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15 plants worth knowing

Canada

Canada is covered above all by taiga – a belt of boreal forest with spruces, pines, larches and birches that gives way in the north to treeless tundra. The Pacific coast has temperate rainforests with gigantic cedars, prairies stretch across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and in the east there are mixed forests with maples that take on spectacular colours in autumn.

Hover over a plant to see on the map where it grows.

where it grows

  1. Sugar maple 1

    tree · The maple leaf on the flag of Canada; the maple is the official national tree (since 1996)

    Sugar maple

    Acer saccharum

    The tree whose sap becomes maple syrup, and whose fiery autumn leaves have become a symbol of all Canada.
  2. Black spruce 2

    tree · Provincial tree of Newfoundland and Labrador

    Black spruce

    Picea mariana

    The slender spruce of peat bogs and permafrost – one of the most abundant trees of the Canadian taiga.
  3. Western red cedar 3

    tree · Provincial tree of British Columbia

    Western red cedar

    Thuja plicata

    The “tree of life” of the West Coast’s Indigenous peoples – its trunks were carved into famous totem poles and ocean-going canoes.
  4. White trillium 4

    flower · Floral emblem of Ontario (since 1937)

    White trillium

    Trillium grandiflorum

    A spring flower with three snow-white petals that turns the floor of Ontario’s woods into a white carpet in May.
  5. Lowbush blueberry 5

    dwarf shrub · Provincial berry of Nova Scotia

    Lowbush blueberry

    Vaccinium angustifolium

    A low, wild blueberry of eastern Canada’s barrens – and Canada is the world’s largest producer.
  6. Eastern white pine 6

    tree · Provincial tree of Ontario (since 1984)

    Eastern white pine

    Pinus strobus

    The tallest tree in eastern Canada – its straight trunks were once made into masts for the ships of the Royal Navy.
  7. Paper birch 7

    tree · Provincial tree of Saskatchewan (since 1988)

    Paper birch

    Betula papyrifera

    A birch with snow-white, peeling bark, from which Canada’s Indigenous peoples built lightweight canoes.
  8. Rapeseed 8

    crop

    Rapeseed

    Brassica napus

    A Canadian “invention” – canola varieties of rapeseed were bred on the prairies in the 1970s, and today their yellow fields are a Canadian trademark.
  9. Douglas fir 9

    tree

    Douglas fir

    Pseudotsuga menziesii

    A mighty conifer of British Columbia’s forests and one of the world’s most important sawlog trees.
  10. Prickly rose 10

    shrub · Provincial flower of Alberta (since 1930)

    Prickly rose

    Rosa acicularis

    The wild rose of the north, with fragrant pink flowers – the symbol of Alberta, known as “Wild Rose Country”.
  11. Balsam fir 11

    tree · Provincial tree of New Brunswick (since 1987)

    Balsam fir

    Abies balsamea

    The fragrant fir of eastern Canada’s forests – the country’s most popular Christmas tree and the source of the famous Canada balsam.
  12. Common wheat 12

    crop

    Common wheat

    Triticum aestivum

    Golden wheatfields stretching to the horizon are the image of the Canadian prairies – the country is one of the biggest exporters of this grain.
  13. Blue flag 13

    flower · Floral emblem of Quebec (since 1999)

    Blue flag

    Iris versicolor

    A violet-blue wetland iris that in 1999 replaced the lily as Quebec’s floral emblem.
  14. Purple pitcher plant 14

    perennial · Provincial flower of Newfoundland and Labrador (since 1954)

    Purple pitcher plant

    Sarracenia purpurea

    A carnivorous bog plant whose pitcher-shaped leaves drown insects in rainwater – the symbol of Newfoundland.
  15. Quaking aspen 15

    tree

    Quaking aspen

    Populus tremuloides

    The most widespread tree in North America – in autumn its trembling leaves turn the forests gold from Yukon to the Atlantic.