Brief Note: Trillium Recurvatum Beck (Liliaceae): a New Station for the Prairie Trillium in Ohio

BRIEF NOTE TRILLIUM RECURVATUM BECK (LILIACEAE): A NEW STATION FOR THE PRAIRIE TRILLIUM IN OHIO1

VICTOR G. SOUKUP, Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221 OHIO J. SCI. 80(1): 46, 1980

Trillium recurvalum is essentially a mans have been deposited in the Uni- mid-western species and has a wide dis- versity of Cincinnati herbarium (CINC). tribution (Freeman 1975). It gen- Trillium sessile L., also very abundant, erally ranges west of the Indiana-Ohio and Trillium flexipes Raf., much less boundary and the southward extension of abundant, occurred in the same associa- that boundary through Kentucky and tion. Tennessee, and generally east of the east- This new station lies along the south ern edge of Iowa, the eastern half of Mis- edge of the East Fork (Little Miami souri, across Arkansas, and into extreme River) Reservoir and may be flooded by east-central Texas. In the north, the the filling of the reservoir. The station prairie trillium enters southwestern is also the farthest east known advance of Michigan and southern Wisconsin, while the species in the north or north-central in the south it ranges through the north- part of its range and possibly its entire ern halves of Louisiana and Mississippi range. The nearest known station is in and across northwestern Alabama. The Indiana about 45 miles to the northwest. species appears to be most abundant in Other extensive colonies exist to the west Indiana and Illinois. and northwest in Indiana and at greater There are old, valid records with speci- distances to the southwest in Kentucky. mens of T. recurvatum deposited in The same association of Trillium recur- herbaria from only 2 Ohio counties: valum, T. sessile, and T. flexipes occurs southwestern Hamilton County in the at the nearest Indiana station in the same southwest corner of the state bordering relative order of abundance. on Indiana and on the Ohio River, and How the species got to the East Fork western Auglaize County in the second Reservoir location and how its presence tier of counties east of Indiana in west- there escaped detection for such a long central Ohio. According to Braun (1967), time are both matters for speculation. "T. recurvalum was very rare, or perhaps Hamilton County and adjacent parts of extinct in Ohio; no records since 1897; western Clermont County have been ex- found throughout Indiana; abundant in tensively botanized during the past 150 woods but a few miles west of the Ohio years. Eastern Clermont County and State line". It was, therefore, a very most of Brown County, however, were real surprise to learn of the existence of somewhat neglected over the years, being an extensive colony of this species in largely bypassed in favor of Adams eastern Clermont County, the county County, the next county to the east adjacent to and east of Hamilton County. along the Ohio River. This negligence The plant was collected on 25 April 1977 may explain why T. recurvatum was pre- by Paul R. Kaucher, Jr., in an open woods viously missed. How the species got along the slopes of a rather steep-sided, there is not easy to explain, except that essentially north-south running ravine it does not appear to be an escape from north-west of Bethel. Voucher speci- cultivation. Most Trillium, including T. recurvatum, iManuscript received 27 November 1978 are myrmecochorus (Berg 1958), and I (#78-68). have observed ants carrying off seed from 46 Ohio J. Sci. PRAIRIE TRILLIUM IN OHIO 47 dehisced fruit of this species. Since ants many times that necessary to spread into usually do not forage at great distances adjacent Ohio, in post-glacial migration. from their nests, the spread of Trillium It would appear that the presence of T. is a slow process, and some remnants of a recurvatum at the East Fork Reservoir is distinct path leading from one colony of due either to its being a relict population plants to the next should be evident. with all evidence of migrational route de- These remnants are absent in Hamilton stroyed or being a disjunct with the seed County, although if formerly present, being deposited in the recent past by a they could have been eliminated by the bird in a rare instance of zooechory, fol- expansion of Cincinnati. The typical lowed by normal spreading. The latter associates T. sessile and T. flexipes still speculation seems more probable, and in flourish in Hamilton County, however, the absence of any evidence to the con- and much suitable cover is available on trary, it would also seem normal to the western edge of the county adjacent assume that the seed came from one of to Indiana and on the eastern edge ad- the nearby Indiana stations. jacent to Clermont County. T. recurvatum occurs on various sub- LITERATURE CITED Freeman, J. D. 1975 Revision of Trillium strates including clay, limestone, sand- Subgenus Phyllantherum (Liliaceae). Brit- stone, and alluvium. Both the nearest In- tonia 27: 1-62. diana station and the new station at the Braun, E. L. 1967 The Monocotyledoncae East Fork Reservoir lie just south of the [of Ohio]. Cat-tails to orchids, with the farthest advance of Wisconsin glaciation, gramineae by Clara G. Weishaupt. Ohio but glaciation is probably not a factor in State University Press, Columbus. 464 pp. Berg, R. Y. 1958 Seed Disperal, Morphol- the virtual absence of the species east of ogy, and Phylogeny of Trillium. Skr. the Indiana-Ohio boundary since it has Norske Vidensk.-Akad. Oslo, Mat.-Natur- spread northward to Michigan, a distance vidensk. Kl. 1: 36.