PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A woman on a bird-banding mission on Block Island found a rare flower that hadn't been seen in Rhode Island since the mid-19th century.

The Providence Journal (http://bit.ly/1KtefmG ) reports that Kara Stillwell spotted Claytonia virginica, a rare wildflower native to New England.

Stillwell, program administrator for the Natural History Survey, was tracking birds with her 13-year-old daughter and a colleague when she made the discovery.

Survey botanist Hope Leeson identified the plant from a stem Stillwell plucked and brought to the survey's office in South Kingstown.

Richard Enser, a retired biologist with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and a survey board member, confirmed the identification.

The last record of the species in the state is a Brown University herbarium specimen collected from South Kingstown in 1846.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.providencejournal.com