Catesby's Trillium

Description:

This beautiful spring wildflower’s flower is on a recurved pedicel that curls back under the leaves often obscuring it from view. Flowers are typically seen from late March through June. It is distinguished by its nodding white, pink, or rose colored flowers with egg-yolk yellow anthers and its widely spaced leaves that are rolled inwardly along the length of the leaf. This unusual leaf morphology allows the flower to be more readily observed.

Habitat:

Catesby’s trillium tends to occur in drier habitats and is typically found on acid soils, in open dry or rich mesic woods, within laurel and rhododendron thickets. Catesby’s trillium is found in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This one was photographed along the trail at Wildcat Branch Falls in Greenville County, SC.