Plants and Animals
Corydalis flavula Yellow fumewort
Key Characteristics
Small sprawling annual forb (10-30 cm) of forested floodplains and ravines; leaves dissected and often glaucous; flowers pale yellow with a short spur.
Status and Rank
US Status: No Status/Not Listed
State Status: T - Threatened (legally protected)
Global Rank: G5 - Secure
State Rank: S2 - Imperiled
Occurrences
| County | Number of Occurrences | Year Last Observed |
|---|---|---|
| Berrien | 3 | 2022 |
| Calhoun | 2 | 2019 |
| Cass | 1 | 1929 |
| Kalamazoo | 13 | 2020 |
Information is summarized from MNFI's database of rare species and community occurrences. Data may not reflect true distribution since much of the state has not been thoroughly surveyed.
Habitat
Occurs in floodplain forests and mesic hardwood forests in southwestern Lower Michigan. The majority of occurrences are known from degraded, successional dry-mesic southern forest in south-central Lower Michigan, where the species is typically associated with the non-native black locust.
Natural Community Types
For each species, lists of natural communities were derived from review of the nearly 6,500 element occurrences in the MNFI database, in addition to herbarium label data for some taxa. In most cases, at least one specimen record exists for each listed natural community. For certain taxa, especially poorly collected or extirpated species of prairie and savanna habitats, natural community lists were derived from inferences from collection sites and habitat preferences in immediately adjacent states (particularly Indiana and Illinois). Natural communities are not listed for those species documented only from altered or ruderal habitats in Michigan, especially for taxa that occur in a variety of habitats outside of the state.
Natural communities are not listed in order of frequency of occurrence, but are rather derived from the full set of natural communities, organized by Ecological Group. In many cases, the general habitat descriptions should provide greater clarity and direction to the surveyor. In future versions of the Rare Species Explorer, we hope to incorporate natural community fidelity ranks for each taxon.
Associated Plants
In floodplain forests, it grows with such species as silver maple, green ash, red maple, black walnut, hackberry, black maple, Ohio buckeye, box elder, black ash, black willow, cottonwood, swamp white oak, sycamore, spice bush, redbud, paw paw, Kentucky coffee tree, red mulberry, Virginia blue-bells, common trillium, red trillium, stinging nettle, poison ivy, moneywort, Canada moonseed, wild ginger, skunk cabbage, honewort, kidney-leaved buttercup, false mermaid, rough bedstraw, mayapple, blue eyed Mary, and Canada goldenrod. In degraded dry-mesic southern forests, the species is associated with black maple, red maple, sugar maple, garlic mustard, green ash, annual bedstraw, white avens, black walnut, hairy sweet-cicely, smooth sweet-cicely, pellitory, clearweed, Canada bluegrass, black cherry, choke cherry, white oak, red oak, black oak, prickly gooseberry, common blackberry, black raspberry, dewberry, sassafras, common chickweed, and poison-ivy.
Management Recommendations
Little is known of the management regime necessary to maintain this species. This species germinates in the late summer and fall, then overwinters and blooms in early spring (noted as a winter annual).
Survey Methods
Random meander search covers areas that appear likely to have rare taxa, based on habitat and the judgment of the investigator.
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Meander search
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Survey Period: From fourth week of March to first week of May
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References
Survey References
- Elzinga, C.L., D.W. Salzer, and J.W. Willoughby. 1998. Measuring and Monitoring Plant Populations. The Nature Conservancy and Bureau of Land Management, Denver. BLM Technical Reference 1730-1. 477pp.
- Goff, G.F., G.A. Dawson, and J.J. Rochow. 1982. Site examination for Threatened and Endangered plant species. Environmental Management 6(4): 307-316
- Nelson, J.R. 1984. Rare Plant Field Survey Guidelines. In: J.P. Smith and R. York. Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California. 3rd Ed. California Native Plant Society, Berkeley. 174pp.
- Nelson, J.R. 1986. Rare Plant Surveys: Techniques For Impact Assessment. Natural Areas Journal 5(3):18-30.
- Nelson, J.R. 1987. Rare Plant Surveys: Techniques for Impact Assessment. In: Conservation and management of rare and endangered plants. Ed. T.S. Elias. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento. 8pp.
Technical References
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee. 1997. Flora of North America, North of Mexico. Volume 3: Magnoliophyta: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae. Oxford University Press, New York. 590pp.
- Gleason, H. A., and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second edition. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. 910pp.
- Gray, A. 1950. Gray's Manual of Botany; eighth ed. Van Nostrand Reinghold, New York. 1632pp.
- Holmgren, N.H. 1998. Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual. Illustrations of the vascular plants of Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. New York Botanical Garden, Bronx. 937pp.
- Mitchell, R.S. and J.K. Dean. 1978. Polygonaceae (Buckwheat Family) of New York State. Bulletin Number 431. New York State Museum, Albany. 79pp.
- Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region, 4th ed. Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis. 921pp.
- Voss, E. G. 1985. Michigan Flora. Part II. Dicots (Saururaceae-Cornaceae). Bulletin of the Cranbrook Institute of Science and University of Michigan Herbarium. 724pp.