Trillium_reliquum
Trillium reliquum
Species of flowering plant
Trillium reliquum, the relict trillium,[4] Confederate wakerobin,[5] or Confederate trillium, is a monocotyledon species of the genus Trillium, a perennial, flowering, herbaceous plant of the family Liliaceae. It is found only in the southeastern region of the United States: southeast Alabama and central and west Georgia, with a disjunct population in east Georgia and southwest South Carolina.[1] As a relict species, there are a few remaining groups but it was once more abundant when conditions were different. Significant habitat loss has occurred through clearing of forests for agricultural and pine farm uses.[6]
Effective May 4, 1988, Trillium reliquum received protection as a federally listed endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[2][3] The common name varies by location.[7] It grows in undisturbed hardwood forests that sometimes include mature pines and that are free of understory plants such as bushes and vines. It likes moist, well-drained soils along the banks of streams and small stream floodplains, mixed with other wildflowers and forest debris.[8]
Trillium reliquum was first collected near Augusta in 1901 but was not described as a new species until 1975.[6]