What is the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society website?

Updated

nswildflora.ca is the official website of the Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society, a group focused on the wild plants of Nova Scotia. It is worth browsing if you are a plant enthusiast, naturalist, or someone interested in local conservation and want field trips, identification guides, presentations, and reference literature in one place. The site is in English, and some activities (such as courses or field trips) may require registration or membership.

What the site covers

The site is organized around the society's activities and resources rather than being a general plant database. Its main content areas include:

  • Field trips — announcements and archives, including proposed and cancelled trips (for example, an Otter Brook Field Trip and a Cape Breton Field Trip).
  • Presentations — videos and PowerPoints from past talks.
  • Publications — articles, presentations, and reference literature.
  • Identification guides and keys — including material on Carex Sect. Ovales, bryophytes, and lichens.
  • Education — listings of external courses and seminars, such as the Nova Scotia Museum's Natural History Field School "Introduction to Lichens" course (November 9–13, 2026, in Halifax) and Eagle Hill seminars.
  • Conservation and species at risk — links and materials on conservation topics.
  • Gardening with native plants — hints and resources.
  • iNaturalist — a society project and guidance on using iNaturalist to identify species.

Who it is for

The content suits:

  • Amateur and professional botanists interested in Nova Scotia's flora.
  • Naturalists looking for organized field trips and talks.
  • People working on identification of difficult groups (lichens, bryophytes, sedges).
  • Anyone following conservation and species-at-risk issues in the region.

Practical notes before you use it

  • The site is in English.
  • Some events are time-sensitive: field trips can be scheduled, postponed, or cancelled, so check the latest posts rather than relying on archived pages.
  • Courses and seminars listed may have limited spots and separate registration — for example, the lichens course noted about 10 spots remaining at the time of posting.
  • Membership and a code of conduct are part of the society's structure, so joining may be relevant if you want to participate regularly.

If you want a single starting point for Nova Scotia wild flora field trips, identification references, and local conservation links, this site is a reasonable place to begin.