Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Botanical Find of a Lifetime


As a botanist I am always dreaming of coming across a rare species of plant nestled somewhere for only the sharp-eyed naturalist to see.  Dreaming even deeper is the thought of discovering a plant or population that is new to Ohio or science altogether.  Well yesterday was the day I got to experience that high and raise my excitement in the botanical world to new heights!  Be prepared for some rambling and story-telling because the excitement is still flowing very swiftly through my veins and fingers.

Back in 1963 the famous botanist E. Lucy Braun was walking through a mesic forest in the Rocky Fork drainage of Scioto County, Ohio when she came across a species of plant that caught her eye.  The plant's flower was long gone but the interesting fruit is what got her attention.  She returned the next year in time to catch it flowering and discovered what is to this day the ONLY known population/area of Erythronium rostratum in the state of Ohio.  For over 40 years this population of Goldenstars has bloomed and gone to seed time and time again with no one ever finding another population...until now.

Yesterday I planned to spend the day botanizing and hiking with friend and Edge of Appalachia Preserve manager, Chris Bedel to see what unusual Spring bloomers we could find.  When I walked into the offices of the Eulett Center at 10a.m. little did I know what the day had in store for myself, Chris and fellow preserve manager Rich McCarty.  The day before while trudging through an area of forest way off the beaten path on the preserve, Rich found a patch of Erythronium americanum, commonly known as the Yellow Trout-lily that he thought to look a bit different.  He brought back a specimen to the office and encouraged Chris and I to take a look.  While it was too early for any E. americanum to be blooming (we checked several areas where it is known to bloom to find no evidence of it anywhere), it seemed even less likely that this could be the other plant easily confused with the Yellow Trout-lily; a plant found nowhere else in the state but one spot an hour or so to the east.  The more we looked at the plant Rich brought back the more curious and unsure of its true identity we became so we asked him to lead us to the spot where he found it.  After walking through several old fields, crossing a stream and entering the edge of an old woodland we came before a carpet of mottled green, fleshy leaves all adorned with a striking yellow bloom.  The woods was relatively undisturbed and mature with large Ash (Fraxinus spp.), Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) and White Oak (Quercus alba) trees in the canopy and a thin understory of Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and one of my personal favorites, Leatherwood (Dirca palustris), both starting to bloom.  Old fields bordered two sides of the woods while the opposite end sloped down into a valley.  As I pulled out my camera and set it up to snap some photographs little did I know I would be the first person to ever photograph a new population of Erythronium rostratum in Ohio's history!

Erythronium rostratum
Erythronium rostratum






















Some of you may be thinking, 'geeze, this looks just like the normal and much more common Yellow Trout-lily to me'.  That's potentially what makes this plant less rare and elusive than it really could be.  Some people may see these blooming in southern Ohio and mark them down as Erythronium americanum, not knowing we have a third member of the Erythronium genus hiding in amongst the foothills of Appalachia.  Rocky Fork has several areas where this plant blooms which I personally consider to be all one population since it grows in the same immediate area.  This is the first time it's been found in Ohio outside of this original range.  Special thanks to Daniel Boone and Rick Gardner for quickly confirming the identity of this plant from the pictures in my emails. 

Erythronium rostratum
Erythronium rostratum






















There are two relatively easy ways to distinguish this as E. rostratum in the field.  Both the White Trout-lily (Erythronium albidum) and Yellow's blooms hang down from their peduncle in a drooping fashion.  To me it's almost like they are shy and a bit demure about their flowers appearance and don't want to show their faces.  The Goldenstar is on the other end of the spectrum.  It is quite proud of its blooms, standing them up on their stalks for all the world to see.  Maybe they know they are a rarity and are trying to get noticed.  It worked in Rich's case!  The other means of identification on the blooms is a bit more open to interpretation depending on who is looking at it.  On the other two Erythronium's the tepals (petals) are strongly reflexed, meaning they curve back from the plane of the flower.  With E. rostratum the tepals do not reflex and instead are spread out in a flat, star-like fashion.  What is flat and what is slightly reflexed is where the arguments can start but just about every flower in the area showed little to no reflexing while the other Erythroniums are obviously reflexed.  Gold color, star-like...wonder how they could have ever earned the name Goldenstars?

Erythronium rostratum
Erythronium rostratum






















Taking a look at the back of the bloom the sepals exhibit a purplish-brown color while the golden yellow petals are striped with a few thin, brown lines.  The single best way to identify this species is once the plant goes to fruit.  If you are familiar with the other two species of Erythronium you know the ovary swells up into a green capsule at the end of the long peduncle and lays prostrate along the ground.  In the Goldenstar's case the peduncle curves upward towards the apex and holds the capsule erect, up off the ground.  Also the capsule itself provides the distinguishing characteristic of having a 'beak'.  In fact the latin species name of rostratum translates to 'beak'.  I plan on going back sometime in the next week or so to get some photographs of the maturing fruit.  I fear with nighttime temperatures in the 20's and daily highs only in the upper 30's and lower 40's forecasted for the next few days these already notoriously quick bloomers won't last very long at all.  Glad Rich, Chris and I came across them when we did!  As isolated and secluded as this population is I find it hard to believe that even after nearly 50 years and hundreds of botanists and naturalists looking for it this is the first time it's been discovered out of the Rocky Fork valley.  Crazy stuff!

Erythronium americanum
Erythronium americanum






















Above are some photographs from last Spring of Erythronium americanum for comparative purposes.  Notice the heavy reflexing of the tepals in both photographs as well as a speckling of red dots on the inner petals.  Also in many of the Yellow Trout-lilies I see have red/orange stamens while the Goldenstar's are yellow.

This discovery goes to show just how important preservation and conservation of the natural world is; you just never know what is going to turn up where!  I am very thankful this population is already under the protection of the Edge of Appalachia's Preserve as well as being way off the beaten trail and not anywhere near any of the public trails.  Rich McCarty is well known for many other botanical discoveries in the Adams County area; including the finding of the rare White Lady's Slipper orchid (Cypripedium candidum) on the preserve a few years ago (can't wait to bring that to you when it blooms in May!).  I think this may be his best find yet and I am proud to say I was one of the first people to sit down amongst these rarities and truly soak in and appreciate their existence.  It's not everyday you get to be a part of something this exciting and groundbreaking!  Perhaps there's more Erythronium rostratum out there waiting on the Edge and beyond...I'd love to dedicate some time to finding out!





15 comments:

  1. Andrew, this is awesome! Great find!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful photos Andrew! Glad they were a part of the story, and thanks to Rich McCarty's sharp eye for noticing the flowers.. that were "different."

    Most of all, thanks to TNC (and Rich's employer) for having preserved the habitat. Huzzah!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great find... but you never know what you'll discover later in life.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Andrew ..When Isaw the photo I gasp "oh my goodness" I am not sure which one, but when I was a kid back on the dirt roads in Linneus Maine every spring my sister and I would be waiting for the first sign of the spotted leaves breaking ground in the ditch by the road!!
    When they came into bloom it was a glorious
    carpet of yellow. A few still grow there but you really have to look for them!!
    I do believe that they probably are the Yellow Trout Lilly from your discription and photo's!!

    I will be visiting back home this spring and now you have me curious!! I had no idea that there was another spicies like the one you found ! Why I don't know, but they where called "Dog tooth violets"!! We did learn the proper name at some point!!
    "I am excited for you" and to all envolved congrat's!! Exciting stuff for sure!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great find, Andrew! I'm sure you have many county records yet to come.

    I've never seen this more southern species, but I'm sure there is a chance of it occurring in southern Indiana as well. Has your record already been added to the Biota of North America Program maps? It looks like E. rostratum is shown in both Scioto and Adams Counties on their distribution maps (http://www.bonap.org/BONAPmaps2010/Erythronium.html).

    Will you be at the Ohio Botanical Symposium tomorrow?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, Mike!

    Cheryl, thanks for the kind words! Rich was pretty skeptical it being E. rostratum but in the end his sharp eyes really did pay off!

    Katie, very true...you never know what the future holds but I will always keep this memory close to my heart.

    Grammie, Dog Tooth Violets is another common name for the Trout-lilies and they really are a spectacular sight when all blooming together. I hope on your return you are rewarded with at least a few in your remembered spot :)

    Scott, I can't imagine the map would have been updated in under 24 hours but you're right it does show Adams as being marked. Perhaps that was based purely on the probability it was to be found somewhere within the county at some point? I will be at the Symposium! If you are I'd certainly like to meet you in person!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice find Andy. Thanks for the reminder, I hope to get some pictures of Leatherwood blooming. We have some right around the corner from campus. If you meet Scott tomorrow, make sure you point him out to me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks, Dennis! I managed to peel my camera away from the E. rosatrum for a few photo's of the Dirca palustris; such neat and unique little flowers! Hope to bump into you tomorrow at the Symposium and I'll do my best to put you and Scott face to face.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'll be at the symposium... leaving home by 4AM to get there, but I wouldn't want to miss it... I always enjoy the talks and the company back in my home state!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congratulations to you and the others, I can certainly feel your excitement! Hopefully only botanist will see these flowers...people who appreciate them for their rarity and loveliness! I will enjoy them through your photos!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Fortunately for myself and other conservationists and more specifically for this population of E. rostratum it is so off trail and secluded I can say with great confidence that it will be safe for many, many years to come. Baring any kind of natural occurrence I don't think these plants have much to worry about.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Andy,
    Wow, I really am enjoying your spectacular blog and the way you pull the reader right into your environment. I can smell the earth and feel the warm air as I read your words. Beautiful! I am so glad to be making acquaintances with other bloggers who are as fascinated with nature the way I am!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh my goodness, I got goosebumps reading your story! Fellow wildflower nerds like me sure understand the thrill. I just found your blog when I discovered you as a follower on mine (Saratoga Woods and Waterways), and I can't wait to follow your further adventures through the growing season. Or any season. Beautiful photography, vivid writing. Thanks for this.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lisa, you're too kind :) It's always nice to be a part of a growing community of nature appreciators and lovers!

    Woodswalker, thank you very much for your kind words! I hope my work can continue to please. Keep up the good work yourself! I'm always excited to learn of the happenings in other parts of our fascinating country.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very cool, congratulations, I love finding new plants I wasn't expecting though none of mine have been as exciting as this.

    ReplyDelete