Huron Pines stewardship staff and volunteers spent the morning of Aug 11 pulling invasive spotted knapweed from the dune shoreline of Lake Huron in an ongoing effort to restore habitat for the federally threatened Pitcher’s thistle. See photos from that workday here. … More Gallery: Protecting Rare Plants at Negwegon State Park
The official wildflower of the Great Lakes State is right at home anywhere it can get its feet wet along the rocky coast of Northern Lake Huron, but those places are getting harder to come by. This pint-sized perennial is known for its deep blue flowers that emerge mere inches above the ground for a fleeting few weeks in May and June. It’s a bit of a miracle this fragile flower exists at all. … More Our Wildflower: Protecting the Rare Habitat of the Dwarf Lake Iris
On the remote shore of Negwegon State Park, where Lake Huron’s rugged coast gives way to long, narrow sand dunes, one of Michigan’s rarest plants is hanging on.For most of its life, the Pitcher’s thistle is a wispy tangle of short, silver-green stems.Below ground, the plant will spend the better part of a decade sending a taproot 6 feet down. … More Treasures in the Sand: Protecting One of Michigan’s Rarest Plants