U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE
DIVISION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES

SPECIES ACCOUNTS

FAMILY: Lily

STATUS: Endangered, Federal Register, April 4, 1988

DESCRIPTION AND REPRODUCTION: A perennial herb, relict trillium differs from other sessile-flowered trilliums in three respects (1) decumbent or S-curved stems, distinctively-shaped anthers, and by the color and shape of its leaves. This plant flowers in early spring, with flowers that are greenish to brownish purple or sometimes pure yellow. Its fruit is an oval-shaped, berry-like capsule which matures in early summer. Like other trillium plants, this species dies back to its tuberous rhizome after the fruit matures.

RANGE AND POPULATION LEVEL: A total of 21 plant populations exist in Alabama (four populations); Georgia (14 populations); and South Carolina (3 populations). Population numbers range from 2O to several thousand plants, but at least 1O of these populations support less than 2OO plants. Alabama's populations are located in Henry, Lee, and Bullock Counties. South Carolina has populations In Aiken and Edgefield Counties. Georgia's populations are found in Clay, Lee, Macon, Early, Talbot, and Columbia Counties. One former population in Georgia is known to have been extirpated. Although the historic range of relict trillium is unknown, the existing populations were probably much larger.

HABITAT: Relict trillium thrives best in mature, moist, undisturbed hardwood forests. Most sites are free from fire. The soils on which this plant occurs range from alluvial sands to rocky clays, but they all have a high organic content in their upper layer.

REASONS FOR CURRENT STATUS: Most relict trillium sites are threatened by logging, road construction, agricultural conversion, or residential and industrial development. Many sites are close to expanding urban areas. Some sites are being converted for pine monoculture, pastures, or row crops. Stone quarrying has adversely impacted at least one population, and stone, clay, or sand quarrying is a potential threat to a few others. Two human-introduced, weedy vines are also a serious threat. Japanese honeysuckle and kudzu are encroaching on relict trillium at many of its sites.

MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION: Some priority recovery goals described in the species' recovery plan include: (1) Determining habitat protection priorities and developing landowner agreements; (2) Planning and implementing neccessary management techniques; (3) Defining the criteria for what constitutes a self-sustaining population and determining the size of area each population needs to be self-sustaining; (4) Reestablishing populations within suitable habitat; and, (5) Maintaining a cultivated source of plants and providing for long-term seed storage.

At present, 18 of the 21 existing populations are privately owned. One population in Henry County, Alabama is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; part of another in Aiken County, South Carolina is owned by the South Carolina Department of Wildlife and Marine Resources (SCWMRC). The segment owned by the SCWMRC is part of the largest known site (5O,OOO to 1OO,OOO plants). This site, located in Aiken and Edgefield Counties, South Carolina, is owned by private, State, and municipal landowners. To date, State Natural Heritage Programs in all three States have contacted most of the landowners of the populations. An informal agreement has been reached with the municipal goverment and one of the private landowners that own portions of the largest population. They have agreed to protect the plants on their respective lands. In addition, the SCWMRC is protecting its population segment (5OO plants) as a natural area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is protecting the population on its property in Alabama. Efforts involving State conservation agencies and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are underway to locate new populations.

REFERENCES:

Freeman, John D. 1975. Revision Of A Trillium Subgenus Phyllantherum (Liliaceae). Brittonia 27:1-26.

Freeman, John D. 1985. Status Report Of Trillium Reliquum. Unpublished Report To The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast Regional Office, Atlanta, Georgia. 36 pp.

U.S. Department Of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1988. Determination Of Endangered Status For The Relict Trillium. Federal Register 53(64):1O879-1O884.

**U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1991. Recovery Plan For Relict Trillium (Trillium reliquum Freeman). Prepared by Robert R. Currie for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlanta, Georgia. 29 pp.

For more information please contact:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
33O Ridgefield Court
Asheville, North Carolina 288O6

Telephone: 7O4/665-1195