With 800 + species of plants, over 330 species of birds, and the highest number of rare, threatened or endangered species for its size, Presque Isle offers nature lovers a one-of-a-kind experience.

View: Animal Life | Plant Life

Plant Life

These are just some of the plants of Presque Isle.   Have you spotted them yet?

Switch grass

• Panicum virgatum
• One of the many types of beach grass on the beaches and dunes of Presque Isle
• The roots of these clumps of grasses serve an important erosion control function, holding sand in place through wind and waves
• Leafy clumps persist through winter and are a yellow color, brightening a dull winter landscape

 

Carolina rose/pasture rose

• Rosa Carolina
• Pink flowered wild rose is very fragrant
• Grows in dry sandy soil
• Bright red rose hips persist on the plant through the winter and are good food for wildlife

 

Common milkweed

• Asclepias syriaca
• Produce a pod filled with abundant tufted seeds
• Have a milky-white, poisonous sap that gives the plant its name
• Monarch butterflies depend on this plant to lay their eggs and feed the larvae

 

Cardinal flower

• Lobelia cardinalis
• Inhabits stream banks and wet meadows
• Scarlet red flowers bloom in late summer and fall

 

Bull thistle

• Cirsium vulgare
• Can grow to be 3-6 feet tall
• Plant is prickly on stems and leaves
• This alien plant blooms throughout the summer

 

Chicory

• Cichorium intybus
• Plant usually has blue flowers but sometimes can bloom in white. The root of the plant can be used as a coffee substitute
• Alien plant

 

Clammyweed

• Polanisia graveolens
• Strange-looking, sticky plant with many hairs and a strong, unpleasant odor
• Found growing on the beaches and dunes
• Seed pods look like green beans
• Alien plant

Cypress spurge

• Euphorbia cyparissias
• Low-growing plant often seen on dunes
• Milky-white poisonous sap contained in needle-like leaves and stems
• Blooms in early summer with yellow-green, very fragrant flowers
• Alien plant

 

Dodder

• Cuscuta gronovii
• Callled “love vine” because of its parasitic nature, tightly twining around the stems of other plants and absorbs their sap through tiny suckers
• Produces dense clusters of small, white, bell-shaped flowers
• Plant has yellow or orange stems but no leaves

 

Fragrant water lily

• Nymphaea odorata
• Aquatic plants with showy white and sometimes pink flowers
• Flowers very fragrant and bloom summer through fall
• Found in the ponds

 

 

Fringed gentian

• Gentiana crinita
• Unusual, striking violet-blue flowers with a fringed appearance
• Found in dry, open sand plains
• Flowers in late summer

 

 

Goldenrod 

• Solidago sp.
• Seven species of goldenrod can be found on Presque Isle
• Goldenrod are found in a variety of habitats on Presque Isle, from wet to dry and sandy shores to woodlands
• Monarch butterflies seek these blooms out in the late summer through fall to feed on

 

Wild grape/riverbank grape 

• Vitis riparia
• Often found near beaches and wetlands on Presque Isle
• Large tangles of grape vines in the trees provide a good shelter for birds and wildlife
• Fruit is black, shining and very sweet after the first frost

 

Lupine 

• Lupinus perennis
• A member of the pea family
• Purple, showy, pea-like flowers grow in spikes
• Pennsylvania rare plant
• Grows in dry, open sand plains
• Blooms in late spring to early summer

 

 

Silverweed 

• Potentilla anserina
• Spreads by runners and found near sandy shores
• Bright yellow flowers
• Leaves are silvery beneath, giving the plant its name
• Pennsylvania threatened plant

 

Yellow violet 

• Viola rotundifolia
• Found in rich woodlands on Presque Isle
• Blooms in early spring
• Flower and leaves are edible

 

Swamp rose mallow 

• Hibiscus palustris
• Found in the swamps and wetlands of Presque Isle
• Large, showy blooms that face the sun
• A member of the hibiscus family

 

New England aster 

• Aster novae-angliae
• Blooms late summer through fall
• A flower that monarch butterflies feed on

 

 

 

Yellow iris 

• Iris pseudacorus
• An alien plant found in wetlands and marshes
• Blooms in late spring and early summer

View: Animal Life | Plant Life