Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller

Carolyn Miller received her Bachelor’s degree in botany and plant pathology from Michigan
State University and Master’s degree in biology at Miami University (Ohio), where her
focus is developing innovative ways to inspire urban residents to landscape with native
plants to help support native pollinators. Since 2015, she has been the Arboretum &
Invasive Plant Species Coordinator for Michigan State University, spending much of her
time mapping and recording data for all of the trees and shrubs across more than 5,000
acres of campus. She’s currently the Vice President of the Red Cedar Wild Ones, on
the Board of Directors for the Wild Ones National, President of the Wildflower
Association of Michigan, Recording Secretary of the Michigan Botanical Society, and
Vice President of the Great Lakes Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Society. She has a
small native plant landscaping business, Two Green Thumbs LLC, where she
transforms unproductive lawns into productive pollinator habitat. She can be found
spearheading efforts to remove invasive plants from local habitats and botanizing all
over the State of Michigan with her wife, Diane.

Michigan State University Beal Botanical Gardens

Ficaria verna – A Newly Added Invasive Species in Michigan

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Ficaria verna (Lesser celandine) is a perennial ground-covering plant native to northern Europe, newly found to be invasive in the Great Lakes region. F. verna forms a dense mat in the early spring, outcompeting native ephemeral species, many of which are already threatened. It can be identified by its small (1-4 cm), lobed leaves growing in clusters with 7-12 petaled, glossy, yellow inflorescences (2-5 cm). After blooming, F. verna forms clusters of small bulblets and tubers which spread and easily propagate if disturbed.