Southcentral Alaska Flora & Fungi

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum)

• Tall blueberry shrub

• Oval finely serrated leaves

• White bell-shaped flowers

• Blue waxy berries

• Wet woods & bog edges

Bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum)

• Low blueberry shrub

• Rounded smooth-edged leaves

• Blue berries with waxy coating

• Common in bogs & tundra

• Pale leaf undersides

Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

• Tall thorny shrub

• Large soft maple-like leaves

• Bright pink 5-petaled flowers

• Yellow to salmon-red berries

• Wet coastal forests & streams

Trailing raspberry (Rubus pedatus)

• Tiny trailing forest bramble

• Leaves in groups of 3

• White flowers

• Small bright red raspberry-like fruit

• Creeps along mossy forest floor

Nagoonberry (Rubus arcticus)

• Low trailing bramble

• Wrinkled 3-part leaves

• Dark pink flowers

• Sweet dark red berry

• Common in tundra & open woods

Highbush cranberry (Viburnum edule)

• Opposite maple-like leaves

• Flat clusters of white flowers

• Bright translucent red berries

• Tart berries persist into fall

• Moist woods & stream edges

• Commonly confused with baneberry or currants

Bog cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos)

• Tiny trailing evergreen vine

• Small rolled leaves with pale undersides

• Pink nodding flowers

• Bright red sour berries

• Grows in bogs & muskeg

• Often confused with lingonberry

Lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

• Low evergreen shrub

• Thick shiny oval leaves

• White-pink bell flowers in spring

• Bright red berries in late summer/fall

• Dry tundra & conifer forests

• Often confused with bog cranberry

Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus)

• Rounded shallow-lobed leaves

• White flowers in spring

• Single salmon-orange berry in summer

• Low non-spiny tundra plant

• Wet tundra & bogs

Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis)

• Whorl of leaves at stem top

• Tiny flowers with 4 white bracts in spring

• Tight bunch of bright red berries in summer/fall

• Creeping forest groundcover

• Common in spruce & mixed forests

Red currant (Ribes triste)

• Lobed leaves with strong currant smell

• Hanging strings of greenish flowers in spring

• Clear red berries in summer

• Thornless shrub

• Moist woods & streambanks

• Can resemble baneberry before fruit ripens

Black currant (Ribes hudsonianum)

• Aromatic lobed leaves

• Small pale flowers in spring

• Black berries by late summer

• No thorns or prickles

• Wet forests & muskeg edges

• Sometimes confused with gooseberries

Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)

• Compound leaves with many leaflets

• Cone-shaped cream flower clusters in spring

• Bright red berries in summer

• Large woody shrub with soft pith stems

• Forest edges & disturbed sites

• Raw berries/seeds mildly poisonous

Crowberry (Empetrum nigrum)

• Low mat-forming evergreen

• Tiny needle-like leaves

• Small pinkish flowers in spring

• Black berries persist late into season

• Tundra, muskeg & rocky slopes

• Often mixed with blueberries while foraging

Watermelon berry (Streptopus amplexifolius)

• Zigzag arching stems

• Oval leaves clasp stem

• Small hanging greenish flowers in spring

• Red speckled berries in summer

• Moist shady forests & streamsides

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

• Deeply toothed basal leaves

• Bright yellow flower heads spring through summer

• White puffball seed heads

• Hollow stalks with milky sap

• Lawns, trails & disturbed soil

Red clover (Trifolium pratense)

• Three leaflets with pale V marking

• Pink-purple flower heads in summer

• Hairy upright stems

• Bushier/taller than white clover

• Fields, roadsides & meadows

• Often confused with white clover

White clover (Trifolium repens)

• Low creeping stems

• Three rounded leaflets

• White flower heads spring–summer

• Forms mats in lawns

• Fields, lawns & disturbed ground

• Often confused with red clover

Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea)

• Cone-shaped yellow-green flower heads

• No white petals

• Strong pineapple smell when crushed

• Finely divided leaves

• Trails, driveways & compacted soil

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)

• Glossy kidney-shaped leaves

• Bright yellow buttercup-like flowers in spring

• Thick hollow stems

• Clumps in shallow water

• Marshes, ponds & wet ditches

• Raw plant can irritate stomach

Alaska violet (Viola langsdorffii)

• Purple-violet flowers in spring/summer

• Heart-shaped leaves

• Five-petaled flowers with darker veins

• Low woodland perennial

• Moist meadows & forests

Marsh violet (Viola palustris)

• Small pale pink-purple flowers

• Rounded heart-shaped leaves

• Creeping low growth habit

• Wet boggy habitat

• Smaller & paler than Alaska violet

Bedstraw (Galium triflorum)

• Narrow leaves in whorls around stem

• Weak sprawling stems

• Tiny white flowers in summer

• Sticky hooked hairs cling to clothing

• Moist forest understory

Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana)

• Large fragrant pink flowers in summer

• Few large thorns

• Red rose hips in fall

• Compound serrated leaves

• Coastal thickets & forest edges

Prickly rose (Rosa acicularis)

• Dense fine prickles along stems

• Pink flowers in summer

• Bright red oval hips later season

• Compound toothed leaves

• Forests & streambanks

• More thorny than Nootka rose

Fireweed (Chamerion angustifolium)

• Tall stalk with narrow willow-like leaves

• Bright pink flower spikes in summer

• Cottony wind-blown seeds later season

• Often first plant after fires/disturbance

• Roadsides, burns & open meadows

Chocolate lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis)

• Dark brown-purple bell flowers

• Whorled leaves on upright stem

• Blooms spring to early summer

• Strong earthy/skunky smell

• Wet meadows & coastal flats

• Sometimes confused with other lilies

Wild geranium (Geranium erianthum)

• AKA woolly cranesbill

• Deeply divided leaves

• Purple-pink flowers in summer

• Hairy stems & buds

• Long pointed “beak” seed pods

• Meadows & open woods

Sitka burnet (Sanguisorba stipulata)

• Large toothed leaflets

• Tall hollow stems

• Dense pink flower spikes in summer

• Wet meadow perennial

• Streambanks & marshy areas

Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)

• Tall upright stems

• Narrow lance-shaped leaves

• Bright yellow flower sprays in late summer

• Spreads in open sunny areas

• Fields, roadsides & meadows

• Often wrongly blamed for allergies

Veronica (Veronica americana)

• Opposite serrated leaves

• Small blue flowers in summer

• Thick creeping stems

• Streamside/wetland plant

• Ditches, creeks & wet soil

Chickweed (Stellaria media)

• Tiny white star-shaped flowers

• Opposite oval leaves

• Weak creeping stems

• Single line of hairs along stem

• Gardens & moist disturbed ground

Umbel bittercress (Cardamine oligosperma)

• Tiny white 4-petal flowers

• Slender upright seed pods

• Small compound leaves

• Mustard-family plant

• Wet disturbed soils & ditches

Cow parsnip a.k.a. pushki (Heracleum maximum)

• Huge lobed leaves

• Tall hollow hairy stems

• Massive white umbrella flower clusters in summer

• Coarse celery-like smell

• Moist meadows, riversides & roadsides

• Sap can cause severe sun burns/blisters

Lutz spruce (Picea × lutzii)

• Hybrid Sitka × white spruce

• Sharp bluish-green needles

• Narrow conical evergreen shape

• Hanging cones with thin scales

• Coastal Alaska forests

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)

• Covered in stinging hairs

• Opposite serrated leaves

• Square stems

• Green hanging flower clusters in summer

• Rich moist soils & disturbed areas

• Causes burning rash on contact

Plantain (Plantago major)

• Broad ribbed basal leaves

• Parallel leaf veins

• Tall skinny seed spikes in summer

• Flat rosette growth

• Paths, lawns & compacted soil

Wormwood (Artemisia tilesii)

• Silvery aromatic divided leaves

• Sage-like smell when crushed

• Small dull flower clusters

• Upright gray-green stems

• Dry open slopes & gravel bars

Devil’s club (Oplopanax horridus)

• Huge maple-like leaves

• Sharp spines on stems & leaf undersides

• Upright thick stems

• Red berry clusters in late summer

• Dense rainforest understory & wet woods

Lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina)

• Delicate feathery fronds

• Young fiddleheads tightly curled in spring

• Bright green arching leaves in summer

• No flowers or seeds

• Moist forests & streambanks

Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum)

• Evergreen shrub with leathery leaves

• Rusty fuzzy undersides

• White flower clusters in spring

• Strong herbal smell

• Bogs, muskeg & tundra edges

Black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa)

• Tall poplar with furrowed bark

• Sticky fragrant buds in spring

• Triangular shiny leaves

• Cottony wind-blown seeds in early summer

• Riverbanks & floodplains

Dock (Rumex obtusifolius)

• Large wavy-edged leaves

• Red-brown seed stalks in summer

• Deep taproot

• Sour-tasting leaves

• Disturbed soils & roadsides

King bolete (Boletus edulis)

• Thick brown bun-shaped cap

• Sponge pores instead of gills

• Bulky pale stalk with net pattern

• Found summer–fall near conifers

• Choice edible mushroom

• Can be confused with bitter boletes

Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

• Bright orange shelf fungus

• Yellow pore underside

• Grows in layered shelves on trees

• Soft texture when young

• Summer through fall on dead wood

Puffball mushroom (Lycoperdon perlatum)

• Round white mushroom

• No visible gills or cap

• Covered with tiny bumps/spines

• Releases spores in brown “puff”

• Forest floors & grassy areas

Monkshood (Aconitum delphiniifolium)

• Hood-shaped dark blue-purple flowers

• Deeply divided leaves

• Tall moist meadow plant

• Blooms summer to early fall

• Extremely poisonous ⚠

• Sometimes confused with larkspur

False hellebore (Veratrum viride)

• Large pleated corn-like leaves

• Thick tall stems

• Green flower clusters in summer

• Wet meadows & streambanks

• Extremely poisonous ⚠

• Commonly confused with skunk cabbage

Elderberry seeds (Sambucus racemosa)

• Small hard seeds inside red berries

• Found in clusters on elderberry shrubs

• Seeds remain after berry pulp removed

• Raw seeds contain toxic compounds ⚠

• More noticeable during fruiting season

Baneberry (Actaea rubra)

• Bright red or white berries

• Compound sharply toothed leaves

• Small white flower clusters in spring

• Thick fleshy stems

• Moist forests & shady slopes

• Poisonous berries ⚠

• Commonly confused with currants or highbush cranberry

Richardson’s anemone / yellow thimbleweed (Anemone or Anemonastrum richardsonii)

• Small white buttercup-like flowers

• Yellow flower center

• Deeply divided leaves

• Low alpine/tundra perennial

• Tundra & alpine meadows in spring/summer

Wild red raspberry (Rubus idaeus)

• Arching prickly canes

• Compound leaves with pale fuzzy undersides

• White flowers in spring

• Red hollow berries in summer

• Forest edges, clearings & roadsides

Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia)

• Tiny carnivorous bog plant

• Sticky red tentacle hairs trap insects

• Small white flowers in summer

• Round leaf blades in moss

• Wet peat bogs & muskeg

• Very common on Wynn bog trails

Lupine (Lupinus nootkatensis)

• Tall spikes of blue-purple flowers

• Palm-shaped leaves with many leaflets

• Hairy stems & seed pods

• Blooms early–mid summer

• Open meadows & roadsides

• Common around Homer in summer

Green alder (Alnus viridis)

• Multi-stemmed shrub forming dense colonies

• Rounded, finely toothed leaves

• Dangling male catkins and smaller female catkins

• Woody cone-like fruits persisting through winter

• Moist slopes, riparian areas, forest margins, and disturbed ground

• Widespread across northern temperate and boreal regions

Sitka alder (Alnus viridis ssp. sinuata)

• Shrubby thicket-forming plant

• Rounded serrated leaves

• Long dangling catkins in spring

• Woody cone-like seed structures

• Disturbed slopes & wet forest edges

• Common in Homer uplands

Peat moss / sphagnum moss (Sphagnum spp.)

• Soft spongy moss forming thick mats

• Holds huge amounts of water

• Colors range green, red, yellow & pink

• Creates acidic bog habitat/peat

• Bogs, muskeg & wet tundra

• Often grows with cranberry & sundew

Feltleaf / Alaska willow (Salix alaxensis)

• Thick leaves with silvery fuzzy undersides

• Tall willow shrub/small tree

• Velvety new shoots

• Large catkins in spring

• Gravel bars & floodplains

• Major moose browse species

Barclay’s willow (Salix barclayi)

• Medium shrub willow, usually 1–3 m tall

• Narrow lance-shaped leaves, green above and paler beneath

• Leaves often slightly glossy with fine serrations

• Soft fuzzy catkins in spring (before or with leaves)

• Moist habitats: streambanks, bog edges, wet meadows

• Common moose browse plant (twigs heavily nipped in winter)

• Can be confused with Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis) or other coastal willows due to similar leaf shape and wetland habitat

Sitka willow (Salix sitchensis)

• Larger shrub or small tree

• Long gray-green leaves with fuzzy undersides

• Tall dense thickets

• Catkins appear before/full with leaves

• Coastal wetlands & river edges

• Common on coastal Kenai Peninsula

Bog sedges (Carex spp., many species)

• Grass-like plants dominating peatlands

• Triangle-shaped stems (“sedges have edges”)

• Seed heads vary: spikes or drooping clusters

• Form dense tussocks in muskeg

• Extremely common in Wynn bog zones

• Often overlooked but ecologically dominant

Paintbrush (coastal mix group, Castilleja spp.)

• Hemiparasitic (attaches to grass roots)

• Color varies red → orange → yellow

• Common in mixed meadows at Wynn

• Often confused with lupine at distance

• Indicator of healthy meadow systems

Common yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

• Very finely divided “feather-like” leaves (bipinnate)

• Flat-topped clusters of small white flowers (sometimes faint pink)

• Strong herbal/camphor smell when crushed

• Blooms summer through early fall

• Grows in dry meadows, trails, roadsides, disturbed soil

• Can be confused with poison hemlock or wild carrot at a glance, but yarrow leaves are much finer and plant is not hollow-stemmed

Sea-watch (Angelica lucida)

• Also called:

  • Seacoast angelica

  • Wild celery

• Large compound leaves with serrated leaflets

• Thick hollow, celery-like stems

• Large white umbrella-shaped flower clusters (umbels)

• Blooms summer in coastal areas

• Salt-tolerant: beaches, bluffs, coastal meadows

Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia)

• Low evergreen shrub forming small mats in bogs

• Narrow, blue-green leaves with strongly rolled edges (white underside visible)

• Small pink, urn-shaped (bell-like) flowers in late spring–summer

• Grows in acidic sphagnum bogs, muskeg, and peat mats

• Highly toxic (contains grayanotoxins; can affect heart/nervous system)

• Often confused with Labrador tea, but Labrador tea has rusty fuzzy leaf undersides and larger leaves

Lungwort lichen (Lobaria pulmonaria)

• Large leafy lobes, olive-green to brown

• “Wrinkled lung” texture on surface

• Pale underside with raised ridges

• Often grows on old hardwoods (cottonwood)

• Indicator of clean, old-growth air

• Moist coastal rainforest environments

Liverlead wintergreen / pyrola (Pyrola asarifolia)

• Low evergreen woodland plant with shiny, rounded, dark-green leaves that persist through winter (look like spinach!)

• Produces a short stalk of nodding pink to rose-colored flowers in early to mid-summer

• Flowers have a distinctive curved style that often protrudes beyond the petals

• Grows in moist conifer and mixed forests, mossy understories, and shaded woodland edges around Homer

• Often found in acidic, well-drained soils associated with spruce forests

Northern groundcone (Boschniakia rossica)

• Leafless, fleshy reddish-brown to purple spike-like plant

• Looks like a pinecone sticking out of the ground

• Parasitic plant (no chlorophyll; gets nutrients from alder roots, mainly Alnus)

• Blooms late spring–summer in forest understory

• Found in moist conifer and mixed forests, often near alder thickets (common around Homer/Wynn)

• Can be confused with upright fungi or old seed cones because it lacks normal leaves

Moschatel (Adoxa moschatellina)

• Also called:

  • Townhall clock (classic common name, refers to flower shape)

• Very small spring woodland herb

• Usually 5-part “cube-like” greenish flower head (one flower faces up, four sideways)

• Delicate, finely divided compound leaves (parsley-like look)

• Low-growing, often forming small patches in moss or leaf litter

• Blooms early spring before canopy fully leafs out

• Moist, shady forests—decayed spruce forest floor is typical in Southcentral Alaska

• Easy to miss; often appears as a tiny green star at ground level

Ochre banded conk (Fomitopsis ochracea)

• Hard, woody perennial shelf fungus

• Upper surface: gray to brown with muted ochre/yellowish banding (not sharp red)

• Underside: white to cream pores

• Often thinner and more uniform than red belted

• Grows on conifers and birch in boreal forests

• Surface is usually dull

• Does NOT bruise dark when scratched

Red-Belted Polypore (Fomitopsis mounceae)

• Hard, woody perennial shelf fungus

• Upper surface gray to brown with muted yellow, ochre, orange, or reddish banding

• Underside white to cream pores that do not darken when scratched

• Common on dead and dying conifers (especially spruce and hemlock) in Alaska forests

Oak fern (Gymnocarpium dryopteris)

• Delicate, low-growing deciduous fern of moist boreal and coastal forests

• Frond divided into three main triangular leaflets, giving an oak-leaf-like appearance

• Bright to yellow-green foliage on slender, often horizontal stems

• Forms loose colonies from creeping rhizomes rather than dense clumps

• Typically 2–12 inches (5–30 cm) tall and airy in appearance

• Grows in cool, shady, moist woods, streambanks, and forested slopes throughout Alaska

Wood fern (Dryopteris expansa)

• Robust perennial fern common in Alaska's conifer forests and riparian areas

• Forms dense clumps or crowns rather than spreading colonies

• Fronds broadly triangular, finely divided, and typically darker green than oak fern

• Usually 1–4 feet (30–120 cm) tall, substantially larger than oak fern

• Stalks and bases bear distinctive brown scales, a common Dryopteris characteristic

• Often found on rotting logs, stumps, streambanks, and moist forest floors

• Sori are covered by kidney-shaped indusia, unlike the exposed sori of oak fern