One of the nicest treats of a PEI spring is harvesting your own fresh, local food after a winter of stored root vegetables and imported fare. Fiddleheads, dandelions, cat-tails, dock, watercress, and magnolia – along with pheasant back and morel mushrooms if you can find them – are all in season right now. But if you’re looking for something new, give Wild Lily-of-the-valley (Maianthemum canadense) a try. Followers of my blog may remember that I introduced you to this plant

PEI has so many wild foods on offer in May: fiddleheads and nettle greens, burdock and primrose roots, morel mushrooms and pheasant’s backs, and so much more! Cat-tails (Typha latifolia) are versatile and easy to use, but it’s good to know how to tell them from a toxic plant of the same wet habitats: Blue-flag Iris (Iris versicolor). Cat-tails and Iris aren’t hard to tell apart in summer and fall, but it can be easy to confuse them where they grow side-by-side in spring (ma

There’s one PEI plant that most people are very familiar with, but few have seen growing in its natural habitat: Eelgrass (Zostera marina). This is how most of us know Eelgrass: washed up along the shore. Eelgrass actually grows in extensive beds offshore as well as in our bays and estuaries, and – despite what you may think – it’s a true flowering plant and not a seaweed. Eelgrass has roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and vascular tissue (structures that move water and nutr

It’s almost conifer-tip season, that time of year when we can enjoy the tasty, Vitamin-C-rich, new growth of our needle-leaved trees. While all of our conifer trees are edible, PEI does have one poisonous, native conifer shrub. Can you tell which of the needles in the photo are tasty and which are toxic? When it comes to conifer tips, White Spruce (Picea glauca) is the species most commonly used in the kitchen, as well as my personal favourite (you can find more details in

As a botanist, I confess to teasing birders from time to time: groups of people flocking to the same spot to see an unusual species – really? But then spring rolls around and I eat my words as I make my annual pilgrimage to Miscouche to see Marsh Marigolds (Caltha palustris). Marsh Marigolds are neither unusual nor rare on PEI (and they aren’t Marigolds). This member of the Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae) is found in wet, mucky soil, and so is more common in Prince and Kin

It’s that time of year when many people are anticipating the first flowers of spring, without realizing that some are already here! We’ve looked at two of my favorite precocious plants – Willow and Beaked Hazelnut – but I also have a soft spot for Red Maple ( Acer rubrum ), flowering now. When we think of flowering trees, it’s often Apples, Cherries, and Serviceberries that come to mind. These showy species follow the usual order of things: leaf out first, then flower. But

Some of PEI’s early spring wildflowers are showy, in-your-face sorts. Others are tiny, delicate, and go unnoticed to all except to those specifically looking for them. Today’s plant is in the latter category, and one of my favourites: Beaked Hazelnut ( Corylus cornuta ), flowering now. Hazelnut is a common, native understorey shrub found in mixed forests and along streams and trails across the Island. It stands out in the landscape this time of year, with finger-like male c

One of PEI’s first botanical signs of spring are Pussy Willows ( Salix spp.). We have more than a dozen different Willows on the Island, but only one – Salix discolor – officially has the common name ‘Pussy Willow’. Willows are notoriously difficult to tell apart, but don’t worry: all our species are commonly called Pussy Willows this time of year so, right now, you can’t go wrong! Those soft, fuzzy balls are the male flower buds, called catkins. (Female catkins are sim

You may think there’s no old growth forest or wilderness on PEI, but that’s not true. We have amazing ancient and wild spaces if you know where to look and can recognize the signs. Lung Lichen ( Lobaria pulmonaria ) is one of those signs. A lichen is a unique creature: usually, it’s a combination of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium functioning as one organism. But Lung Lichen is one PEI’s few tripartite lichens: it includes a fungus, a green alga, and a cyanobacter

Last month, I posted about the advantages and disadvantages of multi-year needles versus annual broad leaves on trees (You can read about that here: https://www.pei-untamed.com/post/conifer-adaptations ). Some of you asked about Eastern Larch, a tree with a foot in each world. Let’s take a look! Keeping needles all winter does have a price: it allows snow to build up on the tree, placing tremendous weight on its branches. This can cause branches to break, or entire trees to

It’s been a busy year: more than 100 educational posts on the plants, fungi, and wildlife of PEI; 79 in-person events at 25 locations across the province; and one popular new book! I sincerely thank the more than 2,000 people who attended my public walks and talks, the 17,500 who follow me on Facebook and Instagram, everyone who visits this website, and all those who took the time to like, comment, or share my posts. I’m truly grateful to each of you for supporting this work.

If I had to design vegetation for a movie set on an alien planet, I’d take inspiration from this PEI plant: the odd-looking Rough Cocklebur ( Xanthium strumarium ). Cocklebur gets its name from spine-covered fruit (burs) that look a bit like Burdocks but have two distinctive beaks at the end (inset photo). Like Burdock ( Arctium minus ), Cocklebur’s Velcro-like fruits are distributed by hitch-hiking on animals, including humans. Those burs also float, allowing them to be r

PEI has more than 30 native, wild plants with edible berries, but here’s one of the lesser-known: Bearberry ( Arctostaphylos uva-ursi ). Bearberry doesn’t compete taste-wise with some of our other wild fruit. Raw, the berries are dry and bland (but that’s probably just as well, because too many raw berries can have a laxative effect). Cooking improves their flavour and texture, and Bearberries make pleasant preserves, interesting additions to soups or stews, and excellent

This fall, we’ve been exploring some of PEI’s least-common trees, including Balsam Poplar, Ironwood, and Jack Pine. Today it’s one many people haven’t even heard of: Bog Birch ( Betula pumila ). We often think of Birch as among the majestic trees of PEI’s early forests. Nineteenth century writers told of Yellow Birch ( Betula alleghaniensis ) three to four feet in diameter, and it was said that Mi’kmaq people were able to make a six-person canoe from the bark of a single Wh

You may think of summer as peak season for PEI’s wild berries, but a few tasty treats are at their best this time of year. One of my fall favourites is Wild Lily-of-the-Valley (aka Canada Mayflower, Maianthemum canadense). Wild Lily-of-the-Valley is NOT the same as the popular garden plant of the same name. The sweet-smelling European Lily-of-the-Valley ( Convallaria majalis ) contains toxic cardiac glycosides that can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and irregular heart

Most Islanders are familiar with Poplar (aka Trembling Aspen, featured last week), and many know of its relative, Large-tooth Aspen. But...

One of PEI’s most common trees is Poplar, aka Trembling Aspen ( Populus tremuloides ). The ‘trembling’ name comes from the habit of this...

Most people have never seen PEI’s rarest native tree in person, and some have never even heard of it. Meet the beautiful Ironwood (...

It may not be majestic, but it’s PEI’s rarest native conifer and has an adaptation unlike any of our other trees. Meet Jack Pine ( Pinus...

Late summer is such a wonderful time on PEI. Warm days and comfortably cool nights, water temperatures perfect for swimming, and an...