Plants
The
Indiana Dunes National Park provides habitat for 1,130 native vascular
plants, including the federally threatened Pitcher’s thistle. The
lakeshore is home to populations of 30% of the state of Indiana’s
listed rare, threatened, endangered, and special concern plant
species. Shaped by glacial events and changing climates, the dunes
landscape contains disjunct flora representative of eastern
deciduous forests, boreal forest remnants, and species with Atlantic
coast affinities. In addition, the national park is part of the
upper- and eastern-most limits of the tallgrass prairie peninsula
and supports high quality remnants of this ever-diminishing
vegetation type.