2024-2025 Official Tourist Guide of the Îles de la Madeleine

Features of the Region – Profile of the Region

Fauna and flora

The Flora Since dunes cover 30% of the total land area in the Îles de la Madleine, the most characteristic flora in the archipelago appears in the dune envi ronment. The dunes are covered with beach grass, the most important plant in the archipelago’s ecology, since it is essential to the stabilization of the dunes. Its rhizomes fix the sand in the dunes, preventing it from invading and filling up habitats located behind the dunes such as lagoons and ponds. Other plants also grow in the dunes: seabeach sandwort, beach pea, bayberry, black crowberry, starflower, not to mention the magnificent poverty grass, one of the rarest plants in Québec, which is found in the Îles de la Madeleine. In salt meadows and marshes, there are many species of grasses such as carex, bulrushes and spartina. Other species present in this environment: Baltic rush, black sandwort, glasswort, and marsh rosemary. Peat bogs are a perfect environment for sphagnum moss and two carnivorous plants: the pitcher plant and the dew plant, as well as the grass-pink orchid and the hare’s tail. Dense colonies of gorgeous blue flag grow in freshwater marshes, as do the buckbean, the giant bur reed, the marsh cinquefoil and the sheep laurel. The forested area is not large, but it does offer many interesting plants. Wild berries may be found in some places but be careful not to go on private land without permission:

• Wild strawberries: last three weeks in July, in fields and at the edge of forests. • Raspberries: end of July and beginning of August, in clearings and in wooded areas. • Blueberries: August, on the dunes and in the woods. • Cranberries: end of September, on the dunes, at the edges of ponds and in damp fields. In summer, fields, meadows, even the roadside are ablaze with wildflowers of all kinds. Some of the plants you can expect to see: ox-eye daisy, buttercup, red clover, white clover, alsike clover, rabbit-foot clover (Trifolium arvense), bird vetch, yellow melilot, Canada goldenrod, pearly everlasting, fireweed, foxtail barley. Beautiful natural sites: • Pointe de l’Est National Wildlife Area (Grosse Île Island): marshes, ponds and the beach (see p. 48-49 and 101). • Havre aux Basques Bay (Havre Aubert Island): fields and salt marshes. Take the Chemin de la Dune-de l’Ouest or Chemin de la Pointe-des-Canots (see p. 28-31). • La Montagne (Havre Aubert Island): coniferous forest and forest flora (see p. 28-31). • Dune du Sud (Havre aux Maisons Island): peat bogs in the area of Les Sillons (furrows) and along the dune to Grande-Entrée (see p. 42-45).

20

tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com

© M.Bonato