The Dwarf Lake Iris
Michigan's state wildflower is a tiny, vivid blue-violet iris that grows almost nowhere else on Earth — only along the northern shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Michigan’s state wildflower is a tiny thing. It is also a true original. It grows almost nowhere else on the planet.
The dwarf lake iris (Iris lacustris) stands only a few inches tall. But its flowers are a vivid, almost startling blue-violet. They bloom along the shore from mid-May into June. Botanists call it a Great Lakes endemic. It is found only on the northern shorelines of Lakes Michigan and Huron. Almost all of it is in Michigan, with a few sites in Wisconsin and Ontario. It grows in thin soil over limestone, and at the edges of cool cedar shorelines. Its name, lacustris, simply means “of lakes.” Michigan adopted it as the state wildflower in 1998. The apple blossom stayed on as the older “state flower.”
It is also fragile. Shoreline development and the slow march of the forest have shrunk its range. It is now listed as a threatened species. One especially fitting place to find it is on the back-dune edges of Bois Blanc Island.
Where to see it
Look along the northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shores in late May — places like the Garden Peninsula, the Straits area, and protected islands. Look closely; it's small, and please don't pick it.