Qikiqtaryuaq (Jenny Lind Island), Nunavut

August 17, 2026

Once called Jenny Lind Island, after a famous opera singer, Qikiqtaryuaq provides many examples of Arctic plants.

The photography group headed out to try our hand at some macro photography. We walked along a path with small rivulets of water and algae before coming to out destination where many examples of the arctic plants thrived.

On our way we also saw the tracks of birds and musk ox that had also come this way.

This miniature creeping willow seemed to take the shape of a tree as it spread out on the ground.

The purple mountain saxifrage is the territorial flower of Nunavut. It is the first Arctic flower to bloom in the spring with colorful purple blossoms. Besides brightening the Arctic landscape, the flower is edible and a great source of Vitamin C. Sadly, these were finished blooming.

The arctic dryad still bloomed. This amazing national flower of Iceland can live for over 100 years. It is part of the rose family. Its flower turns to follow the sun. As it does, it's saucer shape direct the sun's rays to center of the flower where the seeds are made.

Here is the same arctic dryad after it has gone to its fluffy seed stage. The smaller plants on thin stems are arctic poppy that have also gone to seed.

The dwarf cudweed is part of the daisy family. These had gone into their seed phase forming fluffy balls of seeds that will be carried away in the breeze.

Moss campion is not actually a moss, but it forms a cushion surface like moss can. Unlike moss, it does flower. However, it was not flowering when we visited.

The twisted sunshine lichen's bright yellow color comes from acids that can also protect skin from the sun. It can be used as a natural sunscreen. Those same acids are poisonous to many animals that eat plants so they also help protect the lichen. If left undisturbed, the lichen can live for hundreds of years. Lichens are not actually plants, but instead formed when fungi and algae get together.

Another lichen we saw was the elegant sunburst lichen. Lichens are extremely hardy and can survive in very harsh circumstances. In fact, the elegant sunburst lichen has even survived being in outer space for 18 months! It was used as part of a the Expose-E experiment to see if some plants and animals could survive space (https://www.space-travel.com/reports/How_To_Live_Long_And_Prosper_In_Space_999.html#:~:text=%22These%20Xanthoria%20elegans%20lichens%20were%20flown%20on,in%20the%20most%20extreme%20places%20on%20Earth.).

As in our other beach stops, we also found many beautiful colored rocks.

We went off in search of troll bread. Troll bread is a fascinating geological phenomenon that occurs in extremely cold environments. It happens when rock, often granite, gets wet and then freezes quickly. First, the water seeps through the cracks in the rock. Then when it freezes, the water expands and splits the rocks into parallel slices just like a sliced loaf of bread. It is called troll's bread after the creatures from Norse mythology that are believed to turn to stone when caught out in the sun.