False-rue anemone COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 4
Distribution
Global range
Enemion biternatum occurs in Canada and the United States. This species is common throughout most of its range. It is rare within those provinces or states that encompass the periphery of its range, including Ontario, Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama and North Carolina. This species has likely been extirpated from New York and South Dakota (Figure 2). Enemion biternatum is recorded infrequently east of the Appalachian Mountains but sightings in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina suggest that it may be more common than previously believed (Boufford and Massey, 1976). Boufford and Massey (1976) suggest that Enemion biternatum may be easily overlooked due to its early flowering time and resemblance to the more widespread Thalictrum thalictroides. In Ontario, this is less likely the case since Thalictrum thalictroides is also provincially rare and likely would not be readily encountered.
Figure 2. North American distribution of Enemion biternatum (based on map in Canadian Biodiversity located at http://www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/plants/plantpages/ene_bit.htm).
Canadian range
The species has been known in Canada since about 1897 (Table 1). Enemion biternatum occurs only in southwestern Ontario in five different watersheds (Figure 3). Many individual plants (tens of thousands) can be found in some populations, but colonies are often very dense and may occupy only a small area of habitat. Populations of this species can be found in the floodplains of Medway Creek, the Thames River, Kettle Creek, Mud Creek (Parkhill), and the Ausable River.
Figure 3. Distribution of Enemion biternatum in Ontario. Solid square symbol represents an extirpated site (7=Lynn Valley, 6=Middlemarch Forest). 1=Kettle Creek, North of Port Stanley, 2=Medway Creek, 3=Parkhill, 4=Ausable River, 5=Thames River, 17=Kettle Creek.
Page details
- Date modified: