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Tiny Plant Thought Extinct In Vermont Accidentally Rediscovered Over 100 Years Later

June 3, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

After a years-long hunt, Vermont botanists have rediscovered a floodplain-dwelling plant species that hadn’t been seen in the state since 1916.

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When it comes to the search for false mermaid-weed (Floerkea proserpinacoides), it’s not exactly an understatement to say it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. The plant is small, making it hard enough to spot among the many taller plants living alongside it.

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And if you thought its flower might make it more obvious, you’d be wrong – some are only the size of a pin head. Coupled with a short blooming period of around four to six weeks a year, there’s a lot working against anyone trying to find the plant.

But 108 years after false mermaid-weed was last spotted in Vermont, Molly Parren, a turtle technician from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, inadvertently snapped a picture of it whilst visiting a streamside parcel on private land and sent it to her botanist colleague.

“When I opened up the photo that she had sent, there was this little weird plant in the corner of the frame. And when I zoomed in, I immediately knew that it was Floerkea, that it was false mermaid-weed,” Grace Glynn, a botanist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, told Vermont Public. “I couldn’t believe that I was finally seeing this plant.”

According to a social media post from the department, Glynn then visited the site and confirmed the presence of the plant, as well as further specimens in a public conservation area downstream.

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Even considering its miniature size, it was a surprise to find false mermaid-weed in the state after all this time – though it’s native to and fairly common in multiple states in the US.

“False mermaid-weed is a floodplain plant, and historic populations are believed to have been destroyed by some common challenges facing Vermont’s floodplains: extreme floods, invasive species, and development,” said the department.

“The fact that the newly rediscovered population of false mermaid-weed has been able to persist in good quality habitat – on both private and protected land in Addison County – for over a century is a sign that good stewardship by landowners and conservation organizations really can make a difference.”

With the plant only blooming for a short period, it’ll be a year before the rediscovered patch can be surveyed in more detail. In doing so, it’s hope that botanists will learn more about how false mermaid-weed can be conserved.

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“Ultimately, we want to know how we can help this species flourish in Vermont in the future,” Glynn told VTDigger.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

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Source Link: Tiny Plant Thought Extinct In Vermont Accidentally Rediscovered Over 100 Years Later

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