Flora of Saskatchewan facts for kids

Small Lady's Slipper - a plant that is no longer found in Saskatchewan

Silver buffaloberry

Canada thistle

Saskatchewan is home to many different kinds of plants. These include vascular plants, which have special tissues to carry water and nutrients. There are also algae, lichens, fungi, and mosses. Some plants found in Saskatchewan are native, meaning they have always grown there. Other plants were brought in from different places. Some of these new plants are helpful for farming and gardening. But others have become invasive, meaning they spread quickly and can harm native plants.

Saskatchewan works hard to protect its plants, especially those that are rare or at risk. The province has different plant hardiness zones. These zones show where certain plants can grow well, based on the climate. The types of plants you see also depend on the soil, land, and weather. People have studied how humans and plants are connected, called ethnobotany. This shows how plants have been used for food, medicine, and tools. Saskatchewan has even chosen three native plants as its official symbols!

Growing Season in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan has a continental climate. This means it has big changes in temperature between seasons. Because of this, the growing season for plants is quite short. On average, the province has about 159 to 160 days without frost. In the far north, this drops to only 85 to 95 frost-free days.

In 1967, Canadian scientists made a map of Plant Hardiness Zones. These zones help us understand which plants can survive in different areas. They look at things like how long the frost-free period is, how much rain falls in summer, and winter temperatures. Zone 0 is the toughest for plants, while Zone 8 is the mildest. This map helps gardeners and farmers choose the right plants. For example, a type of wheat called Red Fife wheat was important in the late 1800s. It ripened 20 days faster than other wheats. This meant it could be harvested before the autumn frost.

Protecting Plants and Fighting Weeds

Saskatchewan has 367 rare types of vascular plants. Out of these, 135 are listed as endangered.

The Small White Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium candidum) is the only plant that has completely disappeared from Saskatchewan. This is called being extirpated.

Some plants that are endangered (meaning they are at high risk of disappearing) include the Sand Verbena (Abronia micrantha) and Western Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis). Threatened plants (meaning they are likely to become endangered) include the Slender Mouse-Ear Cress (Halimolobos virgata). There are special reports and guidelines to help protect these plants.

Saskatchewan also has laws to control plants that are not native and have become a problem. These are called invasive species or noxious weeds. An example is leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula). These weeds can harm the natural balance of plants. The Weed Control Act helps manage them.

Saskatchewan's Official Plant Symbols

Saskatchewan has chosen three native plants as its official symbols.

• The provincial tree is the Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera). It was chosen in 1988.
• The provincial flower is the Western Red Lily (Lilium philadelphicum var. andinum). This beautiful flower is also a protected species. It was chosen in 1941.
• The provincial grass is the Needle-and-thread grass (Hesperostipa comata). It was declared in 2001.

Plant Regions (Floristic Kingdom)

Saskatchewan is part of a very large plant region called the Holarctic Kingdom. This kingdom covers much of the northern half of the world. Within this kingdom, Saskatchewan has two main areas. The northern part is in the Circumboreal floristic region, which is cool. The southern part is in the North American Atlantic Region, which is warmer. These regions have some plants that are found only there, called endemic plants.

Ecoregions of Saskatchewan

An ecoregion is an area that has similar soil types and landforms. In Saskatchewan, these regions help describe the different plant life.

• The Taiga Shield ecozone in the far north has areas like Selwyn Lake and Tazin Lake. Here, you'll find plants typical of the Subarctic Woodland.
• The Boreal Shield ecozone is further south. It includes the Athabasca Plain and Churchill River Upland. This northern area is part of the Midwestern Canadian Shield forests.
• The Boreal Plains ecozone has Mid-Boreal Upland, Mid-Boreal Lowland, and Boreal Transition ecoregions.
• Even further south is the Prairie ecozone. This includes the Aspen Parkland, Moist Mixed Prairie, Northern Mixed Grassland, and Cypress Upland ecoregions. These ecoregions are then divided into smaller Landscape Areas.

Different Plant Zones

Many natural factors make Saskatchewan's plant life rich and diverse. From north to south, you can see different plant zones. These include the Subarctic Woodland, Northern Boreal Forest, and Southern Boreal Forest. The Prairie zone is divided into Aspen Parkland, Moist Mixed Grassland, Mixed Grassland, Cypress Upland, and Fescue Grassland.

Subarctic Woodland

This zone is on the Canadian Shield, where the weather is coldest. You'll find subarctic lichen woodlands here. Common trees are black spruce (Picea Mariana), jack pine (Pinus banksiana), and white spruce (Picea glauca). This area also has many peatlands, bogs, fens, and even some permafrost. Yellow and Grey Reindeer moss (Cladonia mitis) often covers the ground. This area is in Canada's hardiness zone 0a.

Northern Boreal Forest

Boreal forest

This large forest area is mostly made up of conifer trees like spruce and pine, or aspen and poplar. It has many lakes, bogs, and rocky areas. Black spruce and jack pine are the main trees. Forest fires are common here. Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) often grows in areas after a fire. Lichens like Cladonia cetraria and feather mosses like Stair-Step Moss (Hylocomium splendens) cover the ground. This zone is in plant hardiness Zone 0b.

The Athabasca Basin is a special area within this forest. The Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park protects unique sand hills. These hills are in northern Saskatchewan, near Lake Athabasca. Not many plants grow in the sand hills. But you can find blueberries, bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), sand heather, crowberry, and various grasses. This area is special because it has 10 plant species found nowhere else in the world, including four unique types of willow.

Southern Boreal Forest

Bearberry

This forest is a mix of trees like jack pine, trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), white spruce, and tamarack (Larix laricina). This is where the forestry industry is located. The ground is covered with lichens and stairstep moss. Shrubs like bearberry, low-bush cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea), and Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) are common.

Wetlands are a big part of this forest, making up 16% of the area. These include peatlands, fens, and marshes. Saskatchewan is the world's largest producer of wild rice, which grows in these wet areas.

Mushrooms, lichens, moss, and other bryophytes.

In peatlands, you'll find Bog Labrador Tea (Ledum groenlandicum), Sphagnum mosses, and cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus). Bogs are acidic and have low nutrients. Fens have brown mosses and plants like Reed Grass (Calamagrostis) and willows. Marshes are rich in nutrients and have plants like Marsh reed grass and Kentucky blue grass. Bogs, fens, and marshes together are known as muskeg. The Southern Boreal Forest is in hardiness zone 1a.

Aspen Parkland

Saskatchewan Flower: Western red lily, a protected species

The Aspen Parkland is a transition zone between forests and grasslands. It has lower rainfall and warmer temperatures. You'll see small groups of trembling aspen trees, called "bluffs," scattered across the landscape.

The eastern part of the Aspen Parkland has tall grass prairie with plants like big bluestem and Porcupine grass. Trees here include Bur Oak, Green ash, Manitoba maple, and balsam poplar. In central Saskatchewan, you'll find native Fescue grasslands with fescue grasses and western porcupine grass. Aspen trees and willows are still common.

Tree: Paper Birch

The western parkland has plains rough fescue and Needle and thread grass (Hesperostipa comata) as ground cover. Tree groves include aspen, willows, and balsam poplar. In wet, low areas, there are dense shrubs like Saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia), pin cherry, choke cherry, hawthorn, and Canada buffaloberry. Marshes and sloughs in this area have similar plants to the Southern Boreal Forest marshes. The Aspen Parkland falls into plant hardiness zones 1b, 2a, and 2b.

Mixed Prairie

Qu'Appelle Valley near Cutarm, Sask., circa 1910

The Mixed Grass Prairie is a drier grassland area, in hardiness zones 2a and 3a. In dry, higher areas, you'll find big sandgrass and blue grama grass. In lower, salty areas, plants like alkali grass, salt grass, and arrowgrass grow. Along riverbanks, you might see cottonwoods and willows.

Dry Mixed Prairie

Southwest Saskatchewan is very dry. This dry mixed prairie is found south of the Cypress Hills and in the Great Sand Hills area. Plants here include prickly pear cactus (Opuntia), blue grama grass, needle and thread grass, silver sagebrush (Artemisia cana), and June grass.

Cypress Hills

Cypress Hills

The Cypress Hills are higher in elevation, over 1200 meters (about 3,900 feet). This means they have cooler temperatures and more rain, making them feel more like a boreal forest than a prairie. Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) grows here, which is rare for Saskatchewan. Aspen and white spruce are also found in these forests. Ground cover includes Shining leaved meadowsweet (Spiraea lucida) and pinegrass.

Ethnobotany: How People Use Plants

Many native plants in Saskatchewan can be used for food. You can prepare them as vegetables, teas, jams, syrups, or even flour. Other plants have medicinal uses. When gathering plants, it's important to know the right season and where to find them. For example, broad leaf cattail and yellow pond lily grow near marshy ponds.

Marsh area. Blueberry, strawberry, dewberry, plantain, shaggy mane mushrooms, cattail, Labrador tea, bearberry, strawberry blight, puffball mushrooms and wild mint can be harvested near this site.

Some plants, like wild mint and Labrador tea leaves, can be steeped to make tea. Berries like Saskatoons, blueberries, and raspberries are great for jams, jellies, and juices. You can also grind grass seeds into flour.

For medicine, plants were used in teas, ointments, or even inhaled as smoke or steam. The Cree people used plants like cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum) and broad-leaved water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica) as remedies. However, it's very important to know that some edible plants have poisonous look-alikes, like the western water hemlock, which looks similar to cow parsnip.

Plants have also helped people in other ways. Trees provided wood for canoes, and reeds could be made into whistles and baskets. Sphagnum moss was used for insulation and even as absorbent material for diapers because it has antibacterial properties.

Botanists of Saskatchewan

Many scientists have studied the plants of Saskatchewan.

• Eugène Bourgeau (1813-1877) was a botanist who explored the area with Captain John Palliser and Henry Youle Hind in the late 1850s. Their reports initially suggested the area wasn't good for farming.
• John Macoun (1831-1920) was another naturalist who visited in 1872. He believed the region had good potential for agriculture.
• Isabel M. Priestly (1893-1946) collected plants and helped start the Yorkton Natural History Society.
• Dr. William P. Fraser has a herbarium (a collection of dried plants) named after him at the University of Saskatchewan. He was a professor there and donated his plant collection.
• Dr. John K. Jeglum studied lowland plants in the Southern Boreal Forest of Saskatchewan for his doctorate.

Green Spurge or Leafy Spurge, an invasive species

Agriculture in Saskatchewan

Harvest time

Agriculture in Saskatchewan is all about growing food, feed for animals, and fiber. It also includes raising livestock. Today, there's a new focus on making biofuels like ethanol from plants. In the past, farming was mostly for survival. Now, it's a big business with advanced technology. Farmers grow "cash crops" that are sold to contribute to Saskatchewan's economy. The type of farming depends on the region's climate and land.

Farming has changed a lot. Early Indigenous people were hunter-gatherers. Later, settlers used oxen and plows. Now, farmers use huge machines to work vast amounts of land. Challenges for the future include managing water, especially in dry areas, and deciding about genetically modified foods.

Grain field in the aspen parkland near Saskatoon

Saskatchewan is a major producer of wheat, oats, flaxseed, and barley in Canada. Cattle ranching is still important in the southwest. However, growing crops like wheat, oats, flax, alfalfa, and canola is common in the parkland area. Mixed grain farming, dairy farms, and livestock grazing are found in the central lowlands. Agriculture Week in Saskatchewan is celebrated every year from March 24 to 30.

Forestry in Saskatchewan

Forestry is a big industry in northern Saskatchewan. North of the treeline, there are about 350,000 square kilometers (about 135,000 square miles) of forests. These forests provide resources for lumber and for making pulp and paper.

Saskatchewan's Land Regions