.

Flax family

Lewis flax

Linum lewisii

Also known as: prairie flax

This drought-resistant perennial produces narrow stems and dark blue-green leaves. It flowers in June-July, with multiple pale blue flowers blooming on each stem. The flowers only last one day, but flax continually produces flowers for weeks.

Flax has been made into flour and meal, has been used as a treatment for rashes and burns, and has been cultivated in modern times for its seeds to make oil and its fibres to make linen.

Yellow flax

Linum rigidum

Also known as: stiffstem flax

This plant grows to be 15-40cm high. It consists of a simple branched stem that is pale green in colour, covered with yellow flowers. This yellow flax is common in sandy hills or very light, sandy soils throughout the prairie and parkland.

Flax has been made into flour and meal, has been used as a treatment for rashes and burns, and has been cultivated in modern times for its seeds to make oil and its fibres to make linen.

Grass family

Blue grama grass

Bouteloua gracilis

Blue Grama, 20-50 cm tall, is an erect densely tufted perennial growing from fibrous roots and is common in the dry prairie habitat. Each stem has two, sometimes three, flower heads. When the heads first emerge they look like miniature combs and upon maturing, they resemble false eyelashes.

This species is the state grass of Colorado and New Mexico.

Green needlegrass

Stipa viridula

Standing 50-100cm high, this loosely-tufted needlegrass grows in moderately dry moist areas. It is commonly found in shrubber and forest margins of the plains, and it is sometimes seeded for forage for hay and pastures.

Western wheatgrass

Pascopyrum smithii

Also known as: red-joint wheatgrass

Western wheatgrass is a grass species native to North America and found throughout the Great Plains. It is food for bison, black-tailed prairie dogs, and grazing livestock, making it an important grass in the region.

This species is the state grass of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Legume family

Alfalfa

Medicago sativa

Also known as: lucerne

Alfalfa, known as lucerne outside of North America, is a flowering legume species. Though found commonly and used as a forage crop in Canada, it is not native to the country, having been introduced to the continent in the 16th Century.

Alfalfa has found use as a tea, salad ingredient, and medicine, and it is well known as a forage crop for livestock.

American vetch

Vicia americana

Also known as: purple vetch

American vetch is a perennial and climbing legume species found natively throughout North America.

The American vetch is poisonous.

Canadian milkvetch

Astragalus canadensis

The Canadian milkvetch is a legume species found throughout Canada and the United States. It grows in several erect stems from which leaves and bright flowers bloom.

The Canadian milkvetch is poisonous.

Field locoweed

Oxytropis campestris

The field locoweed is a legume species found throughout the prairies and wood. The plant produces fruit in the late summertime.

The field locoweed is poisonous.

Silvery scurfpea

Pediomelum argophyllum

Also known as: psoralea silverleaf, silverleaf Indian breadroot, silverleaf

The silvery scurfpea is a species in the Pediomelum genus of the legume family. Also known as the silverleaf Indian breadroot or the silverleaf psoralea, it is found throughout the Northern Great Plains of North America.

Two-grooved milkvetch

Astragalus bisulcatus

Also known as: silver-leafed milkvetch

This member of the legume family is common across the dry prairies. With grey-green pinnate leaves and clusters of purple flowers that start blooming in June, these plants are a burst of colour on the plains.

The two-grooved milkvetch is poisonous.

Oleaster family

Silver buffaloberry

Shepherdia argentea

Also known as: bullberry, thorny buffaloberry

This tall perennial shrub has brownish-yellow flowers that appear in May-June. The bright red berry is harvested and used to make jelly.

The buffaloberry has found many uses as a medicine—such as to treat flu and indigestion—and especially as a food. The Blackfoot (Siksikaitsitapi), for example, have eaten buffaloberries fresh in summer and dried in winter, preserving them in jellies or cooked with sugar to make pudding.

Wolf willow

Elaeagnus commutata

Also known as: silverberry

This perennial low growing shrub blooms in June with tiny fragrant blossoms. Produces a silvery mealy berry containing a large seed. Grows in the moisture draws of the prairie.

As the wolf willow’s berry is dry and dispreferred, its berries are often overlooked (except in times of famine) in favour of its bark, which has been used as a medicine, such as to take away the sting of a frostbite or a sunburn.

Plantain family

Smooth blue beardtongue

Penstemon nitidus

Also known as: waxleaf penstemon

The smooth blue beardtongue grows upright in clusters of stems 20-30cm high. The plant is a perennial herb. Its deep blue blossoms can sometimes be tinged with white, purple, or pink. It blooms through the spring (as early as May) and is found on dry hills, eroded areas, and banks throughout Western North America.

White-flower beardtongue

Penstemon albidus

The white-flower beardtongue is a species in the beardtongue genus of the plantain family. Related to the smooth blue beardtongue, it is found throughout the Western Great Plains of North America.

Rose family

Chokecherry

Prunus virginiana

Also known as: bird cherry, bitterberry

The chokecherry is a tree/shrub species in the rose family that is well-known in Saskatchewan for its fruits and distribution throughout the province. The plant can grow up to 6m tall, and its white flowers appear May-June. Its ripe fruit is a deep purple to black small cherry.

Like other cherries, the flesh of the chokecherry is well-known for its tart taste, which has been eaten raw, dried, or added into many other foods, such as pemmican, pies, soups, and stews.

Shrubby cinquefoil

Dasiphora fruticosa

Also known as: bush cinquefoil, golden hardhack, kuril tea, shrubby five-finger, widdy

A common bushy shrub that can reach a metre or more in height. Yellow flowers appear from June through August. The flowers measure 20 to 25 mm in diameter and have five petals. Some field guides refer to Shrubby Cinquefoil as Potentilla fruticosa.

The shrubby cinquefoil has found use as a tea, a tinder, and a treatment for body aches.

Three-flowered aven

Geum triflorum

Also known as: prairie smoke, old man’s whiskers

This wildflower is a low, colony-forming perennial with soft hairy stems. In May-June the torch-like flowers are pink to purple produced in groups of three per plant at the ends of the stems. It is also known as prairie smoke.

Avens have found use as a medicine in numerous ways, being known for their astringent properties.

Wild rose, common

Rosa woodsii

Also known as: interior rose, mountain rose, pearhip rose, prairie rose, Woods’ rose

Pink flowers appear in June-August. The wild rose produces a fruit called a rose-hip. The rose-hip becomes bright red when it is ripe. This low branching shrub grows in uncultivated areas throughout the prairies.

Wild roses have found medicinal and practical use over time, as well as culinary use (as most parts of the plant are edible). Its relative, the prickly rose, is the provincial flower of Alberta.

Miscellaneous

Baby’s breath (Pink family)

Gypsophila paniculata

Also known as: common gypsophila, panicled baby’s-breath

Baby’s breath is a flowering plant native to Europe and since introduced to North America. It grows 1.2m tall and wide, and produces many groups of small, white flowers in the summertime.

Golden currant (Currant family)

Ribes aureum

Also known as: buffalo current, clove currant, pruterberry

Golden currant is a flowering shrub native to North America. It grows to 2-3 metres tall, has green leaves, and yellow flowers. Its conservation status is considered “Vulnerable” in Canada.

Being common across Canada, currants have been eaten by many First Nations, including the Blackfoot (Siksikaitsitapi).

Harebell (Bellflower family)

Campanula rotundifolia

Also known as: bluebell, Scottish bluebell

Found across all manner of habitats from grassland to boreal forest to sand dunes, the harebell is identifiable by its thin stem and 5-lobed, purple-blue bell shaped flowers that bloom from July-September. These slender perennials grow from 10-80 cm tall, and the blossoms are turned down to protect the pollen and nectar from the elements.

Hop, common (Hemp family)

Humulus lupulus

Also known as: hops

Common hops are a flowering plant in the hemp family native throughout the Northern Hemisphere. This perennial, climbing plant sends up new shoots each spring and is best known for its use to preserve and add flavour to beer.

Northern bedstraw (Bedstraw family)

Galium boreale

Northern bedstraw has white flower heads and stands 20-50 cm high. It was once used for stuffing mattresses and pillows because of its faint fragrance. The northern bedstraw, in particular, can be found in meadows, prairies, and open woodlands across Canada.

When dried and roasted, the seeds of this plant can make a coffee substitute because this plant belongs to the same family as the coffee plant (the bedstraw family is also called the coffee family).

Scarlet mallow (Mallow family)

Sphaeralcea coccinea

Also known as: scarlet globemallow

This is a low growing plant with salmon coloured flowers. The leaves are green-grey and hairy. The scarlet mallow is commonly found in dry waste places and on roadsides.

Mallow leaves have been eaten raw, cooked, and used in soups and teas, though their most common use has been in medicine—mallow is known for its anti-inflammatory properties.

Sources and further reading

Sources

iNaturalist Canada. https://inaturalist.ca/.

International Union for Conservation of Nature. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. https://www.iucnredlist.org/.

Janelle, Johane (2014). Naapi’s Garden: A guide to culturally important Blackfoot Plants

Jennings, Neil L. (2020). Popular Wildflowers of the Canadian Prairies.

MacKinnon, Andrew (2014). Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada.

Prairie Wind & Silver Sage. https://pwss.org/.

Further reading

The California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society’s iNaturalist (inaturalist.ca) is a great tool for species cataloguing and species identification for biologists and citizen scientists alike.

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird (ebird.org/canada) is a great resource for everything bird-related and is much like iNaturalist (but specifically for birds).

The Virginia Tech Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation’s dendrology website (dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology) is a great resource for tree identification and information.