What’s blooming at Tettegouche State Park

I spent three days and two nights camping with friends at Tettegouche State Park north of Duluth a week and a half ago.

bunchberry, northern bluebells, wild strawberry — Bunchberry, northern bluebells, wild strawberry

We went on a long hike each day – one through the woods to High Falls, and one along Lake Superior to Shovel Point.

self-heal, evening primrose, fireweed — Self-heal, evening primrose, fireweed

As is my habit, every hike turns into a wildflower hunt.

wild avens, wild rose, cinquefoil — Wild avens, wild rose, cinquefoil

It felt like every other minute I was stopping to photograph yet another specimen.

tall agrimony, American vetch, pussytoes — Tall agrimony, American vetch, pussytoes

Most were at ground level, but some were at eye level.

cow parsnip — Cow parsnip − some of these were taller than me!

black snakeroot and meadow rue — Black snakeroot, meadow rue

Wild columbine, yarrow, bush honeysuckle

The bush honeysuckle above is not a wildflower, but there were so many blooming that I had to include them. There were many other flowering shrubs, berries, and ferns that I’m not including.

I’m not sure whether this pretty buttercup is a native wildflower.

Many of the wildflowers we saw are natives, but of course there were also many non-natives…

clovers — Alsike clover, red clover, white clover

campion, field mustard, chickweed-alfalfa-pennycress — Clockwise from top left: campion, field mustard, chickweed, alfalfa, field pennycress seed pods

…including several on the Minnesota Wildflowers Invasive – ERADICATE! list.

devil flowers: devil's paintbrush, Glaucous King-devil — These two invasives look so similar except for their color, and they have similar common names: devil’s paintbrush and Glaucous King-devil. (The yellow one may instead be meadow hawkweed; I can’t tell the difference. If so, I’d like to switch to the other common name for the orange one – orange hawkweed – so these two flowers still match.)

Pretty but invasive: daisy and birds-foot trefoil

Back to the natives! Fortunately for me, the park’s visitors center compiled a list of the flowers that were blooming, so I had a head start on identifying those I didn’t already know:

one-flowered pyrola — One-flowered pyrola points nearly straight down, so I had to nearly lie on the ground to see its face.

shinleaf, pink corydalis, twinflower — Shinleaf, pink corydalis, twinflower

A new Instagram friend saw spotted coralroot a week earlier, an orchid I was disappointed to miss! I settled for a few black-eyed susans that were starting to bloom.