Thismia americana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Dioscoreales
Family: Burmanniaceae
Genus: Thismia
Species:
†T. americana
Binomial name
†Thismia americana
Synonyms[1]
  • Sarcosiphon americanus (N.Pfeiff.) Schltr.

Thismia americana, known as thismia[2] or banded Trinity[3] was a species of flowering plant that was first discovered in 1912 by Norma Etta Pfeiffer in the wetlands surrounding Chicago's Lake Calumet, and described by her in 1914.[4] The type specimen was found in what was then a wet-mesic sand prairie at 119th Street and Torrence Avenue in what would become the industrial neighborhood of South Deering.[5] The plant has not been seen since 1916, and the ground where it was observed has since been extensively altered by industrial development. The species is believed to be extinct.[2] Several extensive searches have not uncovered any living specimens of the vanished species.[6][7][8]

Although occasionally regarded as a hoax,[9][10] preserved specimens exist. One was located in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands in 2022. In the 1980s, one of Pfeiffer's specimens had been sent to the Utrecht herbarium, but it went missing after the collection moved to a new site in 2006. This was located when staff undertook delayed maintenance and curation during the COVID-19 epidemic.[11]

Life cycle

Thismia americana drew interest from botanists because of its extremely specialized ecological niche. T. americana lacked chlorophyll. Instead of converting solar energy, the flowering plant was a mycoheterotroph, utilizing local fungi of the southern Lake Michigan wetlands for its nourishment. The plant enjoyed a short, shy life cycle above ground; in July, its roots would sprout a tiny flowering head, which produced a white flower the size of a jewelry bead.[2]

The description of Thismia americana was published by University of Chicago student Norma Etta Pfeiffer in the Botanical Gazette[4] and reprinted in her doctoral thesis Morphology of Thismia americana.[12] She became the first and only scientist to collect the species. By examining the plant's morphology, Pfeiffer determined that it was a species of the genus Thismia, a genus that at the time was believed to occur only in the Southern Hemisphere. No one knows how this isolated population survived in North America until historic times.[2][10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Thismia americana N.Pfeiff". The Plant List. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chew, Ryan (2004). "Thismia Americana - A mystery that still haunts - and helps - the Calumet region" (PDF). Chicago Wilderness Magazine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. ↑ USDA. "Thismia americana N.E. Pfeiffer". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 Pfeiffer, Norma Etta (1914). "Morphology of Thismia americana". Botanical Gazette. 57 (2): 122–135. doi:10.1086/331235. S2CID 85095866. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Rodkin, Dennis (22 September 1994). "Searching for Thismia". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Bowles, Marlin; Jones, Michael; Wetstein, Linda; Hyerczk, Rich; Klick, Ken (1994). Results of a systematic search for Thismia americana Pfeiffer in Illinois (PDF) (Report). The Morton Arboretum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Merckx, Vincent S. F. T.; Smets, Erik F.; Kellogg, Elizabeth A. (2014). "Thismia americana, the 101st Anniversary of a Botanical Mystery". International Journal of Plant Sciences. 175 (2): 165–175. doi:10.1086/674315. JSTOR 674315. S2CID 84525776.
  8. ↑ Pearson, Arthur Melville (2011). "A Quest for the Great White Grail". Outdoor Illinois. Vol. 19, no. 11 (November). pp. 6–7.
  9. ↑ Eisenberg, Paul (4 December 2022). "Landmarks: Field Museum exhibit gives voice to stories of Calumet region, a place that really matters". The Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022.
  10. 1 2 Wilhelm, Gerould; Rericha, Laura (2018). "Thismia Americana: A Chicago Endemic Or an Elaborate Hoax?" (PDF). The Great Lakes Botanist. 57 (3/4): 150–157. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 June 2020.
  11. ↑ "The rediscovery of a small flower with a big mystery / De herontdekking van een klein bloemetje met een groot mysterie (in Dutch)". Nature Today. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  12. ↑ Pfeiffer, Norma Etta (1914). Morphology of Thismia americana (Thesis). University of Chicago. Retrieved 25 September 2018.

Further reading

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