Plants

Species
There are hundreds of species of plants in Nova Scotia and each one belongs to a plant family that has its own distinctive structural and life characteristics.

Plants vary in number and where they grow. Some plants such as bunchberry are common, while others like the water pennywort are extremely rare. Nova Scotia has some unusual plants as well, for example the pitcher plant and sundew which both eat insects.

Poisonous Plants
 Online guide to identification and information about poisonous plants in Nova Scotia:

Plants Beneficial to Wildlife
Take special note of plants and shrubs beneficial for wildlife including:

  • food sources such as old apple trees, oak, beech, poplar (large-tooth aspen), cavity trees and snags
  • habitat such as alder patches, hedgerows, cavity trees, snags and waterways

Plant Preservation
COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada) determines the status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, and significant populations considered to be at risk of extinction or extirpation in Canada:

Resources

Identification of Nova Scotia Woody Plants in Winter
- James F. Donly
56 pp, Illustrated key, FREE by contacting:
LIBRARY, NS Department of Natural Resources
1-902-424-8633
or by visiting your local NSDNR office

Spring Wildflowers
- Albert E. Roland and A. Randall Olson
Field guide to flowers that bloom in the spring in NS.
156 pp, illus., 1993, $9.95
Nova Scotia Museum Books
1-800-632-1114

Roland's Flora of Nova Scotia
- Revised by Marian Zinck
Complete guide to flowering plants that grow outside of cultivation in NS.
1350 pp, b/w illus., $70.00
Nova Scotia Museum Books
1-800-632-1114

North America Plant Identification Database