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Plants

Plants abound in Alaska’s national forests. Temperate rain forests, muskegs, beach meadows, subalpine meadows, alpine tundra and recently deglaciated areas are some of these habitats with distinctive and magnificent floras.

Publications

Common Trees of Alaska
Wildflowers of the National Forests in Alaska
Lichens National Forests Alaska.pdf
Lichens of Alaska's South Coast
Mosses Liverworts National Forests Alaska
Ferns National Forests Alaska
Mushrooms of the National Forests of Alaska

Additional Resources

Project Learning Tree 

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is the American Forest Foundation's environmental education program that produces curriculum materials for students in grades PreK-12. PLT provides training and professional development opportunities for teachers, non-formal educators, and teachers in training. The program addresses many environmental topics, but trees and forests receive special emphasis.

Alaska Region Celebrating Wildflowers

Lists viewing areas on the Tongass and Chugach National Forests, provides a list of botany resources, news and events and more. The “Home” link will help you access national lesson plans and teaching resources.

USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service Plants Database

A very thorough resource for finding information on plants in North America, this database is searchable by common and scientific names of plants, and by a number of other search criteria. Note that the range maps are general. If a plant is found in a specific area of Alaska, the range map will indicate the whole state as part of its range. It is simply showing the plant grows somewhere in Alaska.

i-Tree

i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides baseline data that you can use to demonstrate value and set priorities for more effective decision-making regarding a single tree or an entire forest. This material is for use with adults and older youth.

Alaska Wildflowers

Nootka lupine

lupine001_

Lupinus nootkatensis

Fireweed

PInk/purple blooms of fireweed.

Chamerion angustifolium

Last updated September 15, 2026