Tolmiea menziesii (Pursh) Torrey & A. Gray (N Am.) – A very rare, locally naturalized escape from cultivation. Known since 2015 from several localities in deciduous woodland (Zoerselbos) in Zoersel. Populations are found alongside the Tappelbeek rivulet where the species seems firmly established and spreading. In 2016 also discovered in similar circumstances in Kloosterheide in Lier, also in the Kempen. Further claims are usually erroneous and referable to the closely similar and much more frequent Tellima grandiflora. The latter is easily separated on stamen number (10 vs. 3), petals fringed (with 5-7 linear lobes) and in the absence of plantlets at the junction of petioles (frequently produced in Tolmiea, especially in moist conditions).
Tolmiea menziesii is frequently grown as an ornamental (indoors as a pot-plant or in gardens). According to Stace (2010) it rarely sets seed which may account for its scarcity in the wild in western Europe, especially when compared with Tellima grandiflora, a species with abundant seed-set.
Tolmiea menziesii is well-known as a naturalized species in the British Isles (Stace 2010). In western Europe it has also been recorded from the Netherlands (e.g. van Ooststroom & Reichgelt 1958) and Austria (Hohla 2011).
Selected literature
Bohm B.A. (1979) Flavonoids of Tomiea menziesii. Phytochemistry 18(6): 1079-1080.
Field J.H. (1976) Further notes on the colony of Tolmeia menziesii referred to above. Proc. Birmingham Nat. Hist. Soc. 23: 95.
Hohla M. (2011) Zwei Funde der Kleinen Seerose (Nymphaea candida) sowie weitere Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Flora von Oberösterreich. Stapfia 95: 141-161. [available online at: http://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/files/naturschutz_db/STAPFIA_0095_...
Rieseberg L.H. & Soltis D.E. (1987) Allozymic differentiation between Tolmiea menziesii and Tellima grandiflora (Saxifragaceae). Syst. Bot. 12(1): 154-161.
Soltis D.E. (1984) Autopolyploidy in Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). American Journal of Botany 71: 1171–1174.
Soltis D.E. & Bohm B.A. (1986) Flavonoid chemistry of diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Systematic Botany 11: 20–25.
Soltis D.E. & Doyle J.J. (1987) Ribosomal RNA gene variation in diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 15: 75–77.
Soltis D.E. & Rieseberg L.H. (1986) Autopolyploidy in Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae): evidence from enzyme electrophoresis. American Journal of Botany 73: 310–318.
Soltis D.E. & Soltis P.S. (1988) Electrophoretic evidence for tetrasomic inheritance in Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Heredity 60: 375–382. [available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232758505_Electrophoretic_evide...
Soltis D.E. & Soltis P.S. (1989) Genetic consequences of autopolyploidy in Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Evolution 43: 586–594. [available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269833429_Genetic_Consequences_...
Soltis D.E., Soltis P.S., Ranker T.A. & Ness B.D. (1989) Chloroplast DNA variation in a wild plant, Tolmiea menziesii. Genetics 121: 819–826. [available online at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6557752_Chloroplast_DNA_Variati...
Soltis P.S. & Soltis D.E. (1986) Anthocyanin content in diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of Tolmiea menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Systematic Botany 11: 32–34.
Stace C. (2010) New flora of the British Isles, 3th ed.: XXXII + 1232 p. Cambridge University Press.
Van Ooststroom S.J. & Reichgelt Th.J. (1958) Floristische Notities 35–58. Acta Botanica Neerlandica 1(7): 33-52. [available online at: http://natuurtijdschriften.nl/download?type=document&docid=539104]
Weiblen G.D. & Brehm B.G. (1996) Reproductive strategies and barriers to hybridization between Tellima grandiflora and Tolmeia menziesii (Saxifragaceae). Amer. J. Bot. 83(7): 910-918. [available online at: http://geo.cbs.umn.edu/Weiblen&Brehm1996.pdf]