Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archepelago
Principal Investigator: Aiken, Susan (7)
Licence Number: 13055
Organization: Canadian Museum af Nature
Licensed Year(s): 2001 1999
Issued: Jun 08, 1999
Project Team: self

Objective(s): The purpose of this project is to update the last work on the plants of the Canadaian far north "Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago" which was published in 1957 by A.E. Porsild. This older work is out of date, contains few details useful for identifying plants, and contains only black and white line drawings and maps. More recent work has concentrated on understanding the grasses, purple Saxifrage, and willows of the Canadian Arctic This project will examine other flowering plants with the long term goal of producing an electronic interactive guide to flowering plants of the Canadian Arctic.

Project Description: The purpose of this project is to update the last work on the plants of the Canadaian far north "Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago" which was published in 1957 by A.E. Porsild. The researcher will be based at Polar Bear Cabin and Green Cabin both in Aulavik National Park. Photgraphs will be taken of plants and plant habitat. Some plants will be collected an placed in presses, or a few leaves stored in silica gel for subsequent DNA examination. Coloured slides will be digitized, showing the habitats in which plants grow, as well as close-ups of plant features such as flowers and fruit. Data for this project will be compiled in electronic database format which can be accessed electronically for plant identifications. The result will be a much more complete source of information for identifying arctic plants than has previously been available.