Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School
Doi
Abstract
Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is an aggressive ephemeral perennial native to Europe and western Asia that invades floodplains and mesic forests. It has been recorded to escape from cultivation throughout the eastern deciduous forest and has become abundant in many riparian areas in the Mid Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley. It emerges earlier than most native vernal flora and forms a dense mat that replaces the less aggressive native spring ephemeral community. Control efforts on floodplains are often unsuccessful due to floodwater transport of upstream propagules. Eco Logic LLC, a local ecological restoration firm, worked with Indy Land Stewardship to set up a treatment and monitoring program to develop an effective strategy for confining the lesser celandine to the low floodplain terraces to prevent it from invading the adjacent uplands
