A flora of northeastern Minnesota

556 Pages·1965·31.014 MB·English

by  Olga Lakela

A Flora of Northeastern Minnesota
OLGA LAKELA
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS • MINNEAPOLIS
© Copyright 1965 by the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved
Lithographed in the United States of America at the
North Central Publishing Company, St. Paul
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-15424
PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN, INDIA, AND PAKISTAN BY THE OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS, LONDON, BOMBAY, AND KARACHI, AND IN CANADA BY
THE COPP CLARK PUBLISHING CO. LIMITED, TORONTO
Figures 54-67 previously appeared in Flicker, Vol. 27, pp. 46-77.
A cknowledgmenh
The author wishes to thank the many persons, organizations, and institutions who made
this book possible:
The late Professor M. L. Fernald, who encouraged study of local flora; and especially
the late Professors C. 0. Rosendahl and F. K. Butters, whose teaching and broad knowledge of
Minnesota plant life stimulated research and field studies, and who, through years of associ-
ation, shared with her their interpretations of many a taxonomic problem.
The Graduate School of the University of Minnesota whose grants in aid facilitated
botanizing in the roadless area.
The Quetico-Superior Wilderness Research Center, for unlimited generosity in making
easier the collection and study of the plants of the wilderness area, and particularly Mr.
Clifford Ahlgren, director of the Center, for expediting field trips and for allowing the
use of his collections from the headwaters of the St. Louis River, and his wife, Isabel, for
technical aid, including a critical reading of the manuscript.
Miss Mary I. Elwell, a colleague and companion on many a wilderness trail, for her great
help in collecting and pressing specimens, usually in dimly lighted, stove-warmed cabins in
the north woods.
The late Mrs. Agnes Chase for checking certain species of grasses; Dr. F. J. Hermann for
checking species of Carex; Dr. T. G. Yuncker for determination of Cuscuta; and Dr. N. H.
Russel for annotating the collections of violets.
Dr. H. H. Iltis for reading the manuscript and offering numerous suggestions, some of
which were adopted; Dr. John W. Moore for checking and aiding in determinations of species
and for a final reading of the manuscript, including major assistance with the glossary;
Dr. Henry Lepp for his contribution ("Location and Geography " and "Bedrock Geology and
Soils " ) to the introduction; Mrs. Evelyn Hansen for painstakingly typing the final pages;
Miss Marcia Strout and all the other members of the staff of the University of Minnesota
Press for their careful handling of manuscript through all its stages.
The artists who executed the illustrations, each identified by initials: Elizabeth
Northrup (Mrs. Richard), EN; Katherine Roberts (Mrs. Arthur), KR; Robert Iverson, RI; Eliza-
beth Jerabec, EJ; Gayle Kennedy, GK; Richard Kishel, RK; Allen Landgren, AL; Anneli Tervonen,
AT; also Miss Elaine Rosnow for inking the maps and Miss Wilma Monserud for touch-ups and
for arranging the illustrations.
The late Dr. E. W. Bohannon, President Emeritus of the Duluth State Teachers College,
for recognition and approval of the study, and for interest in the growth of the herbarium
at that institution from its very inception.
Provost R. W. Darland of the University of Minnesota, Duluth, for his very great inter-
est in the progress of this book and for his unsparing effort in securing means for its pub-
lication.
The following people and organizations who contributed money to the cost of publishing
this book: Mr. William K. Alford, Miss Frances Andrews, Mr. Harry C. Applequist, Dr. Eliza-
beth C. Bagley, Mr. Earle Brown, Mr. Fred W. Buck, Mr. John M. Budd, Mr. Harold Cant, Mrs.
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Rollo N. Chaffee, Mrs. Lewis W. Child, Miss Elisabeth M. Congdon, Dr. Donald W. Davidson,
Mrs. Marjorie C. Dudley, Mrs. Ellen A. Etter, Mr. Wallace Ferris, Mr. John K. Fesler, Mrs. J.
Frank Fraser, Mrs. Alice W. Gaarden, Mrs. Carlisle Heimbach, Mr. Arne Heino, Miss Helen Heino,
Dr. A. S. Kellam, Mrs. R. D. Longyear, Mr. Howard W. Lyon, Mr. W. M. MacConnachie, Jr., Mr.
C. R. Magney, Miss Caroline Marshall, Miss Newell Marshall, Mrs. Florence K. Melander, Mr.
Richard W. Northrup, Mr. Arthur Roberts, Miss Florence J. Roberts, Mrs. Katherine M. Roberts,
Mr. Charles Silverson, Miss Marion Smith, Dr. Martin 0. Wallace; A L Chapter, P.E.G. Sister-
hood, Duluth; Duluth Bird Club; Faculty and Civil Service Staff, University of Minnesota, Du-
luth; Faculty Wives' Club, University of Minnesota, Duluth; Lakeside Garden Club, Duluth;
Lakeview Garden Club, Duluth; Observation Garden Club, Duluth; Quetico-Superior Wilderness
Research Center; University of Minnesota Memorial Fund; Woodland Garden Club, Duluth.
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Introduction
This study of the vegetation of the Mid-Arrowhead region of northeastern Minnesota was
begun in 1935 when I joined the faculty of the State Teachers College at Duluth. The pleasure
of learning inspired my quest for plants, and that pleasure was enhanced by the great natural
beauty of the region and challenged by unfamiliar elements in the various floristic patterns
of the vegetation. During the ensuing quarter of a century, my botanical explorations extend-
ed from the environs of Duluth to the Canadian border, covering St. Louis and Lake counties--
an area of 9,229.71 square miles, which is greater than that of Vermont.
Location and Physiography
The region covered in this monograph is roughly triangular, as is suggested by the name
"Arrowhead." The west boundary forms the base of the triangle and this boundary is shared
with those of Aitkin, Itasca, and Koochiching counties. Lake Superior and the international
boundary, which follows the Rainy River water system, make up the second side of the tri-
angle. A corner of the arrowhead is cut off on the south where the boundary of the region
follows the St. Louis River to Jay Cooke State Park and then continues first north and then
west along the border of Carlton County. The region extends from 46° 43' N to 48° 30* N
latitude and from 91° 45' W to 93° 51' W longitude.
H. E. Wright, Jr.,* divides the area into six physiographic regions. These include two
converging highland areas, the North Shore Highland and the Giant' s Range, which control the
major drainage divides and dominate the relief. The bedrock lakes to the north belong in the
Border Lakes Physiographic Region. In the western part of the area the bedrock lakes are
separated from the Giant's Range by an area of thicker drift called the Cook-Embarrass Region.
The plain, swamp-covered terrain south of the Giant's Range belongs in the Glacial Lake St.
Louis Region, while the drumlinoid hills along the west boundary of the Lake Superior High-
land are referred to as the Toimi Drumlin Field Region.
The highest and the lowest points in the state of Minnesota lie within this area. Lake
Superior is the lowest point, 602 feet above sea level, whereas the Misquah Hills, in western
Cook County only a few miles inland from the lake, contain the highest point, 2,230 feet.
The relief is not so acute in the central part of the region as it is along the lake-
shore. The Giant's Range rises from 50 to 500 feet above the surrounding country, and on the
western boundary of the Lake Superior Highland Region the relief is even less pronounced.
Three important drainage systems meet in the Arrowhead region, so it may well be called
one of the backbones of the continent. Streams flowing north into the Rainy River ultimately
""Sequence of Glaciation in Eastern Minnesota," Glacial Geology, Eastern Minnesota, field trip No. 3,
Guidebook for Field Trips, Minneapolis meeting, Geological Society of America, 1956, Part 1, pp. 10-19.
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deposit their waters in Hudson Bay and the Arctic Ocean. Those flowing into Lake Superior
drain into the Atlantic, while the Prairie River, a small stream in southwestern St. Louis
County, joins the Mississippi on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Bedrock Geology and Soils
The consolidated rocks of the region are almost all Precambrian, the only exceptions be-
ing a few small patches of Cretaceous sediments in the area of the Mesabi Range. Glacial
drift and glaciofluvial deposits frequently overlie the consolidated rocks, particularly in
the western and southern parts.
The oldest rocks--among the oldest in North America and the world—are found in the
northwestern corner of the region. Generally, the rocks become progressively younger south-
ward and, to a lesser extent, eastward. The northern part of the area is underlain mainly by
Keewatin greenstones, metasediments, and Knife Lake slates and conglomerates. These volcanics
and altered sediments are folded and intruded by gneisses and granites. The Giant's Range,
formed principally of granites and gneisses, marks the southern extremity of this geologic
province; the province is terminated on the east by Keweenawan lava flows and intrusives.
These old rocks are overlain by relatively unfolded quartzite, iron formations, and ar-
gillite of the Huronian system. The great Mesabi iron range, more or less paralleling the
Giant's Range, belongs to this system. Farther south the Huronian rocks become intensely
folded and intruded by granite; the rocks here are mainly slates and their higher metamorphic
equivalents, schists and gneisses.
The North Shore Highland is the site of a still younger group of rocks assigned to the
Keweenawan system. Great thicknesses of basaltic lava flows dipping east-southeast toward the
shore of Lake Superior form the earliest rocks of this system. These lava flows and interca-
lated sediments are intruded by diabase, gabbro, and related rocks. The largest intrusive,
the Duluth Gabbro, extends from Duluth northward to where it intersects the Mesabi Range and
then north-northeast to the Canadian border. Red sandstones overlie the volcanics in the Fond
du Lac area; these are youngest of the Keweenawan rocks and also the youngest rocks of the
region.
Vegetation
The Arrowhead region is embraced by the boreal coniferous forest which originally cov-
ered the northeastern third of the state. The remaining wild, forested lands, with rugged
cliffs, threading streams, and placid lakes, make up the preserves in the northeastern part
of the Superior National Forest. Of the regional pines, the jack pine predominates; the red
and white pine are encountered mostly in successional growth with white spruce and balsam
fir. The low juniper is widely distributed on exposed bluffs and in rocky forests, whereas by
contrast the creeping juniper is,rare and local, known only in the vicinity of Split Rock on
Lake Superior and on the Fox Islands in Rainy Lake. In moist lowlands and often on rocky
points and islands, white cedar and yew appear. The upland bogs are dominated by black spruce
and tamarack, and the cliffs and ledges favor a crevice vegetation in which the pioneering
lichens, mosses, and ferns maintain a luxuriant hold.
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Interspersed throughout the conifers are deciduous trees and shrubs--paper birch, red
and mountain maple, American and northern mountain ash. On the banks of rivers and lakes oc-
cur yellow birch, American elm, silver maple, and red and green ash. In swampy terrain and
on shorelands, balsam poplar, black ash, many species of willow, and hoary alder are the
principal types. Stands of trembling aspen and large-toothed aspen--trees that follow fire or
destruction of the original forest by other agencies--are more or less permanent parts of the
landscape. The sphagnaceous bogs, often including open lakes with mats of sedge and heath,
and the mixed sediments of shallow shores of lakes and rivers occasionally contain some of
the less known herbaceous species in the state: Sparganium glomeratum, Carex katahdinensis,
Rhynchospora fusca, Cladium mariscoides, Juncus stygius, Salix pellita, Geocaulon lividum,
Polygonum Douglasii, Nymphaea tetragona, Arenaria macrophylla, Ranunculus lapponicus, Caltha
natans, Subularia aqaatica, Rubus acaulis, R, Chamaemorus, Pyrola minor, Littorella americana.
The coast of Lake Superior, with grayish loam overlying the red clayey subsoil, is cov-
ered by a mixed evergreen and deciduous forest. There the heart-leaved birch, not restricted
to the Lake Superior Highland, is conspicuous. Among the predominant shrubs are ninebark,
thimbleberry, and several species of juneberry. In the crevices of the shorerocks and ter-
races and on the walls of the river gorges the following species grow: Trisetum spicatum var.
pilosiglume, Eleocharis nitida, Scirpus caespitosus var. callosus, Carex Buxbaumii, Carex
pallescens var. neogaea, Luzula parviflora, Tofieldia pusilla, Polygonum viviparum, Draba
arabisans, Crataegus Douglasii, Potentilla fruticosa, Angelica atropurpurea var. occidentalis,
Primula mistassinica, Pinguicula vulgaris, Euphrasia hudsoniana, Arnica chionopappa. And
lastly, on Hunter's Hill in Duluth, grows Poa Chaixii.
Among many species of European origin, the following are known only on Lake Superior
near Duluth: Luzula luzuloides, Filipendula Uhiaria, Campanula glomerata, Hieracium
Pilosella, H. vulgatum.
Minnesota Point, a crescent-shaped sandspit extending from the Duluth ship canal to the
Superior entry (the original outlet of the Nemadji River into the lake), divides the waters
of Lake Superior from those of Superior Bay. Washed by these waters, the Point is open to
continuous plant migration. From among the four hundred or so species growing there, a few
distinctive ones will be mentioned here. Ammophila breviligulata, beachgrass, is predominant
on the seven-mile beach facing the lake; its occurrence on Lake Superior's only sandy beach
in Minnesota marks the limit of its westward extension from the shores of the lower Great
Lakes. Scirpus Purshianus, rare and local, and Iris Pseudacorus and Bidens discoidea are
established in marshy sand flats facing Superior Bay; here the original shoreline of the
Point has been modified by sandfills of sediment dredged from the navigation channel.
The ridge of sand extending the entire length of the Point was originally covered with
coniferous forest, and a considerable stand of pines, red and white, with juniper, still
remains south of the settled area. Tufts of locally rare hair grass, Deschampsia flexuosa,
are scattered under the canopy of trees in moist depressions along trails. In bare expanses
of the beach on the bay side, between the ridge and the shore, there appears a notable assem-
blage of sun- and sand-loving plants: Polygonella articulata, Corispermum hyssopifolium,
C. nitidum, Cycloloma atriplicifolium, Hudsonia tamentosa var. intermedia. In this population
Artemisia Stelleriana has a precarious hold. Ophioglossum vulgatum var. pseudopodum and
Lythrum alatum invaded the pioneer plant community of a nearby island made of dredged sedi-
ments from the bay.
Soils in the central part of the region are largely gray-brown loam, with an admixture
of peat and sand overlying fine sand. About the extensive marshes, swales, and scattered
lakes with sedge and heath mats, many interesting species grow; Lycopodium inundatum, Ophio-
glossum vulgatum var. pseudopodum, Muhlenbergia uniflora, Fimbristylis autumnalis, Drosera
intermedia, and Utricularia cornuta are worthy of note. In the Wilderness Valley farm area
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near Highway 7 Rubus acauZis--low, in scattered colonies--extends for miles along the border
of the meadows. In the same region, Caltha natans struggles to survive in the fluctuating
waters of the drainage ditches.
The southwestern and the western parts of St. Louis County are covered with gray loam
over limy subsoil. In the Prairie Lake district are substantial inclusions of the deciduous
forest formation; there, with basswood and sugar maple, grow large American and red elm trees,
ironwood and soft maple, black and peachleaf willow; Ribes Cynosbati, Crataegus roanensis,
and Phryma Leptostachya are in the undergrowth of shrubs and herbs. In a similar hardwood in-
clusion north of Floodwood one finds Adiantum pedatum, Erythronium americanwn, Carpinus caro-
liniana, and, farther north to the valleys of Sand Creek and the Little Swan River, Mitella
diphylla, Geum. laciniatum, and Adoxa Moschatellina. In marly sphagnum bog associations,
Orchis rotundifolia and Malaxis brachypoda may be encountered.
Traces of western floristic elements exist on denuded bluffs and the sandy terraces of
lakes and streams. Among such species are Koeleria cristata, Carex Torreyi, Erysimum asperum,
Potentilla gracilis, Psoralea argophylla, Asclepias ovalifolia, Orthocarpus luteus, Liatris
punctata, Madia glomerata, Crepis runcinata. Polemoniwn occidentale var. lacustre is localized
in a sphagnaceous white cedar forest, and Phacelia Franklinii in stands of jack pine.
The Scope of This Flora
Though plant distribution is subject to natural environmental influences and does not
follow political boundaries, local floras limited by these artificial boundaries are never-
theless convenient teaching aids and indispensable in recording continental floras. This man-
ual is a descriptive floristic record of a region that has had no such study--a region sub-
ject to drastic changes with the pressures of modern civilization.
In pursuit of plants for study, representative habitats in most parts of the counties
were explored. Some 23,000 specimens, representing 111 families of vascular plants, have been
prepared as herbarium material. In addition, collections of previous workers deposited in the
herbarium of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and those of Professor G. N. Jones
and associates in the herbarium of the University of Illinois, have been checked and studied.
Descriptions of species are based on living or on dry specimens; for lack of fresh flowers
and fruits, herbarium specimens were sometimes used.
Nomenclature, with a few exceptions, follows Gray's Manual of Botany, eighth edition.
Common names are usually also given, where necessary without previous authority.
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Abbreviations
Abbreviations of Authors' Names
A. A. Eat., Alvah Augustus Eaton R. Br., Robert Brown A. DC., Alphonse Louis Pierre
Abbe, Ernst Cleveland Abbe Brewer, William Henry Brewer Pyramus de Candolle
A. Br., Alexander Carl Heinrich Britt., Nathaniel Lord Britton D. C. Eat., Daniel Cady Eaton
Braun BSP., Nathaniel Lord Britton, Dene., Joseph Decaisne
Adans., Michel Adanson Emerson Ellick Sterne, and Jus- D. Don, David Don
A. DC., Alphonse De Candolle tus Ferdinand Poggenberg Deam, Charles demon Deam
Aellen, Paul Aellen Buchen., Franz Georg Philipp Bu- Desc., Michel Etienne Descour-
A. Gray, Asa Gray chenau tilz
A. H. Moore, Alfred Hanford Bunge, Alexander Andrejewicz von Desf., Rene Louiche Desfontaines
Moore Bunge Desr., Louis Auguste Joseph Des-
Ait. , William Aiton Burgess, Edward Sandford Burgess rousseaux
All., Carlo Allioni Bush, Benjamin Franklin Bush Desv., Augustin Nicaise Desvaux
Anderss., Nils Johan Andersson Butt., Frederick King Butters Dew., Chester Dewey
Andrz., Antoni Lucianowicz C. A. Mey. , Carl Anton von Meyer Dill., Johann Jacob Dillen
Andrzej owski C. B. Clarke, Charles Baron Dole, Eleazer Johnson Dole
Angstr. , Johan Angstrom Clarke D. Don, David Don
Aschers., Paul Friedrich August C.&S. , Ludolph Adalbert von Cha- G. Don, George Don
Ascherson misso and Diederich Franz Leon- Dougl., David Douglas
Ashe, William Willard Ashe hard von Schlechtendahl Druce, George Claridge Druce
Babel, William K. Babel Carey, John Carey Du Roi, Johann Philipp Du Roi
Bailey, Liberty Hyde Bailey Carr., Elie Abel Carriere Duchesne, Antoine Nicolas
Baker, John Gilbert Baker Cass., Alexandre Henri Gabriel Duchesne
Banks, Sir Joseph Banks Cassini Duham., Henri Louis Duhamel de
Barbas, Vincenz von Barbds Cassidy, James Cassidy Monceau
Barnh., John Hendley Barnhart Chaix, Dominique Chaix Dum., Barthelemy Charles Joseph
Bart., Benjamin Smith Barton Cham., Adalbert von Chamisso Dumortier
Baumg. , Johann Christian Gottl'ob (formerly Louis Charles Dunal, Michel Felix Dunal
Baumgarten Adelaide Chamisso de Boncourt) Dur., Michel Charles Durieu de
Beauv. , Ambroise Marie Joseph Chase, Mary Agnes Chase Maisonneuve
Palisot de Beauvois Chat., Jean Jacques Chatelain Durand, Elias Magloire Durand
Beckh., K. Beckhaus Chodat, Robert Chodat Dusen, Per Karl Hjalmar Dusen
Benke, Herman C. Benke Christens., Carl Frederick Albert Eames & Wieg. , Arthur Johnson
Benn., Arthur Bennett Chris tens en Eames and Karl McKay Wiegand
Benson, Lyman David Benson C. B. Clarke, Charles Baron A. A. Eat., Alvah Augustus Eaton
Benth., George Bentham Clarke D. C. Eat., Daniel Cady Eaton
Bernh., Johann Jacob Bernhardi Clayt., John Clayton Egglest., Willard Webster Eggle-
Berth., Sabin Berthelot Clute, Willard Nelson Clute s ton
Bess., WiIibald Swibert Besser Cockerell, Theodore Dru Alison Ehrh., Friedrich Ehrhart
Bickn., Eugene Pintard Bicknell Cockerel I E. J. Hill, Ellsworth Jerome
Biehler, Johann Friedrich Theodor Coleman, Nathan Coleman Hill
Biehler Correll, Donovan Stewart Correll Ell. , Stephen El liott
Bigel., Jacob Bigelow Cosson, Ernest Saint Charles Cos- Endl., Stephen Friedrich Ladis-
Blake, Sidney Fay Blake son laus Endlicher
Blume, Carl Ludwig von Blume Coult., John Merle Coulter Engelm., George Engelmann
Boenn., Clemens Maria Friedrich Coville, Frederick Vernon Engler, Heinrich Gustaf Adolf
von Boenninghausen Covi lie Eng Ier
Bogenh. , Karl Bogenhard Cronq., Arthur John Cronquist Epling, Carl Clawson Epling
Bolton, James Bo I ton C. V. Morton, Conrad Vernon Farw. , Oliver Atkins Farwell
Boott, Francis Boott Morton Fassett, Norman Carter Fassett
Bourgeau, Eugene Bourgeau Cyrill., Domenico Cirillo Fern., Merritt Lyndon Fernald
Brainerd, Ezra Brainerd Dandy, James Edgar Dandy Fern. & Wieg., Merritt Lyndon
A. Br., Alexander Carl Heinrich DC., August in Pyramus de Fernald and Karl McKay Wiegand
Braun Candolie Fieber, Franz Xavier Fieber
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