Native plants of PEI to celebrate and cherish
Prince Edward Island’s association with potatoes is ingrained in the Canadian imagination, and even canonized in our culture by Stompin’ Tom Connors’ classic, “Bud the Spud.” This tuber’s iconic status is well deserved as PEI’s well-drained (and famously red) sandy soils are terrific at turning out taters.

While farmed on about 15 per cent of the province’s landmass and contributing over a billion dollars to its economy annually, the potato (Solanum tuberosum) doesn’t originate from the East Coast island, but the Andes in South America. And there is plenty more to PEI plant life than potato farms.
Located entirely within the Atlantic Maritime ecozone, 40 per cent of Canada’s smallest province is covered in forest while its 3,000-kilometre coastline — encompassing sandy beaches, cliffs, estuaries and other coastal habitats — is home to native plants resilient to salt, wind and storms.
So next time you’re noshing on some PEI hash browns, fries or mashed potatoes, give a thought to the island’s actually native plants as well.
(Check out our blogs on native plants from other provinces and territories, too: B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon and Nunavut.)

Pink lady’s-slipper
Pink lady’s-slipper (Cypripedium acaule) is PEI’s floral emblem and appears on its coat of arms alongside plants representing England (rose), Ireland (shamrock), Scotland (thistle) and, of course, potato blossoms.
One of many orchids native to the island, pink lady’s-slipper has two leaves at the base of a thin stem bearing a single flower that blooms in May and June. The pouch-shaped part of the flower is called the labellum, varying in colour from pale to dark pink, often with darker vein-like markings.
Mi’kmaq traditionally brewed a medicinal tea from this plant’s roots to treat anxiety and tuberculosis.

Growing tips
This sensitive, slow-growing orchid is more easily enjoyed in nature than in home gardens. Its seeds depend on specific soil fungi to germinate, with extensions of the fungus physically opening and delivering nutrients to the developing plant — so the seeds won’t germinate just anywhere. Also, the mature plants usually don’t survive transplanting.
When observing these flowers in nature, it’s best not to pick them since they take a long time to regenerate, can irritate skin and wilt quickly anyway. Undisturbed, however, an individual plant can live over 20 years!
In Canada, pink lady’s-slipper is found in shady or partially shady, well-drained woodlands and wetlands in all provinces other than B.C., but is most abundant east of Manitoba.
Benefits for wildlife
While Pink lady’s-slipper has a mutually beneficial relationship with soil fungi, it’s not so useful to wildlife. The flower is pollinated by bumble bees, which it attracts with its colour and scent, but it’s “false advertising” as it doesn’t produce the nectar that the bees are after. Once bees enter, the flower’s structure guides them so that they contact the male and female flower parts on their way out, pollinating the plant.
Northern red oak

PEI’s tree emblem, northern red oak (Quercus rubra), is one of the many deciduous and coniferous tree species typical to the Wabanaki-Acadian forest region, which extends across the Maritimes as well as parts of Quebec and New England. In PEI, most of these forests were cleared hundreds of years ago for ship building, agriculture and settlement, but vestiges of mature woodlands remain, such as the Royalty Oaks Natural Area in Charlottetown.
Red oaks can grow more than 30 metres tall and more than 120 centimetres in diameter while living up to 150 years. This species has grey, grooved bark and green leaves with seven to nine pointy lobes (segments that stick out around the edge). In the spring, catkins of flowers dangle from the branches like yellow-green tassels. In fall, the leaves turn attractive shades of red, yellow, orange and brown and the tree produces round acorns.
Mi’kmaq traditionally used red oak roots and bark to treat digestive problems, and its wood has long been popular for furniture and cabinet making. Oak galls (bulbous structures that grow on leaves and branches, housing insect larvae and other organisms) were combined with iron to make black ink the 4th to the 20th centuries.
Growing tips
This fast-growing species makes an excellent shade tree and is commonly used in landscape and ecosystem restoration projects. Preferring well-drained, sunny sites, it can tolerate a range of soil conditions as well as salt, including road salt. It does not usually grow well in windy or soggy spots or when planted close to other trees.
Try growing red oak from acorns: Store them in moist vermiculite in a sealed bag in the fridge for 42 days before planting in fall, then cover with soil and/or leaf litter and leave to germinate over winter.

In Canada, red oak is native to all the Maritime provinces, Ontario and Quebec.
Benefits for wildlife
Red oaks provide habitat for birds like woodpeckers, blue jays, grouse and turkeys. Deer, squirrels, black bears and birds also eat the acorns and spread them across the landscape, helping the oaks disperse.
Rabbits and mice nibble the young trees and new growth while moth caterpillars, including the invasive spongy (or LDD) moth, eat leaves, sometimes stripping foliage significantly and posing challenges for growing red oaks.
American beachgrass
Canadian TV and film fans beholding American beachgrass, or marram grass (Calamagrostis breviligulata), will almost certainly imagine Anne of Green Gables frolicking nearby in a straw hat. Rolling sand dunes adorned with cascades of windblown beachgrass are synonymous with the PEI seaside.
This subtly beautiful green and gold plant can grow over a metre tall with its tightly bunched spikelets (flower clusters) forming a long spike shape at the top of the stem.

American beachgrass plays a pivotal role in the sand dune ecosystem, which consists of sand formations running along the beach with plants growing on top, and the animals and other organisms that live there. This grass’s expansive root system is what stabilizes the sand dunes, keeping them from being blown away or swept out to sea, and allowing other plants to gradually establish. By minimizing erosion, this plant helps to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and extreme weather along PEI’s shorelines.
Growing tips
American beachgrass is often used in sand dune restoration projects. It’s recommended to plant this grass in fall, placing roots at least 25 centimetres below the sand surface and spacing bunches 15 centimetres apart if the site is at high risk of erosion (and farther apart if the potential for erosion potential is lower). As it establishes, the grass will spread via underground stems called rhizomes. For dune restoration to succeed, it’s important to avoid walking or ATVing on the grass.
American beachgrass prefers sunny, dry and well-drained sandy coastal sites. In Canada, it’s native to Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces.
Benefits for wildlife
American beachgrass and the sand dune ecosystem as a whole provide food and/or shelter for birds like piping plovers, savannah sparrows, horned larks and nesting red-breasted mergansers; mammals like meadow jumping mice and red foxes; and insects like leafhoppers, small jumping insects that feed on the grass’s juices.