Is Painted Trillium on the Michigan Road Preserve?

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

Painted Trillium on the Michigan Nature Association (MNA) Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township, Saint Clair County.

More than likely, yes, but we just haven’t found it yet. This has remained an open question since the TLC began stewardship in 2011 on the Saint Clair County Road Commission and Pro-Tel Development preserves, collectively referred to as the “Michigan Road Preserve” along the east side of Michigan Road, between Dove Road and the Canadian National Railway, in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County. Certainly, good habitat for Painted Trillium is widespread on the preserve, and it is known to occur nearby. If the species is present, it’s likely in very low numbers somewhere in a hidden spot where it has evaded grazing deer and other herbivores. It could be that most of the plants are in single-leaf seedling form, which, at a glance, are difficult to distinguish from Canada Mayflower – Maianthemum canadense, a typically associated species.

Painted Trillium on the proposed 30-acre Marzolf Preserve along the south side of the 10-acre MNA Sharon Rose Leonatti Memorial Sanctuary in Kimball Township. Note the petioles, or leaf bract stems, on the 3-leaf trillium in the center. These are distinctive of Painted Trillium and aid in identification when not in flower. Note also the 1-leaf trillium seedling to the upper right of the 3-leaf plant. Trillium seedlings remain in 1-leaf form for a few years before maturing to the 3-leaf form. At a quick glance, the 1-leaf seedling appears very similar to Canada Mayflower - Maianthemum canadense to the lower right and also below the 3-leaf plant.  

Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the west end of the Michigan Road Preserve. Seasonal surface water lies between tip-up mounds where Painted Trillium are typically found.

For the past four years, I have casually searched the preserve for Painted Trillium while doing other stewardship work. Being very familiar with the species, I can usually identify the plant long after it has flowered and set seed, well into August, if the deer haven’t eaten it. In 2015, with the help of our new intern, Alex Roland, we finally made a thorough inspection of the west end of the preserve during the peak flowering period, on May 15. Ron Grogan, a professional nature photographer, joined us to help search. Unfortunately, we didn’t find any Painted Trillium on the Michigan Road Preserve, but we know it was up and in-flower on the nearby Michigan Nature Association Jasper Woods Sanctuary, which we visited the same day. Ron and Alex were thrilled to see Painted Trillium for the first time at Jasper Woods, and I’m almost equally happy to be able to show it to someone for the first time. A photograph is one thing, but to see it live in its natural habitat is another. Most thrilling for me though, is finding a new population, which I haven’t done for 8 years.

Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the west end of the Michigan Road Preserve. Seasonal surface water lies between tip-up mounds where Painted Trillium are typically found.

     

Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the west end of the Michigan Road Preserve. Seasonal surface water lies between tip-up mounds where Painted Trillium are typically found.

Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis (white flower) and Fringed Polygala - Polygala paucifolia (violet flowers) on the Michigan Road Preserve. These are typical northern associates of Painted Trillium.

Painted Trillium on the MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township on 2015 May 16. Photo by TLC Board Member Dr. Scott Ferguson.

Ron Grogan Painted Trillium Photograph. 2015 May 15. MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary, Kimball Township.

Painted Trillium – Trillium undulatum, is a Michigan Endangered species. Saint Clair County is the only county in Michigan where it is now known to occur. There was a population known from Sanilac County, but that was reportedly destroyed years ago. Could there be more in other Michigan counties? It’s possible that a population somewhere beyond Saint Clair County has remained undiscovered or unrecorded, or that someone has recently planted Painted Trillium somewhere beyond its original range. Saint Clair County is an isolated outpost for Painted Trillium on the western edge of its range in North America, reflecting the Blue Water Area’s unique natural history. Here it occurs in northern forest complexes of southern swamp wetland and upland sand ridges, such as on the Michigan Road Preserve.

Recorded Painted Trillium range in Michigan. The Sanilac County population was destroyed years ago according to Fred Case, a trillium expert.

Painted Trillium Description. Michigan Flora. Univerisity of Michigan Herbarium.

Painted Trillium is one of nearly 40 species of trillium native to North America, about 10 of which are found in Michigan. About half, or 5 of these trillium species are on the Michigan protected species list. Painted Trillium is the only State Endangered trillium. Three others are Threatened, a lesser protection status, and one is considered extirpated (eliminated) from Michigan. Unlike Saint Clair County, the primary range of Painted Trillium is the Appalachian Mountains at higher elevations on organic soils, in rhododendron and mountain laurel thickets or Red Spruce groves. Painted Trillium also occurs in eastern Canada, but nowhere across its range is the species considered common.

NatureServe.org Explorer distribution and status map for Painted Trillium. Note that the full coloring of the states and provinces does not indicate that Painted Trillium covers the entirety of those areas, but merely that the species occurs somewhere within those political boundaries. For example, all of Michigan is colored, but Painted Trillium is known to occur only in Saint Clair County now.  

Painted Trillium Abstract. NatureServe.org Explorer.

Painted Trillium was first documented in Saint Clair County around 1900 by Charles K. Dodge, a noted botanist who also served as attorney and controller for the city of Port Huron. Painted Trillium was likely in the area for many centuries, but before Dodge’s time, no one either found it or recorded its presence. Dodge was possibly the earliest known advocate for preserving that portion of the Black River valley which later became the Port Huron State Game Area.

Charles Keene Dodge. A noted botanist from Port Huron, Michigan. He served as an attorney and controller for the city of Port Huron. Dodge may have been the first person to document the occurrence of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County. He was photographed here in 1917 at the age of 73 in the final year of his life. 

In Saint Clair County, Painted Trillium grows only in cool northern forests on moist to seasonally dry acidic sands. Associated plant species include Red Maple, Paper Birch, Eastern White Pine, Eastern Hemlock, Black Gum, Witch-hazel, Highbush Blueberry, Low Sweet Blueberry, Ground-pine – Dendrolycopodium obscurum, Bunchberry, Wintergreen, Fringed Polygala, Swamp Dewberry, Partridge Berry, Bracken Fern, Wild Sarsaparilla, Indian Cucumber Root, Bluebead-lily, Starflower, Canada Mayflower, Dwarf Ginseng, and Goldthread. Painted Trillium occurrence strongly coincides with the interface of Rousseau fine sand or Chelsea-Croswell sand ridges and the lower and wetter Wainola-Deford fine sands. These sand ridges formed thousands of years ago as ancient beaches along glacial lake shorelines and in drainageways under the glacial ice, later shaped by wind as sand dunes. Painted Trillium is often found along the base of these sand ridges. The plants also show a strong affinity for distinct and dense tip-up mounds, formed by large fallen trees which are prone to wind-throw due to shallow root systems in sands with seasonally high ground water.

Young second-growth northern forest in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County. The predominance of Paper Birch indicates sand soil with a seasonably high water table where the forest canopy was open more recently than mature areas, perhaps within the past 50 years. Small, temporary gaps in the forest can favor Painted Trillium and other woodland species. 

Mature second-growth forest near the same areas as the above photograph, showing distinct tip-up mounds with seasonally inundated to saturated soil between. A few Painted Trillium were found in this area.

Typical associates of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County; Star-flower - Trientalis borealis (white flower) and Goldthread - Coptis trifolia beneath. MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary, Kimball Township. Photo by TLC Board Member, Dr. Scott Ferguson.

Typical associates of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County; Indian Cucumber-root - Medeola virginina (taller light green plants), Ground-pine - Dendrolycopodium obscurum (branched evergreen at center), and Canada Mayflower - Maianthemum canadense (wide dark green single leaves). MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary, Kimball Township. Photo by TLC Board Member, Dr. Scott Ferguson.

Goldthread - Coptis trifolia, showing yellow roots or "gold thread". MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary, Kimball Township. Photo by TLC Board Member, Dr. Scott Ferguson.

Typical associates of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County; Fringed Polygala - Polygala paucifolia (violet flowers) and Canada Mayflower - Maianthemum canadense (wide single leaves).

Typical associate of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County; Ground-pine - Dendrolycopodium obscurum on a tip-up mound in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County. Painted Trillium was found not far from here.

USDA Soil Conservation Service soil map showing Rousseau fine sand ridges (RuB) and borrow pit (Bp) areas where sand has been mined out in Kimball Township, Saint Clair County. Painted Trillium was found along some of these ridges.

Kimball Township is the heart of Painted Trillium habitat in Saint Clair County, with over half, or 10, of the 16 extant recorded locations in Michigan. Most of these Kimball Township occurrences are centered in and around an approximately 10-square mile area that was Hemlock - White Pine forest before European settlement. This forest patch is unusual because it is the only area of this type mapped in the entire County. The highly acidic soils associated with the conifer trees would have favored Painted Trillium.

Taylor Road and I-69 in Kimball Township. Several colonies of Painted Trillium have been found in this general area where the forest has a distinctive northern appearance. 

Pre-European settlement vegetation map of northern Saint Clair County. The green area south of Black River and west of Port Huron is the only Eastern Hemlock - Eastern White Pine forest mapped in Saint Clair County and is where many of the known Painted Trillium colonies have been found. Surrounding this area, the predominant cover was American Beech - Sugar Maple forest shown in pink, with areas of mixed (with conifers) hardwood swamp shown in red. Source: Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

Because Painted Trillium requires very acidic and seasonally moist sands, the post-glacial migration of the species in Michigan appears to have been blocked by alkaline to neutral clay and loam soils beyond its current range in Saint Clair County. There is some chance that elk, deer, birds, or other animals which fed on the mature seed capsules transported viable Painted Trillium seed over these soil barriers into suitable habitat long ago, but so far, no outlying populations have been recorded.

Painted Trillium is best recognized while in-flower by a small red to magenta chevron at the base of each white petal, the points radiating outward from the flower center. The petal margins tend to be wavy, or undulate, thus the specific epithet “undulatum”. The plant is usually smaller than other trillium, sometimes less than 6 inches tall. It may also be identified by what are effectively the petioles or leaf bract stems, ranging from ¼ to 1 inch long, unlike the normally sessile, or stemless, leaves of White Trillium and Red Trillium. The leaves tend to appear slightly whitish at maturity, or with lighter variegations, and are usually smaller and narrower than other trillium. Newly emerged leaves and stems appear reddish or somewhat bronze due to anthocyanin, a natural antifreeze and pigment that protects the chlorophyl by absorbing excessive ultraviolet light. In Saint Clair County, Painted Trillium usually emerges from the ground in mid-May, sometimes delayed up to about two weeks by cold weather. The leaves and flower are almost fully formed upon emergence, so that plants typically emerge and are in full-bloom within a day or two. Plants remain in-flower for about one week, again, varying with the weather. In cooler temperatures, flowers remain in bloom longer. Seed usually begins developing in last week of May or first week of June as the petals dry-up and soon fall off. The seeds mature in a berry-like capsule, an ovary, which sheds in mid summer. As with many of the trillium, ants are one of the primary seed dispersers. They are attracted by an oily sweet structure on each seed called an elaiosome. Attempting to carry the seeds to their colonies, the ants spread the seeds to new areas. The leaves or bract blades remain intact providing nutrition to the rhizome, an oblong bulb with annual rings indicating the age of the plant. Painted Trillium can be found above-ground through summer, sometimes into September, but Eastern White-tailed Deer and other animals often eat the plants by August.

Painted Trillium. Photo by TLC friend Laurie Dennis.

Painted Trillium. Photo by TLC friend Laurie Dennis.

The smallest flowering Painted Trillium I have ever seen. Photographed on 2015 May 16 by TLC Board Member Dr. Scott Ferguson on the MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township. Note Scott's finger for size comparison.

 

Painted Trillium at the MNA Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township. 2015 May 16. Photo by TLC Board Member Dr. Scott Ferguson.

Open trillium capsule revealing seeds (greenish and round) with elaiosome structures (whitish masses) and ants. Photo by Chris Murrow: http://antsbeesbutterfliesnature.blogspot.com/2011/08/ant-chat-episode-33-myrmecochory.html . 

Painted Trillium Description. Explorer. Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

Painted Trillium Abstract. Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

Back in 1989, while exploring with Stan Kuchta of the Michigan Nature Association, he pointed out potential Painted Trillium habitat west of Allen Road, north of Griswold Road, and south of the railroad tracks in Kimball Township. Stan was right. I returned in May of 1990 and found my first Painted Trillium in full bloom, and later a much larger colony of several hundred plants. A few years later, almost all of them were destroyed by the construction of a single residence. I have found and periodically monitored 10 previously unrecorded populations (13 new colonies) of Painted Trillium in Saint Clair County. These included 6 new populations (7 new colonies) in Kimball Township, 2 new populations (3 new colonies) in Clyde Township, 1 new population (2 new colonies) in Port Huron Township, and 1 new population in Fort Gratiot Township. My wife, Cheryl Collins, found 1 new population in Kimball Township. The 11 new populations we found more than tripled the three previously recorded occurrences in Saint Clair County. However, of these 11 new populations, at least 5 have since been destroyed by development.

In 2006 and 2008, two new populations were found in Kimball Township, bringing the total number of recorded existing populations in Saint Clair County to 16, according to the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. Of the 16 total populations known in Saint Clair County, and Michigan, 5 have less than 20 plants, 2 less than 100 plants, and one a very uncertain future on a permitted sand mine site, leaving only 8 populations that appear to be sustainable in the long-term. Of the 8 sustainable populations, 5 are relatively protected in Michigan Nature Association preserves and the Port Huron State Game Area, and 3 are under threat of development. All populations are extremely vulnerable to deer grazing and climate change.

Painted Trillium current distribution map for Michigan. Explorer. Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

2015 Spring Burn

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

On 2015 May 01, the TLC conducted its second controlled burn on the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County. This year, the Port Huron Township Fire Chief, Craig Miller, gave us permission to conduct the burn on our own, without their supervision. Our performance last April with the fire department probably helped in this decision. The purpose of the burning is to kill invasive Glossy Buckthorn, and encourage fire-tolerant vegetation that likely dominated this landscape prior to European settlement, before fires were suppressed. Accomplishing these two goals will increase native woodland species abundance and help prevent long-term degradation of the plant community.

Since taking over stewardship in 2011 of the Saint Clair County Road Commission and Pro-Tel Development preserves, collectively referred to as the “Michigan Road Preserve” along the east side of Michigan Road, between Dove Road and the Canadian National Railway, in Port Huron Township, it was clear that control of invasive Glossy Buckthorn is the big management issue out there. Glossy Buckthorn – Rhamnus frangula, recently renamed as Frangula alnus, is a small tree or shrub native to Eurasia and North Africa. It was introduced to North America about 200 years ago, first as an ornamental hedge plant, and later as a planting for wildlife and other conservation uses. Like so many other shrubs brought to North America for these purposes, including Common Privet - Ligustrum vulgare, Tartarian Honeysuckle - Lonicera tatarica, and Autumn-olive - Elaeagnus umbellata, Glossy Buckthorn became highly invasive, especially in open forests and shrub swamps. It forms very dense shrub thickets that shade-out and displace nearly every other plant species that once grew in the same area.

Glossy Buckthorn - Frangula alnus dominance in the west end of  the preserve.

The best control for Glossy Buckthorn is pulling the smaller saplings and cutting the larger, usually combined with herbicide applications. This is very labor-intensive, requiring a lot of people and time to make significant progress against large areas of Glossy Buckthorn such as on the west sides and interior shrub swamps of the Michigan Road Preserve. Herbicide has the disadvantage of not always being so selective in which plants it kills. We are aware that some land managers have had tremendous success in controlling Glossy Buckthorn in shrub swamps by burning. This is usually more effective in open wetlands where there is more herbaceous growth and therefore, more fuel for burning. Except during autumn leaf fall, there is not typically a large amount of dry fuel on the ground of mature forests, and therefore, burning is more difficult.

Another aspect of the burning is that, to some extent, the northern plant community on the Michigan Road Preserve and across similar sandy soils in the Port Huron area, is fire-dependent to some degree. Oaks - Quercus, Paper Birch - Betula papyrifera, Low Sweet Blueberry - Vaccinium angustifolium, Wintergreen - Gaultheria procumbens, Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis, and other species on the upland sand ridges on the preserve all thrive in response to burning. Fire should help to restore some of the natural structure of the vegetation among other benefits.

Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis (white flower) and Fringed Polygala - Polygala paucifolia (violet flowers) along the south edge of the burn area on 2015 May 15, two weeks after the burn.

We decided to try burning on the west side of the Michigan Road Preserve to see how the Glossy Buckthorn would be affected in the swamp forest. We considered burning in the shrub swamp portions of the preserve, but we didn’t want to decrease the Speckled Alder – Alnus incana cover which appears to be competing with the Glossy Buckthorn, and we don’t want to open these areas to further invasion by Reed – Phragmites australis which dominates the lower wetter areas.

Speckled Alder - Alnus incana and Royal Fern - Osmunda regalis in the western edge of the shrub swamp. Here it appears to be competing fairly well with Glossy Buckthorn - Frangula alnus and Reed - Phragmites australis.

So far, the 2014 and 2015 burns appear to have decreased Glossy Buckthorn density. Because of delayed resprouting, it’s difficult to determine the final outcome until the burn areas have been observed multiple years. There has also been an increase in Black Cherry - Prunus serotina seedlings, but these are unlikely to persist as they mature due to the shade of the forest canopy. It appears that we are seeing an increase in generally northern herbaceous vegetation that likely benefits from fire, including Bracken Fern – Pteridum aquilinum, Fringed Polygala – Polygala paucifolia and Canada Mayflower – Maianthemum canadense, but it is too early to determine. A major consideration is that the forest probably lacks the original diversity and abundance of species that would have spread after fire, and so we may not see an optimal response until new species are introduced by seeding or transplanting. Other limiting factors include continued grazing by deer and edge forest effects due to the close proximity of non-forested land to the north and west.

2015 Burn Photographs

A nice burn up on the sand ridge with lots of dry oak leaves.

Glad we prepared good control lines because this fire burned along at a fast clip even upwind.

Left to right: TLC President Cheryl Collins; our first TLC Intern on her first day, Alex Roland; and Alex's friend Brook. All did a fine job and we kept the fire well-contained.

TLC Board Member, Dan "The Man" Rhein.

Dan Rhein holding the north boundary.

Smoky tip-up mounds. These mounds of sand were formed over centuries by large trees falling over and uprooting the soil. Most of the mounds date back prior to European settlement in North America and some could be as old as 8,000 years.

At this point in the burn, it was mostly large branches and logs smoldering.

This is the burn area on 2015 May 15, two weeks after we burned.

The contrast of burned (background) and non-burned (foreground) ground along the south limit of the burn area.

An Eastern Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis out in the warm spring air near the south edge of the burn area.

Witch-hazel - Hamamelis virginiana inside the eastern burn area. It was leafed-out and appeared to survive the burn with no problem.

Eastern edge of the burn area, up on a sand ridge, showing what appear to be hybrids of Northern Pin Oak - Quercus ellipsoidalis and Black Oak - Quercus velutina (larger dark trees), scorched along the bottom trunks but otherwise unscathed.

Eastern edge of the burn area, up on a sand ridge, showing what appear to be hybrids of Northern Pin Oak - Quercus ellipsoidalis and Black Oak - Quercus velutina (larger dark trees).

Bracken Fern - Pteridium aquilinum appears to be particularly happy after burning. This is the new "fiddle head" recently emerged from the ground and growing taller.

2015 TLC Interns

Bill Collins, Executive Director, Thumb Land Conservancy

The spring and summer of 2015 was busy for the TLC. With the help of Professor Carrie Dollar and Professor David Webb of the Biology Department at Saint Clair County Community College (SC4), we recruited four student interns to assist with preserve stewardship and gain valuable experience in ecology.

Professor Carrie Dollar, Department of Biology, Saint Clair County Community College.

Our first intern was Alex Roland. She was with us from May through August and is now at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in wildlife biology. Alex’s first activity was our May 01 burn on the Michigan Road Preserve that we manage for Saint Clair County. On May 15 we surveyed potential habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve for Michigan Endangered Painted Trillium. We didn’t find any, but we saw it on the nearby Michigan Nature Association Jasper Woods Sanctuary and Alex was introduced to several other native woodland plants. On May 16, Alex and her mother helped us pull Garlic Mustard at the Dead End Woods Sanctuary. 

Left to right: TLC President Cheryl Collins, TLC Intern Alex Roland and friend Brooke at our 2015 May 01 burn of the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.

Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.

Potential Painted Trillium habitat on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.

Bunchberry - Cornus canadensis (white flower) and Fringed Polygala - Polygala paucifolia (violet flowers) on the Michigan Road Preserve on 2015 May 15.

Painted Trillium - Trillium undulatum on the Michigan Nature Association Jasper Woods Sanctuary in Kimball Township, Saint Clair County.

Left to right: TLC Intern Alex Roland and her mother at our 2015 May 16 Garlic Mustard pull at the Dead End Woods Sanctuary in Fort Gratiot Township, Saint Clair County.

By June, we gained three additional interns; Jeff Hansen, Nicole Barth, and Sarah Mensinger. Jeff is studying environmental science at Oakland University. Nicole is studying biomedical science at SC4. Sarah is now at Western Michigan University studying freshwater ecology. Alex, Jeff, and Nicole assisted us in collecting vegetation data at the Michigan Road Preserve as part of our annual monitoring for Saint Clair County. In August, we worked together on a special project, weeding the parking lot rain gardens at SC4 in preparation for additional native wetland seeding. On August 27, Sarah represented the TLC at the Back to School Bash, a gathering of school kids at White Park in Port Huron, sponsored by Diverse Unity Outreach Center.

Left to right: TLC Interns Nicole Barth, Alex Roland, Jeff Hansen, and Sarah Mensinger.

TLC Intern Jeff Hansen recording vegetation data on the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.

TLC Interns Nicole Barth and Jeff Hansen observing vegetation within sampling plot on the Michigan Road Preserve in Port Huron Township, Saint Clair County.

Maggie Dollar, daughter of Professor Carrie Dollar, has contributed her excellent writing skills to the TLC. In July she sent us an article about the Kirtland’s Warbler which is posted in this blog. Maggie and her mother have also been writing a rough draft of a guide for Thumb landowners wanting to promote native species on their property. We hope to see more of Maggie’s writing in the future.

If anyone is interested in helping the TLC, we have work for you. We provide unique opportunities to learn about nature and assist in protecting some of our remaining natural areas.