Erythronium Americanum Research Articles

Sexual reproduction and variation in floral morphology in an ephemeral vernal lily, Eyythronium americanum.

In a riparian population of Erythronium americanum (Liliaceae) in central New Jersey, experimentally self-pollinated plant produced markedly fewer fruit and fewer seeds per fruit than hand-outcrossed and open pollinated plants, even though differences were not evident between pollen tubes that penetrated stigmas from self or foreign pollen. This weak self-compatibility and a positive relation between the percentage of seeds set by outcrossed plants and the distance between pollen donor and recipient plants indicate that this population could be susceptible to inbreeding depression.Limited resources for seed development apparently constrained maximal seed production, based on low seed set (40.6%) by hand-pollinated plants and positive correlations for these plants between plant size and the number and size of seeds set. In contrast, naturally-pollinated plants set a smaller proportion of their ovules, suggesting that limited pollinator service reduced the quantity of seeds produced in this population. Free-foraging bees usually removed more than half of the available pollen in a single visit, so that individual plants probably have few opportunities to disseminate their pollen.Even though sexually reproductive ramets produce only a single flower per year, less than a third of variation in floral morphology is associated with variation in plant size. Within the flower, the sizes of some closely associated structures, such as the style and ovary, and the anthers and filaments, vary essentially independently of one another. Production of nectar and pollen, the ultimate attractors of pollinating insects, was positively correlated with flower size.

Local Coexistence of Deciduous‐Forest Groundlayer Species Growing in Different Seasons

In 10 stands of deciduous forest, evidence was sought for competitive inhibition between groundlayer species photosynthetically active in different seasons. In each stand, the forest floor had probably not been disturbed catastrophically for >50 yr, thus favoring detection of cumulative competitive effects. The underlying hypothesis was that long—lived species occupying the same microsites but not competing directly for light may, nevertheless, interfere with each other's growth by seasonal depletion of labile soil nutrients. For a plot size that holds, on average, two species, coefficients of rank correlation were computed, stand by stand, between the cover values of (1) species that are in leaf only through early spring, and (2) species that leaf out later in the growing season. Fewer than 5% of the correlations were significantly negative at the 5% level, indicating that competition between phenologically distinct plants may be too weak or sporadic to affect local species patterns. The magnitude of negative correlations, or the percentage of significant negative correlations, was, however, greater than average between certain abundant species thought to be liberal in uptake of labile nutrients. This was most pronounced for correlations between Erythronium americanum, a spring—ephemeral herb, and Parthenocissus quinquefolia, a summer—active shrub with relatively indeterminate shoot growth. Another result suggesting nutrient—based competitive inhibition was a 50% lower mean cover for two nutrient—demanding summer—active species (Acer saccharum and Ulmus rubra, both abundant as groundlayer plants) in plots with an exceptionally high density of shoots in early spring. In contrast, the pooled cover sums for all summer—active species were unaffected by locally high densities of shoots in early spring.

The effect of plant size on reproductive characteristics in Eryihronium americanum (Liliaceae)

The effect of plant size on reproductive characteristics was examined in a natural population of Erythronium americanum Ker. The number of ovules, fertilized ovules, unfertilized ovules, aborted seeds, and seeds and the fruit weight were found to be correlated positively with plant weight. Only 35% of the available ovules per plant were fertilized and 24% became seeds. Despite the low rate of ovule fertilization, nearly one-third of the fertilized ovules aborted before maturing into seeds. The majority of plant biomass was placed into nonsexual stuctures and, of these, the corm accounted for 60% of the dry weight, leaves 21%, and stem 12%. The remaining 7% was allocated to sexual structures.

Nutrient Dynamics of Herbaceous Vegetation in Upland and Floodplain Forest Communities

The role of herbaceous vegetation in the nutrient cycling regimes of adjacent upland (oak-hickory) and floodplain (silver maple) forests was studied at Robert Allerton Park in E-central Illinois. Net annual production of the upland spring ephemeral group was 68.5 g/m2 and was dominated by Claytonia virginica and Dicentra cucullaria; production by the summer herb group was 24.5 g/m2 and was dominated by Impatiens pallida. Net production by all floodplain herbs was 88.8 g/m2 and was affected by a summer flood which induced early senescence in some species. Net uptake of N, P and K by upland spring ephemerals was 10.6, 1.6 and 18.9 kg/ha, respectively, and by summer herbs, 6.3, 0.84 and 15.1 kg/ha, respectively. Uptake of these elements by floodplain herbs was 16.6, 3.6 and 20.3 kg/ha, respectively. Relative to annual losses in streamflow, uptake of N, P and K by upland herbaceous vegetation is substantial, and temporary storage of elements by spring ephemerals reduces nutrient loss from soils during a period of high potential leaching. The nutrient dynamics of floodplain forests are probably more strongly affected by annual flooding patterns and sedimentation than by herbaceous nutrient uptake. In general, the rapid decomposition of herbaceous litter provides a source of nutrients whose availability for plant uptake is intermediate to that of aqueous inputs and litter from overstory species. INTRODUCTION The role of herbaceous species in the community dynamics of hardwood forests of the eastern United States has been the subject of extensive ecological research. Numerous studies have determined that environmental factors affect the distribution and phenology of herbaceous species (Struik and Curtis, 1962; Jackson, 1966; Smith and Cottam, 1967; Anderson et al., 1969; Caldwell, 1969; Siccama et al., 1970; Bratton, 1976; Thompson, 1980). Considerable work has also been done on the productivity (Siccama et al., 1970; Bazzaz and Bliss, 1971; Zavitkovski, 1976; Ford and Newbould, 1977) and the physiology and life history (Kieckhefer, 1962; Sparling, 1967; Risser and Cottam, 1968; Morgan, 1971; Anderson and Loucks, 1973; Kimball and Salisbury, 1974; Muller, 1978) of forest herbs. However, only a few studies have evaluated the nutrient content of forest herbs (Gagnon et al., 1958; Siccama et al., 1970; Grigal and Ohmann, 1980), and only two studies have related life history and nutrient uptake patterns of herbaceous species to the nutrient dynamics of the forest community (Muller and Bormann, 1976; Muller, 1978; Blank et al., 1980). Muller (1978) determined that Erythronium americanum, a prominent spring ephemeral in the Hubbard Brook Forest, serves as a temporary sink for nutrients (especially N and K) during.early spring when nutrient losses to streamflow are high. Erythronium subsequently acts as a nutrient source through the rapid decomposition of senescent leaves as the forest canopy develops and uptake by woody species increases. Blank et al. (1980) showed that uptake of N and K by six species of a spring ephemeral community in S-central Indiana was considerably greater than uptake values reported by Muller (1978) for Erythronium alone. The present study was initiated to determine the magnitude of nutrient uptake by herbaceous species of two forest communities in central Illinois. This investigation of an upland (oak-hickory) forest and an adjacent floodplain forest considers contrasting patterns of nutrient uptake by several herbaceous species and relates these patterns to other aspects of nutrient cycling in the forest community. 1 Present address: USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Riverside Fire Laboratory, 4955 Canyon Crest Drive, Riverside, CA 92507.

The demography of trout lily (Erythronium americanum Ker.) in Nova Scotia

The age structures of both native and transplanted populations of the perennial herb, ‘trout lily’ (Erythronium americanum), were analysed and found to have age-independent mortality rates. Cohort survival was greatest in populations growing on hardwood forested flood plains (60%), less in populations from gently sloping terraces with pit-and-mound microrelief (53%) and smallest (45%) for colonies on slopes steeper than 15°. The former habitat-type is the optimum for trout lily in Nova Scotia and in it the proportion of flowering bulbs can reach 35%. The second named habitat is widespread and characterised by fewer flowering bulbs (5–10%). In the latter habitat flowering bulbs are uniformly rare. Trout lily bulbs tend to be sterile until at least their eighth year. The high mortality rates of populations on steeply sloping, hardwood forested ground ensure minimal survival of bulbs beyond their sixth year. In the other two named habitats sufficient numbers of bulbs reach ages of 8 or 9 years for some to make the translation from the sterile to the flowering form. In all the habitats studied in Nova Scotia, propagation is typically by either runners or, less importantly, daughter bulbs, with the peak of activity in the bulbs third and fourth years. The plants of flood plains showed the greatest rates of vegetative propagation, by cohort, but many of the bulbs from colonies growing on steep slopes lacked runners or daughter bulbs. As all bulbs for the transplant experiments came from a single clone it can be concluded that trout lily plants in Nova Scotia have a sufficiently large genetic endowment for them to behave in the same manner as native populations of the species in the several habitats represented in the province.

Dispersal Versus Gene Flow in Plants

Dispersal Versus Gene Flow in Plants

Trout Lily in Nova Scotia: An Assessment of the Status of its Geographic Range

Trout lily, Erythronium americanum Ker., is a common spring herb of the deciduous forest formation of eastern North America and has its eastern limits in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is proposed that this species is a relatively recent arrival in Nova Scotia, becoming widely established there after about 4500 BP when the oak-dominated hardwood forest of the first half of the post- Pleistocene gave way to the present beech and sugar maple woods. There are many areas in that province where trout lily does not grow but in which it might be expected to thrive. In 1974, bulbs of this species were transplanted from a single colony into eleven areas of mature hardwood forest vegetation at various distances from the edge of the contemporary range limits for trout lily in Nova Scotia. Leaf area, area of occupation and numbers of plants were monitored every spring until 1979. Seven of the eleven transplant sites are judged to have excellent prospects for persistence of trout lily. Of these sites, two are on hardwood forested flood plains and the balance are on sloping land with a cover of beech and sugar maple forest. It is too early to decide the long-term prospects for the remaining four colonies, although two (on the steep, forested flanks of the tidal reaches of large rivers) are unlikely to persist. Other field experiments showed that trout lily bulbs can be as safely trans- planted in the spring as in the autumn, and that the bulbs can survive at least 8 days immersion in either salt, brackish or pure water without measurable effect on either sprouting or leaf area. Trout lily's distribution does not appear to be in equilibrium with prevailing environmental conditions in Nova Scotia, and the same conclusion probably holds true for other herbs of the hardwood forest formation.

Transplant Experiments with Trout Lily at Mont St Hilaire, Quebec

In 1970, 243 bulbs of trout lily (Erythronium americanum Ker. Liliaceae) were transplanted into five distinctive habitat-types in an area of complex terrain at Mont St Hilaire, Quebec. The field area lies within the Canadian geographic range of the species and the experiments were designed to allow identification of natural controls on the geography of that species at the landform scale. Although survival of transplanted bulbs was high for the first three years in all habitat-types, propagation was a significant force on young, previously unoccupied, blow-down mounds and in restricted areas of seasonally flooded ground where sedimentation buried the corms under 15-25 cm of layered organic mud and fine gravel. They are the two habitats of the experimental area which are characteristically occupied by trout lily. In all other habitat-types, mortality exceeded recruitment and, by 1979, no trout lily bulbs remained in transplant sites established 9 years before on a broad ledge and in closed pits between blow-down mounds. Only 15% of the transplant sites on an expanse of sloping ground remained occupied in 1979, but the bulbs are unlikely to persist there.

A Quantitative Description of the Vegetative Phenology of Herbs in a Northern Hardwood Forest

The vegetative phenology of populations of nine common herbs in a northern hardwood forest was measured quantitatively, using a method developed for resolving important details of phenological patterns. The species may be divided into four different phenological types: vernal photosynthetics (Erythronium americanum and Claytonia caroliniana), summer greens (Uvularia sessilifolia and Clintonia borealis), late summer species (Dennstaedtia punctilobula and Aster acuminatus), and semievergreens (Oxalis montana and Dryopteris spinulosa var. intermedia contrasted with D. spinulosa var. americana). Interspecific differences among and within phenological types and intraspecific variations along an elevational gradient are described in terms of yearly timing of development and senescence, durations of stages, and population synchrony. Concurrent measurements of environmental factors suggest interpretations of adaptive significances of the phenological patterns.

The Phenology, Growth and Ecosystem Dynamics of Erythronium americanum in the Northern Hardwood Forest

In the northern hardwood forest, growth of vernal photosynthetic herbs is temporally restricted to the period between spring snowmelt and summer canopy development. This characteristic suggests that several unique adaptations exist which allow the species to complete their life cycles, and that temporal separation of production in the herbaceous layer may add to structural and functional complexity of the ecosystem. Erythronium americanum Ker. (Liliaceae) was examined in central New Hampshire with respect to its natural history, growth characteristics and influence on energy flow and mineral cycling in the deciduous forest ecosystem. Growth leading to the early spring development of photosynthetic tissue begins with fall root growth and continues through a long winter phase during which the shoot elongates from the perennating organ, through the soil and into the snowpack. Following snowmelt, the shoots begin rapid unfurling and maturation of the photosynthetic tissue. The length of the mature leaf phase is controlled by the timing of snowmelt and canopy development, and may be quite variable between successive years. During the short period of production, total biomass increased by 190% in 1972 and 338% in 1973; however, plant weight at the end of the winter period in 1973 had decreased to 28% of the spring 1972 maximum. In the annual energy cycle, biomass losses during the nonphotosynthetic period may amount to more than production during the preceding spring. In comparison with summer green herbs, Erythronium shoot tissue contained significantly higher concentrations of N but lower levels of K, Mg and Ca, suggesting that the spring adaptation may be oriented toward higher N levels of the soil during the spring period as well as higher light levels at the forest floor. Significant correlations of biomass of vernal photosynthetic herbs with summer green species imply that temporally separated species may utilize the same physical site and resources. This adds to the structural complexity and production of the herbaceous layer; however, the vernal photosynthetics account for only 0.5% of total aboveground primary production of the ecosystem. The temporal character of Erythronium's growth and its capacity for rapid biomass accumulation combine to make it a significant factor in nutrient dynamics in the deciduous forest. Uptake of N and K during spring flushing of nutrients from the ecosystem and later release through senescence of shoot tissue appear to reduce gross ecosystem losses of these elements.

Role of Erythronium americanum Ker. in Energy Flow and Nutrient Dynamics of a Northern Hardwood Forest Ecosystem

The aboveground activity of the spring herb, Erythronium americanum, is restricted to the period between snowmelt and forest canopy development. Its phenology and production capacity closely adapt the species to this temporal niche in northern deciduous forests. While E. americanum has a minor effect on energy flow, it may reduce losses of potassium and nitrogen from the ecosystem during the period of maximum removal by incorporating these elements in accumulating biomass. Later, during the summer, these nutrients are made available when the above-ground, nonperennating tissues decay.

Resource Division in an Understory Herb Community: Responses to Temporal and Microtopographic Gradients

Resource Division in an Understory Herb Community: Responses to Temporal and Microtopographic Gradients

The growth behavior, ecology, and geography of Erythronium americanum in northeast North America

During the spring months, 20%, on average, of the non-flowering bulbs of Erythronium americanum Ker. propagate by runners, yet in 2.5 ha of deciduous forest vegetation on heterogeneous terrain at Mont St. Hilaire, Quebec, the plant is either absent from or rare in places with standing water in April–May and on slopes steeper than 15°. Elsewhere in the stand, and particularly on ledges across the back slope and on the blowdown mounds of low gravel terraces, the plant is locally abundant. Field transplant experiments confirmed that the plant neither survives for long nor reproduces vegetatively outside its local range. Also, during five consecutive years of observation on the flora of sample quadrats in the stand, both the number of individuals of this species and their distribution did not significantly change, suggesting that the plant now occupies all suitable niches in the small study area. This may not be true elsewhere in southeastern Canada, where E. americanum is concentrated along the principal plant migration routes from the U.S.A. The plant occupies a much narrower range of topographic situations in Canada than in the U.S.A. and there are grounds for believing it could still be moving into valley bottom areas with a cover of hardwood forest vegetation in eastern and southern Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, the southern Laurentians, and extreme southwestern Ontario.

Phenological Observations of Spring Geophytes in Quebec

Observations were made in a sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) stand on the phenological response of three geophytes, Claytonia caroliniana, Erythronium americanum, and Trillium erectum, to solar radiation and temperature. The three species started development when the ground was partly covered with snow. The peak of the leafing and flowering stages occurred prior to the lead development of the maple canopy. Two of the geophytes, Claytonia and Erythronium, completed their life cycle prior to leaf development in the canopy. The life cycles appear to be strongly influenced by temperature and solar radiation.

The Embryo Sac of Erythronium americanum

1. The ovary of Erythronium americanum is trilocular, each locule containing two rows of anatropous, bitegmic ovules. 2. One of the subepidermal cells of the nucellus enlarges and functions directly as the megaspore mother cell. 3. Normally only three divisions intervene between the megaspore-mother cell stage and the eight-nucleate sac; thus the development is of the Adoxa type. 4. The chromosome number is n = 24 and 2n = 48. 5. Some embryo sacs show an unusual organization which indicates that occasionally the development may be of the Fritillaria type. 6. Numerous intra-ovarial pollen grains were found. These, like other pollen grains, usually showed a degenerating vegetative nucleus and a large spherical generative cell with deeply staining cytoplasm and prominent nucleus.

α-Methylene Butyrolactone from Erythronium americanum

α-Methylene Butyrolactone from Erythronium americanum

On the Development of the Bulb of the Adder's-Tongue

Previous articleNext article FreeBriefer ArticlesOn the Development of the Bulb of the Adder's-TongueFrederick H. BlodgettFrederick H. Blodgett Search for more articles by this author PDF Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by International Journal of Plant Sciences Volume 20, Number 4Apr., 1895 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/327179 Views: 36 Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref Journal History This article was published in the Botanical Gazette (1876-1991), which is continued by International Journal of Plant Sciences (1992-present). Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Jack T. Tessier Importance of depth in soil to corm survival in Erythronium americanum (Liliaceae), Rhodora 119, no.977977 (Jan 2017): 33–43.https://doi.org/10.3119/16-11Jack T. Tessier Methods of Belowground Movement in Erythronium americanum, Northeastern Naturalist 19, no.sp6sp6 (Mar 2012): 77–88.https://doi.org/10.1656/045.019.s606Frederick H. Utech, Shoichi Kawano Biosystematic studies inErythronium (Liliaceae-Tulipeae), The Botanical Magazine Tokyo 88, no.33 (Sep 1975): 177–185.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02489304