P h o t o b y K S N P C S t a f f
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Habitat:
This species occurs in two somewhat distinct habitats in Kentucky which probably helps to delimit two varities (var. ozarkanum and another that has not formally been described). The two habitat types are depression swamps and slopes of thin-canopied oak-hickory forests.
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Species Description:
A dwarf species of Trillium known from the coastal plain, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, and Texas, with white flowers deepening through pink, and rose to purple.
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Phenology:
Flowering Period: Mid March to late May.
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Additional Information at NatureServe
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Diagnostic Characteristics:
Flowers are white turning pink. Leaves are lance-elliptic to lance-ovate. It is similar to another small white-flowered trillium, T. nivale, but differs in having leaves that are sessile. wider flattened filaments, and obtusely 3-sided rather than . T. nivale grows on limestone-derieved and base-rich substrates, while T. pusillum grows on acid soils.
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Management:
Disturbance such as ATV trails, timber removal or any activity that results in increased erosion and weed invasion will be detrimental.
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Global Range:
South from Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia to North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, and west to Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas. Texas and Louisiana plants are now considered to belong to a different species, Trillium texanum, formerly treated as a variety of Trillium pusillum.
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Known Kentucky Occurrences:
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