BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Coptis groenlandica | Goldthread 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Goldthread is a small, scapose, evergreen forb.  It has a long, slender
creeping rhizome which is a bright golden yellow.  With no main stem,
goldthread is many branched and frequently matted [12,40,46].

Goldthread forms endomycorrhizal associations [34].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Goldthread propagates from rhizomes and tends to form colonies [20,47].
No documentation on seed set or fertility is available.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Goldthread is commmon in coniferous forests, swamps, bogs, and road
banks [41].  It occurs in thickets, mossy places, cedar swamps, and in a
diversity of damp woods and banks [24,46].  Goldthread is most
frequently found in low light, cool, moist conditions on relatively
infertile soils [1,9,13,17,47].  It usually occurs on Histosolic or
Spodosolic soils (podzolic soils), which are poorly drained and acidic,
with a deep, often not well-decomposed, organic layer [7,20,23,31,47].

Plant associates not listed in Distribution and Occurrence include:

Shrubs:  Hairy raspberry (Rubus pubescens), lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium
angustifolium [V. myrtilloides]), wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis),
bog blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), lingonberry (V. vitis-idaea),
Labrador tea (Ledum groenlandicum), speckled alder (Alnus rugosa),
partridge berry (Mitchella repens), raspberry (Rubus idaea), willow
(Salix pyrifolia), small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), Viburnum
alnifolium, American fly honeysuckle (Lonicera canadensis), laurel
(Kalmia angustifolia) [2,8,21,31,34,43].

Forbs:  Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), Cypripedium acaule, wild
lily-of-the-valley, starflower (Trientalis borealis), woodsorrel (Oxalis
montana), yellow beadlily (Clintonia borealis), sedge (Carex spp.),
creeping wintergreen (Gaultheria hispidula), goldenrod (Solidago
macrophylla), violet (Viola spp.), bedstraw (Galium spp.), Aster
ciliolatus, softleaved sedge (Carex disperma), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne
calyculata), common fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium), glandular
willowweed (E. glandulosum), woodland horsetail (Equisetum sylvaticum),
Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), naked miterwort (Mitella
nuda), Smilacina trifolia, mountain lover (Pachystima myrsinites), robin
run-away (Dalibarda repens) [2,8,19,20,21,31,39,43].

Ferns and allies:  Hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia punctiloba), moonwort
(Botrychium spp.), woodferns (Dryopteris cristata, D.  carthusiana, D.
spinulosa), clubmosses (Lycopodium obscurum, L. annotinum, L.
ludiculum), interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) [19,20,31,43,39].

Mosses:  Calliergonella schreber, Hypnum cristacastrensis, Bazzania
trilobata, Deiranum scoparium, feathermoss (Pleurozium schreberi),
Ptilidium ciliare, Sphagnum spp. [2,8,22,39]


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative seral species.

Goldthread is not tolerant of disturbance and disappears after logging,
although it is not clear whether its disappearance is due to loss of the
canopy or mechanical damage to the roots [30].  It appears to be
intolerant of closed canopies but does require some shade, possibly
because of its preference for moist sites [26,42].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Flowering occurs from May to July, depending on latitude [12,46].

Related categories for Species: Coptis groenlandica | Goldthread