The gypsum flora of Nova Scotia refers to a small group of

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...

s that are restricted to naturally-occurring outcrops of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

is unique in northeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

for the extent of sites having gypsum

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...

at or near the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

surface. The distinctive set of plants associated with these gypsum exposures includes '' Packera paupercula'' (Balsam groundsel), '' Carex eburnea'' (Ebony sedge), '' Erigeron hyssopifolius'' (Hyssop-leaved fleabane), ''

Cypripedium parviflorum ''Cypripedium parviflorum'', commonly known as yellow lady's slipper or moccasin flower, is a lady's slipper orchid native to North America. It is widespread, ranging from Alaska south to Arizona and Georgia. It grows in fens, wetlands, shoreline ...

'' (Small yellow lady’s-slipper).

Karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

landscapes have also formed. Some of these species appear to be associated with sunny clearings created by natural erosion from gypsum cliffs, which provides a distinctive sunny and

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...

habitat within landscapes that are otherwise forested.

Distribution and status

Some of the more important gypsum sites occur in the

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

area of western

Hants County Hants County is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the West Hants Regional Municipality, and the Municipality of the District of East Hants. History Formation The county of Hants ...

along

Five Mile River The Five Mile River is a river located in Connecticut's Northeast Corner and flows through the towns of Thompson, Putnam, and Killingly.The original Nipmuc name was ''Assawaga'', meaning "place between" or "halfway place". The Assawaga received ...

, around the

Baddeck Baddeck () is a village in northeastern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is situated in the centre of Cape Breton, approximately 6 km east of where the Baddeck River empties into Bras d'Or Lake. Local governance is provided by the rural municipality ...

area in southern

Victoria County Victoria County is the name of several locations: In Australia: *Victoria County, Western Australia * County of Victoria, South Australia In Canada: * Victoria County, New Brunswick * Municipality of the County of Victoria and the eponymous histo ...

, the

Ninevah Nineveh (; akk, ; Biblical Hebrew: '; ar, نَيْنَوَىٰ '; syr, ܢܝܼܢܘܹܐ, Nīnwē) was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern ban ...

area in Inverness County, and near

Antigonish , settlement_type = Town , image_skyline = File:St Ninian's Cathedral Antigonish Spring.jpg , image_caption = St. Ninian's Cathedral , image_flag = Flag of Antigonish.pn ...

Antigonish County , nickname = , settlement_type = List of counties of Nova Scotia, County , motto = , image_skyline = Antigonish Harbour Panorama2.jpg , image_caption = , image_flag ...

. Many of these sites are threatened by gypsum

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

Global significance

Gypsum floras are well-documented in other parts of the world, but are sufficiently rare in eastern North America that they are not mapped in a recent world-wide review on the topic.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Flora of Nova Scotia

Distribution and status

Global significance

See also

References