Furbish’s Lousewort
Rediscovered after decades of presumed extinction, this rare wildflower lives only on naturally eroding banks of the upper Saint John River.
Artwork inspired by Marguerite Zorach
Furbish’s lousewort occupies a narrow band of riverside habitat in northern Maine and New Brunswick. Natural ice, floods, slumping soil, and erosion continually create open banks where seedlings can establish before shrubs and trees close the site.
The same disturbance that creates habitat makes populations shift, and altered flow, bank work, trampling, and invasive plants can upset the cycle. It is a federally endangered species on a binational river. Observe from public access, respect private land, and let trained botanists monitor the steep banks.
- Range
- Upper Saint John River
- Flower
- Curved yellow hooded blooms
- History
- Rediscovered in 1976
Quick guide
- Study habitat
- Open slumping riverbank is part of the clue.
- Keep distance
- Do not descend steep occupied banks.
Recognize a river process as plant habitat
- Leaves
- Deeply divided leaves form a low green base.
- Flowers
- Yellow tubular flowers crowd a vertical spike.
- Bank
- Plants occupy moist open soil renewed by river disturbance.
- Proof
- Exact identification and location should be confirmed by conservation botanists.
Good to know
Erosion is not automatically damage here; natural riverbank renewal creates habitat. Hard stabilization can be as harmful as trampling when it stops the disturbance cycle.
Notice these
- Yellow flower spike
- Deeply divided leaves
- Eroding riverbank