Phytologia (August 1998) 85(2):13{)-133. ENEMION BtTERNATUM RAF. (RANUNCULACEAE) IN TEXAS J.R. Singhurst WildlifeDiversityProgram,TexasParksandWildlifeDepartment,Austin,Texas 78704 U.S.A. J.W. Smith, Jr. A&M BiologicalControlLaboratory,DepartmentofEntomology,Texas University. CollegeStation,Texas 77843 U.S.A. & W.C. Holmes DepartmentofBiology,BaylorUniversity,Waco,Texas 76798-7388 U.S.A. ABSTRACT The occurrence ofEnemion bitematum is documented in Texas. A brief historicalaccountofits mention in literature concerning the state and the plant communityinwhichitoccursispresented. KEYWORDS: Enemion,Ranunculaceae,Texas,biogeography Enemion bitematum Raf., formerly Isopyrum bitematum (Raf.) Torrey & Gray, false rue anemone, is aslender, glabrous perennial herb 10-35 cm tall that has thin fibrous roots and temately decompound leaves. The flowers are white, disposed in paniclesorcymes,witheachhaving5-6petaloidsepals. Correll & Johnston's (1970) inclusionofEnemionbitematumintheManualofthe VascularPlants ofTexas, under die name Isopyrum bitematum, was based on a specimen collected in the state by Charles Wright. The species is included in the checklists ofHatch etal. (1990) and Jonesetal. (1997). Ford(1997), inhis treatmentofthe genus for the Flora ofNorth America,excludesTexasfromthedistributionofthespecies. An inquiry,however, to the Gray Herbarium proved that they indeed have the Wright specimen mentioned above. DavidE.Bouffordrelayedthefollowing: 130 : Singhurstetal. EnemionbitematuminTexas 131 "Wc have one specimen ofEnemion (Isopyrum) bitematum from Texas, but it may have been overlooked in the past because it is mounted on a sheet[withanother specimen] collected by C.S. Short in Kentucky. We have our specimens in alphabetical orderby state, say someone looking through quickly may not have noticed that one of the plants was from Texas. Short'slabelisthemoreconspicuousofthetwo. Theywere both inAsaGray'sherbariumanditwashispractice, to save paper I suppose, tomounttwoormoreplantson a sheet. The specimen from Texas is on therightside,but the label in the lower right comer says only 'Herb. A. Gray. /. bitematumTorr. &Gray, Fl. N. Am.' and there is a little label ontopofthatwith *Syn. Fl. N. Am.' The only indication ofthe locality and collector is a packet in the upper right hand comer with 'Texas, Wright' in Gray's handwriting on the outside. There is no other indicationoflocation." Correll&Johnston(1970)givethedistributionas"possiblyin n.e. Texas." which seemsbaseduponproximity to areas in Oklahoma and Arkansas where the species is known to occur. However, we believe the specimen to be from southeast Texas because there is no evidence that Wright visited northeast Texas. Wright came to TexasfromNatchez,Mississippi. Themosttraveled and direct route from Natchez to Texas is via the Harrisonburg Road, an extension of the Natchez Trace, to Natchitoches,Louisiana,thenviatheElCamino Real (known as the Old San Antonio Road in Texas) to eitherSan Augustine or Nacogdoches, Texas. Geiser (1948), in reviewing Wright's activities in Texas, based upon his (Wright's) correspondence to AsaGray, states that Wright worked as a surveyor in Angelina, Tyler, Jasper, and Newtoncounties [allinsoutheastTexas] from 1837 to 1845. There is no mention in theletters oftravel to the northeast part ofTexas. Gray received his first letter, now lostaccordingtoGeiser(1948),fromWrightin 1844. Whileitis possible that Wright could have traveled to northeast Texas prior to 1844, Gray, in a manuscript autobiographyofWright (apparendy now lost, but quoted in Geiser 1948), mentions thatWrightmade: "his headquarters for two or three years [that is, until about 1840, when hewenttoTownBluff,anowdesertedvillageinTylerCounty] at a place ..." called Zavalla, on the Neches [in present day Jasper County] [ZavallaisactuallyinAngelinaCounty.] The only mention ofWright traveling out ofthe four mentioned counties concerns a businessjourney he made during the summer of 1844 to Columbus on the Colorado River, Colorado County. In the spring of 1845, Wright accepted a position with Rutersville College in Lagrange. Fayette County. He never returned to east Texas. SincethereisnoindicationthatWrighttraveledtonortheastTexas, it appears probable that the specimen is from southeast Texas (Angelina, Tyler. Jasper, or Newton counties). & ThatCorrell Johnston (1970) were correct in expecting the species to occur in northeastTexasisborneoutbythefollowingrecentSinghurst&Smithspecimen from RedRiverCounty. Specimens Cited: TEXAS. Red River Co.: [8.2 miles east of the Jet. of FM 1159andTX Hwy 37 onFM 1159,then north ofFM 1159 ca. 0.9 miles] ca. 1.7 air PHYTOLOGIA 132 August 1998 volume85(2):130-133 milesnorthofAcworthalongGreenwood Creek, 16 March 1999, Singhurst & Smith 7561 (BAYLU, others tobe distributed). County and exact location unknown [but probably £rom Angelina, Tyler, Jasper, or Newton counties), Wright s.n. (BAYLU [photo],GH). InRedRiverCounty, the species occurs in the rich humus layerofRoebuckclay soils(Thomas 1977)on relatively flat, moist, and shaded ground adjacent to the base ofasteepbluffof8-15%slope. The hardwood forest present is dominated by Carya illihoinensis (Wang.) K. Koch (Juglandaceae), Quercus macrocarpa Michx., Q. muhlenbergii Engelm., Q. shumardii Buckl. (Fagaceae), and Populusdeltoides Bart. ex Marsh (Salicaceae). Subcanopy woody plants include Sambucus canadensis L., Symphoricarpos orbiculatus Moench. (Caprifoliaceae), Smilax spp. (Smilacaceae), andComusdrummondiiC.A.Mey(Comaceae). Common herbaceous species locally associated with Enemion bitematum are Carex spp. (Cyperaceae) Erythronium albidum Nutt., Polygonatum biflorum (Walt.) Ell. (LiUaceae), Impatiens capensis Meerb. (Balsaminaceae), Podophyllum peltatum L. (Berberidaceae), Parietaria pennsylvanica Muhl. ex Willd. (Urticaceae), Polygonum virginianum L. (Polygonaceae), Ranunculus sp. (Ranunculaceae), Sanicula canadensis L. (Umbelliferae),Smallanthusuvedalia(L.)Mack,exSmall, and Verbesina virginica L. (Compositae). ItisexpectedthatthespeciesoccursinsimilarsituationsinsoutheastTexas. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are thankful for assistance provided by Tom Wendt of TEX/LL, Lindsey WoodruffofBRIT, andJim Van Kley of ASTC. The report would not have been possiblewithouttheassistanceofDavidE.BouffordofGHandtheloanofthe Wright specimen,whichisgratefullyacknowledged. LITERATURECITED Correll, D.S. & M.C. Johnston. 1970. Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas. TexasResearchFoundation,Renner,Texas. Ford, B.A. 1997. Enemion In: FloraofNorth America Editorial Committee, Flora ofNorthAmerica,vol. 3. Oxford University Press, New York, New York. pp. 246-249. Geiser, S.W. 1948. Naturalists of the Frontier. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas,Texas. Hatch, S.L., K.N. Gandhi, & L.E. Brown. 1990. Checklistofthe VascularFloraof Texas. Texas Agric. Exp. Sta. Pub. MP-1655, Texas A&M University, College Station,Texas. Singhurstetai: EnemionbitematuminTexas 133 Jones, S.D., J.K. Wipff, & P.M. Montgomery. 1997. VascularPlantsofTexas: A Comprehensive Checklist Including Synonymy, Bibliography, and Index. UniversityofTexasPress, Austin,Texas. Thomas, J.R. 1977. Soil survey of Red River County, Texas. United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, Texas Agricultural ExperimentStation,Temple,Texas.