Relict Trillium

Trillium reliquum, the relict trillium, Confederate wakerobin, 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. 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.

Effective May 4, 1988, Trillium reliquum received protection as a federally listed endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The common name varies by location. 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.

Trillium reliquum was first collected near Augusta in 1901 but was not described as a new species until 1975.