Isotria verticillata from the Texas Pineywoods.

I. verticillata is apparently very rare in Texas. I've seen it growing wild at 2 locations, and know of another 2 that likely still have plants. I know of several sites that have either been destroyed or where plants have not been detected in recent years. I said apparently because, despite looking fairly showy in this image, they are extremely difficult to spot in situ. They're fairly small and blend in incredibly well with the leaf litter. I think it's safe to assume that some populations on public land have been overlooked. Additionally, outside of the National Forests in deep east Texas, most of the Pineywoods is privately owned and data on plant communities on private land are sparse.

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Trillium texanum syn: Trilluim pusillum var. texanum from the Angelina National Forest in Angelina County, Texas.

Today I'm starting a set of plants that I consider truly rare and of conservation concern in the Pineywoods. T. texanum is known from a handful of sites in east Texas, western Louisiana, and extreme southwestern Arkansas. Most populations are in Texas, where it occurs near the base of forested seepage slopes. Recent surveys indicate that though some robust populations remain, numerous historic populations have likely vanished. Within the longleaf pine belt, T. texanum tends to occur where longleaf pine uplands grade into baygall/forested seep communities in slightly elevated areas within seepage expressions. Fire often penetrates these areas, though I can't say with any confidence whether that would have typically been the case pre-settlement.

In the more northern populations (Nacogdoches County northward) they tend to occur in mature forested seeps, often within the floodplain of small springfed streams at the base of deep sandhills. They tend to grow on root balls, sphagnum mats, and other areas slightly elevated above mucky areas of standing seepwater. T. texanum is currently under review for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act.

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A spectacular clump of Sabine River wakerobin (Trillium gracile) in Sabine County, Texas. This is the last of the current set of uncommon Pineywoods plants, starting tomorrow I'll be moving onto the stuff that I really consider to be rare. T. gracile is pretty widespread in the Pineywoods, but occurs in scattered populations, and typically in low numbers, though there are some remnant stands of mesic woods that harbor impressive groupings like this one.

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Schoenolirion croceum from Tyler County, Texas. These dainty wildflowers grow in many of the same places as pitcher plants. That said, not all Texas sites with pitcher plants have sunnybells and not all sites with sunnybells have pitcher plants. I really like the green and yellow striping on their developing flower buds.

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Sarracenia alata from Tyler County, Texas. Though these carnivorous plants can be considered rare in Texas due to a small number of known occurrences in the state, to me they warrant consideration as uncommon as they can be extremely abundant where they do occur, and several of these sites are well known and easy to view, occurring on public land like the Big Thicket National Preserve and Angelina National Forest.

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