Long’s Braya is one of three endangered plants found exclusively in Newfoundland’s limestone barrens – an ecosystem that covers less than one percent of the island.
Long’s Braya is listed as Endangered under Canada’s Species a Risk Act – a designation it has had since 1997. With only four known populations in three locations, it’s one of the most range-restricted plant species in the country.
Long’s Braya grows in the exposed, calcium-rich limestone barrens of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula. This is a tundra-like landscape of windswept gravel, shallow soils, and frost-shaped terrain where few other plants can survive. It thrives in recently-disturbed gravels and open, rocky areas where competition from other plants is low.
Long’s Braya entire global range exists only in a narrow range along the Strait of Belle Isle. All known populations are within a small stretch of coastline between Yankee Point and Sandy Cove.
Gravel quarrying, offroad vehicle use, invasive pests, road construction, and climate change threatens this species.
Rare, resilient, and found nowhere else on Earth – Long’s Braya is a remarkable plant among the limestone barrens ecosystem.
Long’s Braya is a small perennial plant with white flowers in the mustard family. It’s closely related to Fernald’s Braya but the two plants are distinguished by their seed pod – Long’s Braya has smooth pods, while Fernald’s Braya has hairy ones.
Long’s Braya is found exclusively in the limestone barrens of Newfoundland’s Strait of Belle Isle region. It grows in exposed sites where frost action, scouring winds, and shallow solids prevent most other plants from growing. These harsh conditions are exactly what Long’s Braya needs to survive.
Long’s Braya is a small perennial with white flowers whose petals are tinged bluish or reddish-violet at the base. It grows from deep taproots that anchor them in loose limestone gravels. The plant dies back to the crown each winter, reemerging from the same root each spring.
Long’s Braya is a pioneer species – one of the first plants to grow in freshly disturbed limestone gravel. It can establish and sustain populations without pollinators in a harsh environment. Its entire global range fits within just a few kilometres of Newfoundland’s coastline.
Long’s Braya is an indicator of the health of one of Canada’s rarest ecosystems. The limestone barrens it inhabits support a unique population of arctic-alpine plants found nowhere else on Earth. Long’s Braya is among this landscape’s most irreplaceable plants.
Quarrying and road construction have destroyed significant portions of this plant’s habitat, while climate change is altering the frost and wind patterns that define the limestone barrens. With only four populations of Long’s Braya, a single disturbance or catastrophic event could wipe out the species entirely.
Through our Limestone Barrens Ecosystem Program, the Wilder Institute is supporting habitat restoration and translocation efforts across the only landscape this plant calls home. We work with partners, a multi-species recovery team, and local communities to help restore the unique limestone barrens ecosystem.
The Wilder Institute and our partners are monitoring which site conditions best support establishment and survival for the Long’s Braya, generating an evidence base for long-term recovery.
As part of the Limestone Barrens Species at Risk Recovery Team, we’re working towards the reintroduction of this native plant with the goal of reducing extinction risk by establishing new populations.
Site preparation and landscape reshaping at degraded limestone barrens sites are rebuilding the conditions Long’s Braya relies on, creating space for new populations to establish beyond their current range.
We work with the Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Limestone Barrens Species at Risk Recovery Team, and other key collaborators to support the restoration of damaged limestone barrens habitat for the endangered plants that rely on this unique ecosystem.
Discover the programs helping recover rare plant species like Long’s Braya.
The Wilder Institute, in collaboration with Memorial University of Newfoundland, the Limestone Barrens Species at Risk Recovery Team and other key collaborators, supports habitat restoration at a damaged limestone barrens site and research to guide the successful reintroduction of this ecosystem’s endangered arctic-alpine plant species. In 2024 and 2025, our work focused on site preparation and landscape reshaping a former quarry site for native plant reintroduction. In 2026, we will be planting seeds of native species to re-establish the plant community at the newly restored site with our partners.
The program is focused on the Limestone Barrens of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula. The Limestone Landscapes Priority Place initiative has supported a collaborative network that has been foundational to our program and involvement in habitat and species recovery in Newfoundland.
Long’s Braya is found only in the limestone barrens of Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula.
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