''Erythronium propullans'', the Minnesota dwarf trout lily, Minnesota adder's tongue or Minnesota fawnlily, is a rare plant

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Cannon River and North Fork

Zumbro River The Zumbro River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota in the United States. It is longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, access ...

watersheds in Rice County, Goodhue County and the extreme northern edge of Steele County,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, in the United States. The plants are believed to be a mutation or sport of the white trout lily (''

Erythronium albidum ''Erythronium albidum'', the white fawnlily or white trout lily, is a small herbaceous geophyte in the Liliaceae, lily family. It is also known as adder's tongue, white dog's-tooth violet, serpent's tongue, trout lily, deer tongue, and yellow sn ...

'') and evolved following the most recent

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. The plants' flower in the spring at the same time as

Hepatica ''Hepatica'' (hepatica, liverleaf, or liverwort) is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family, native to central and northern Europe, Asia and eastern North America. Some botanists include ''Hepatica'' within a wider interpre ...

Dutchman's breeches ''Dicentra cucullaria'', Dutchman's britches, or Dutchman's breeches, is a perennial herbaceous plant, native to rich woods of eastern North America, with a disjunct population in the Columbia Basin. The common name Dutchman's breeches deriv ...

bloodroot ''Sanguinaria canadensis'', bloodroot, is a Perennial plant, perennial, herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern North America. It is the monotypic genus, only species in the genus ''Sanguinaria'', included in the poppy family Papaveraceae, ...

, and other spring

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park is a state park of Minnesota, US, northeast of Faribault just outside the small town of Nerstrand. The park derives its name from the Big Woods, a large, contiguous forested area covering much of southeast Minne ...

, River Bend Nature Center, and several tracts owned by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

protect portions of its habitat.

Description

''Erythronium propullans'' is a perennial growing from a small bulb. It has smaller flowers than ''E. albidum'', often only 1 cm long with a pinkish tint to them. The fruits are also smaller than those of ''E. albidum'', with the mature fruits nodding. Offshoots are produced by flowering plants grow from the stem above the bulbs unlike ''E. albidum'' which are produced from the bulbs. ''Erythronium propullans'' produces one

stolon In biology, stolons (from Latin '' stolō'', genitive ''stolōnis'' – "branch"), also known as runners, are horizontal connections between organisms. They may be part of the organism, or of its skeleton; typically, animal stolons are external s ...

below the soil surface on the midway point of the stem on blooming plants; that stolon then produces a new bulb. On non-blooming plants, 1 to 3 stolons are produced directly from the bulbs, each ending in a new clone.

Habitat

''Erythronium propullans'' is found only in two counties in Minnesota (the only strictly endemic plant species in the state.) It is typically a woodland species most commonly found on north-facing slopes above or near streambeds. It is found in areas with dense shade in the summer, but completes its growing period early in the year before trees are fully leafed out.

Discovery

The lily was first noted by Mary Hodges, a high school science instructor at St. Mary's School (now

Shattuck-St. Mary's Shattuck-St. Mary's (also known as Shattuck-St. Mary's School, Shattuck, or simply SSM) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal-affiliated boarding school in Faribault, Minnesota, United States. Est ...

) in Faribault,

, and then formally listed as a new species by botanist

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

in 1871. It is listed as both a federally and state endangered species.

Reproduction

Research suggests that ''E. propullans'' rarely reproduces from seed on its own, but is highly dependent on vegetative reproduction, or limited cross pollination with ''

'', thus limiting population growth and spread of the species.

Threats

The historical and current distribution of ''E. propullans'' is limited and the primary threats to the species include, development and flooding along the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

s and ridges where it currently exists, trampling and recreational use impacts, as well as habitat changes brought on by

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

such as common

buckthorn ''Rhamnus'' is a genus of about 110 accepted species of shrubs or small trees, commonly known as buckthorns, in the family Rhamnaceae. Its species range from tall (rarely to ) and are native mainly in east Asia and North America, but found thr ...

(''

Rhamnus cathartica ''Rhamnus cathartica'', the European buckthorn, common buckthorn, purging buckthorn, or just buckthorn, is a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Rhamnaceae. It is native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia, from the cen ...

''). Since the plants form large colonies of 100 or more clonal plants, the true number of distinctive individuals may number only around 400. Attempts to propagate the species by humans have generally been unsuccessful.

References

External links

Trout Lily Preserve
by

Dwarf Trout Lily
by

USFWS The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with othe ...

Plant Profile
by Center for Plant Conservation

by River Bend Nature Center {{Taxonbar, from=Q147620 propullans Ephemeral plants Flora of Minnesota Endemic flora of the United States