Blooming North: Wild plants of the Northwest Territories

Fireweed in the Mackenzie Mountains - Credit: J.F: Bergeron & NWTT

As you hike the summer tundra, walk Northern trails, or paddle the rivers of the Northwest Territories, you’ll encounter an ever-changing mosaic of colors and shapes. Thousands of wildflowers bloom in a vibrant display, all in a race to seed before the short Northern summer ends.

Listed below are some of the Northwest Territoeies’ fascinating wild plants—treasured not only for their beauty but also for their importance to Indigenous cultures as food, medicine, and materials. As you explore, keep your camera handy, slow down, and get up close to these intricate plants.

Arctic Cotton

Sedge family (Eriophorum spp)

These grasslike plants (sedges) thrive in wet areas, with silky fibers on their flowers to help disperse seeds on the wind. Cottongrass was vital to Inuit communities, where its fibers were used as wicks for the traditional kudlik (stone lamp).

Arctic Cotton - Credit: Hans Pfaff & NWTT

Spruce

Pine family (Picea mariana (black spruce) and Picea glauca (white spruce))

Spruce is characteristic of the boreal forest, and a hallmark tree of the North. In much of the Northwest Territories there are two common species: black and white spruce. Black spruce, with its columnar shape, thrives in wet soils, while white spruce prefers drier ground and has pyramid-like foliage. Indigenous peoples have used spruce for everything from firewood and shelters to crafting canoes. The roots were woven into birch bark frames, and its sap served as waterproofing, chewing gum, and medicine. Young spruce tips can even be boiled for tea, making for a delicious warm beverage that pairs well with Aurora viewing.

Spruce tips - Credit: dancingsun on Instagram

Juniper

Pine family (Juniperus communis, Juniperus horizontalis)

Juniper often forms bushy mats at the edges of outcrops, or clearings in the boreal forest. It’s a conifer with short scalelike or sharp needles. Its bluish-to-light-green cones resemble berries. That’s right, juniper doesn’t actually have berries and are considered a cone! Another notable feature of the Juniper is a powdery coating and astringent scent. The juniper cones, needles and tender twigs are boiled to produce a medicinal tea or steam inhalant for chest congestion, a remedy traditionally used by the Gwich’in and Inuvialuit people.

Wild Rose

Rose family (Rosa acicularis, Rosa strigosa)

In June and July, the Northwest Territories’ roads, stream banks, and old burns are spangled with the pink blooms of the wild rose. The fragrant flowers develop into waxy-coated red rose hips rich in Vitamin C. Dene people cook the young green shoots as a potherb; flower petals are boiled, and the liquid is used as an eyewash or on skin rashes, or the petals are chewed and placed on bee stings. The prickly seeds are removed from the rose hips and the waxy skins boiled and made into tea, jam, or a cooling drink.

Wild rose in Fort Smith - Credit: Hannah Eden & NWTT

Mountain Avens

Rose family (Dryas integrifolia, Dryas octopetala)

The official flower of the Northwest Territories, this low shrub thrives in well-drained areas, eskers, and rock outcrops with some soil. The showy white flowers are solar collectors, orienting to face the sun. Inuit communities observed its seed heads to predict caribou migrations in order to plan hunts. The silky seedheads were occasionally collected and used as tinder for small fires, though heather, lichen and cottongrass worked better.

Mountain avens in the North Slave region - Credit: Page Burt

Fireweed

Evening primrose family (Chamaenerion angustifolium, Chamaenerion latifolium)

The tall fireweed grows on disturbed areas, especially old burns, and is common in Northern communities. Bright magenta four-petaled flowers on tall stems bloom in late summer, starting at the bottom of the flower stalk. The shorter dwarf fireweed has broader flowers, lighter green foliage, and often covers gravel bars in rivers, and along the roadside, so keep an eye out for this picturesque flower when driving in the Northwest Territories. The flowers and new leaves of both variations have long been used as a food source for Indigenous peoples.

Fireweed - Credit: Hans Pfaff & NWTT

Lingonberry

Heath family (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

Also known as dry-land cranberry, this boreal shrub is common throughout the boreal forest into the tundra. It grows on well-drained slopes and has white and pink bell-shaped flowers at the end of short twigs, and shiny oval leaves with curled edges. The red berries develop in August and often last through the winter under the snow, turning to a maroon colour in winter. Both berries and leaves are used as medicine, and are a major food source for migrating geese, gulls, sandhill cranes, foxes, bears, and humans.

Lingonberry in the Mackenzie Mountains - Credit: J.F. Bergeron & NWTT

Bearberry

Heath family (Arctous alpina, Arctous rubra, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Fly over the Barrenlands in late August, and you will see a breathtaking expanse of colour blanketing the tundra. These brilliant colours are typical of fall in the Barrenlands, and the bearberry lends its vibrant red and orange berries to the palette. There are three species, the black and red bearberries, and the closely-related kinnikinnick. Its fruits and leaves played vital roles in Indigenous diets and ceremonies, with dried berries often combined with dry meat and fat to make pemmican, an important trail food for travelling Dene peoples. They are not used as much today, as people prefer the sweeter berries. Leaves were sometimes smoked in ceremonies.

Bearberry in the Mackenzie Mountains - Credit: J.F. Bergeron & NWTT

Yarrow

Daisy family (Achillea millefolium)

This member of the daisy family has finely-divided, almost fern like leaves and white flowers that are a combination of white ray flowers and shorter disk flowers, growing in a tight head. There is a native yarrow that is common along the Arctic coast but most yarrow plants in the communities are a long-ago introduced plant. Yarrow leaves and flowers have long been boiled and used as a tea for many ailments, especially coughs, nosebleeds, or for skin rashes. A paste from the crushed flowers is occasionally still used on insect bites or small wounds.

Crowberry

Empetraceae (Empetrum nigrum)

The crowberry is a cornerstone of Inuit life. The succulent black berries of this shrub are avidly picked wherever it occurs. Crowberry grows on exposed sand, gravel and even rocky exposures from the boreal forest to the coastal tundra. It blooms early in springtime, and the small red flowers appear as soon as the snow melts. Berries ripen in August, and in many areas are quite thick and now are often picked with rakelike scoops. Gulls, migrating geese, and sandhill cranes, as well as foxes, ground squirrels, and smaller mammals also feed eagerly on this berry.

Cloudberry

Rose family (Rubus chamaemorus)

The cloudberry is a prized Northern treasure, thriving in muskeg and wet moss. Its ankle-high white flowers bloom briefly, marking where berries will ripen later. The crinkled, maple-like leaves turn from green to maroon in fall. The raspberry-like berries ripen from red to salmon-yellow by August, with a sweet, creamy flavor. Fragile and bruise-prone, they’re best eaten fresh or carefully gathered in small baskets. The cloudberry’s beauty and taste make it a true Northern delicacy.

Cloudberry - Credit: Karli Zschogner

Willow

Salicaceae (Salix species)

Willows are common across the North, appearing as trees, and shrubs in the boreal forest, treeline, tundra, and alpine regions. There are hundreds of species, ranging from the tiny least willow to varieties that can grow up to 9 meters tall. They have been traditionally used as food, medicine, and fuel, as well as to make tools, shelters, fish traps, woven caribou fences, and mats for snow benches in igloos or tent floors.

Bark fibers were crafted into cordage or thread. Willow buds, twigs, and leaves provide food for moose, muskox, caribou, ptarmigan, hares, and other animals that are a common sight in the Northwest Territories. In spring, many Indigenous peoples harvested the inner cambium layer (beneath the bark) as food or medicine, either consumed directly or applied as a poultice. Interestingly, willows are high in salicin—a precursor to salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin—likely explaining their traditional use for pain relief.

The wild plants of the Northwest Territories are more than just part of the scenery—they are living links to the past and vital contributors to the Northern ecosystem. As you explore the trails, remember to tread lightly and appreciate these natural treasures, which have sustained life here for generations. Whether you’re photographing a wild rose, savoring a handful of crowberries, or marveling at the delicate form of a mountain aven, nature in the Northwest Territories will truly inspire you.

This guide is for informational purposes only—always verify plants before consumption.

Further information on the Northwest Territories can be found at www.spectacularnwt.com.