Ficaria verna – A Newly Added Invasive Species in Michigan
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. These two distribution methods make it an ideal species to spread along moving water (rivers, creeks) that pass through urban areas. There’s been a noticeable increase in finding Ficaria verna in residential lawns, and the question has been asked “how it got there, and what the best management practices for control?”.
This session will discuss methods of control and how we can prevent it from spreading even further.
Rachel Cuschieri-Murray
Rachel Cuschieri-Murray's roots in conservation began with collecting seeds and foraging with her Dad on the Army bases where she grew up. She obtained Bachelor's and Master's degrees in communication from Eastern Michigan University.
Early in her career, Rachel worked with schools and businesses in the Detroit suburbs and Mid-Michigan to promote conservation and sustainability practices. She was delighted to join Eaton Conservation District as the Executive Director in 2022. Since then, Rachel has been a core leader in the effort to understand and stop the spread of the new invasive species, Lesser Celandine, in Michigan.
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.