Flora of the Great Bear Lake Region...
Next to black spruce, white birch thrive in the rocky landscape and harsh climate of the Norhtwest Territories along the Arctic Circle.
The Arctic sun illuminate the brilliant green leaves of the white birch.
The bark of a mature birch peals off in paper thin strips and readily shows the scars of living in a tough environment.
Leaves on deciduous trees appear only in mid-June but by mid-August, they begin to show their fall colours, as with this birch tree at Hloo Channel, Great Bear Lake.
White birch are in abundace along the rock outcrops and bouldered shores of the north's lakes and streams, here shown along the Camsell River.
Fireweed, the official flower of the Yukon Territory, grows well throughout the Sahtu region and add a beautiful colour compliment to the lichen pastels.
Alder and other willows crowd the pebbled shore of lakes and rivers of the Northwest Territories.
Highbush cranberry bushes are found in wetter areas on islands and near fresh water as shown in the two images, right. They often grow two to five feet above the ground and their berries ripen by early August. Lowbush cranberry plants flourish throughout the rgion and are rarely taller than six inches. They produce a mushy berry excellent for jams and sauces, shown below, right and left.
Rosehips, left, are an excellent source of vitamin A and B but especially C and are used by the Sahtu Dene for making tea. Gooseberries, below, are found in abundance but there is little know human use, though birds and other animals may find them appealing.
Grasses of various kinds grow and populate the most unlikely places, such as this plant, below, that finds nutrients in rock crevasses barely above the water's surface.
Black spruce are the most abundant tree of the Sahtu region. Being highly adptable, they are able to thrive in wet, boggy areas (taiga) as well as wind-swept rocky outcrops of the icy waters of Great Bear Lake. Summer of 2013 was an excellent growing season, evident by the healthy spruce cones, below.
The Great Bear Lake area is renowned for its profusion of lichen and mosses. As evidenced by the funnel shapes of the plant, below, they find every opportunity to collect moisture in the dry climate of the Arctic.
"Old man's beard", below, commonly appears in the branches of black spruce. It makes a terrific starter for camp fires.
End of life for black spruce often does not result in decay but rather as preserved stumps and roots, seen below, weathered by the wind and cold, and that can survive for decades.
Alder bushes grow well along the shoreline and produce small, tight green clumps of cones.
Speckled alder, below, shows its cones and branches as a latticework against the late evening sun on a bay in eastern Great Bear Lake, August 2013. Often during the late summer forest fires burn unchecked over vast reaches of the unpopulated regions of the Sahtu. The smoky haze produces moody atmosphere and brilliant sunsets.
All photos on this page are by Ivan Gaetz.