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Native Species Planting

In 2007, The Niagara Parks Commission enlisted the help of provincial biologist Michael Oldham to undertake an inventory of the “Vascular Plants of the Niagara River Corridor”.

The Niagara Parks Commission Parks Department has made it their mission in recent years to enhance and expand the natural areas of the Park through the planting of native species. With funding from our many partners, we have been able to plant a wide variety of trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses that would have historically occurred here.

pots with plans in them
According to the final report funded in part by the Habitat Stewardship Program lists the following as the Species at Risk along the Niagara River Corridor.
Common Name Scientific Name SAR status
Broad-Beech Fern Phegopteris hexagonoptera SC
American Heart’s-tongue Asplenium scolopendrium L. var. americanum SC
Cucumber Tree Magnolia acuminata END
Golden Seal Hydrastis Canadensis THR
Red Mulberry Morus rubra END
Butternut Juglans cinerea END
American Chestnut Castanea dentate END
Shumard Oak Quercus shumardii SC
Cherry Birch Betula lenta END
Swamp Rose Mallow Hibiscus moscheutos ssp. Moscheutos SC
Bird’s-foot violet Viola pedata END
Deerberry Vaccinium stamineum THR
Spotted Wintergreen Chimaphila maculata END
Kentucky Coffee Tree Gymnocladus dioicus THR
Slender Bush-clover Lespedeza virginica END
Pink Milkwort Polygala incarnata END
Hop-tree Ptelea trifoliata THR
American Ginseng Panax quinquefolius END
American Columbo Frasera caroliniensis SC
White Prairie Gentian Gentiana alba END
American Water Willow Justicia americana THR
White Wood Aster Eurybia divaricata THR
Spiked Blazing-star Liatris spicata THR
Willow Aster Symphyotrichum praealtum THR
Crooked-stem Aster Symphyotrichum prenanthoides THR
Green Dragon Arisaema dracontium SC
Bent Trillium Trillium flexipes END
Square-stemmed Greenbrier Smilax rotundifolia THR
Eastern Flowering Dogwood Cornus florida END

Several projects including a buffer project of wildflowers and grasses at Frenchmen’s Creek have highlighted the NPC’s commitment to conserving and enhancing the corridor through the use of native plants.