Georgia Ecological Services Field Offices

Federally Threatened and Endangered Plants found in Georgia

Listed Plants	GA Range	Habitat	Threats
Threatened Species - likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future
Pool Sprite, Little Amphianthus Amphianthus pusillus	Granite outcrops in Georgia Piedmont	Shallow pools on granite outcrops, where water collects after a rain. Pools are less than 1 foot deep and rock rimmed. More Information	Quarrying that destroys granite outcrops is the major threat. Other threats include vehicle traffic, littering, fire building, vandalism, and cattle eutrophication/trampling on outcrops. 5 Year Review
Swamp pink Helonias bullata	Rabun County	Coldwater seepage swamps of the Blue Ridge (mountain bogs) with red maple, tag alder, purple pitcherplant, mountain laurel, and rosebay rhododendron More Information	Loss of wetlands to urban and agricultural development, timbering operations, overcollecting, human trampling, and habitat degradation caused by off-site disturbance (such as water withdrawal for irrigation, sewage treatment discharge, increased siltation, and excess nutrients or chemicals in water)
Small whorled pogonia Link to Picture Isotria medeoloides	Northeast Georgia mountain areas	Partially shaded gaps in mixed deciduous-conifer woods with open understory and sparse herbaceous layer. More Information	Habitat loss and overutilization for scientific and private collections
Mohr's Barbara's-buttons Link to Picture Marshallia mohrii	Northwest Georgia	Prairie-like grass-sedge communities over seasonally wet sandy clays; also margins of shale-bedded streams More Information	Agricultural development, routine maintenance of roadside rights-of-way (including herbicide treatment, bulldozing, planting nonnative competitive grasses, and mowing before flowering), silvicultural practices, and road expansion
Kral's water-plantain Sagittaria secundifolia	Chattooga County	Submerged in sandstone crevices and shoals or shallow pools in rapidly flowing streams; often found with riverweed (Podostemon) More information	Water quality degradation and increased stream turbidity; eutrophication that increases levels of filamentous algae; off road vehicle traffic in streams; and possibly low genetic variability
Large-flowered skullcap Link to Picture Scutellaria montana	Northwest Georgia	Mature oak-pine forests with sparse understory More Information	Logging, wildfires, livestock grazing, residential development, and small populations coupled with limited distribution
Virginia spiraea Link to Picture Spiraea virginiana	Dade and Walker County	Streams on gravel bars, rocky ledges and bouldery rubble periodically flushed by high water More Information	Reservoir construction, highway maintenance and construction, insect damage, little or no seedling production, and low genetic diversity
Endangered Species - A species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Hairy rattleweed Link to Picture Baptisia arachnifera	Brantley and Wayne County	Sandy soils in open pine flatwoods, intensively managed slash pine plantations, and along road and powerline right-of-ways More Information	Clearcutting of pines for timber, followed by intensive site preparation (chopping and bedding with heavy machinery)
Smooth coneflower Link to Picture Echinacea laevigata	Northeast Georgia	Meadows and open woodlands on basic or circumneutral soils; often with eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) and button snakeroot (Eryngium yuccifolium) More Information	Plant collecting, residential and industrial development, encroachment of woody vegetation, highway construction and improvement, and certain types of roadside and powerline right-of-way maintenance
Black-spored quillwort Isoetes melanospora	Granite outcrops in western half of Georgia's Piedmont	Shallow pools on granite outcrops, where water collects after a rain. Pools are less than 1 foot deep and rock rimmed. More Information	Quarrying that destroys granite outcrops is the major threat. Other threats include vehicle traffic, littering, fire building, vandalism, and cattle eutrophication/trampling on outcrops. Genetic integrity is threatened due to hybridization with I. piedmontana. 5 Year Review
Mat-forming quillwort Isoetes tegetiformans	Granite outcrops in eastern half of Georgia's Piedmont	Shallow pools on granite outcrops, where water collects after a rain. Pools are less than 1 foot deep and rock rimmed. More Information	Quarrying that destroys granite outcrops is the major threat. Other threats include vehicle traffic, littering, fire building, vandalism, and cattle eutrophication/trampling on outcrops. 5 Year Review
Pondberry Lindera melissifolia	Baker, Chatham, Screven, and Wheeler County	Shallow depression ponds of sandhills, margins of cypress ponds, wet pine savannas, and in seasonally wet low areas among bottomland hardwoods More Information	Drainage ditching and subsequent conversion of habitat to other uses; domestic hogs, cattle grazing, and timber harvesting; and apparent lack of seedling production
Canby's dropwort Link to Picture Oxypolis canbyi	Coastal plain	Peaty muck of shallow cypress ponds, wet pine savannahs, and adjacent sloughs and drainage ditches More Information	Loss or alteration of wetland habitats
Harperella Link to Picture Ptilimnium nodosum	Dooly, Greene, and Schley County	Seeps on granite outcrops in the Piedmont; wet savannahs, ditches, and peaty fringes of pineland pools and cypress ponds in the Coastal Plain More Information
Michaux's sumac Rhus michauxii	Piedmont region	Sandy or rocky open woods, usually on ridges with a disturbance history (periodic fire, prior agricultural use, maintained right-of-ways), and xeric woods, often over ultramafic geology More Information	Low reproductive capability (dioecious), low genetic variability associated with geographic isolation, hybridization with R. copallina and R. glabra, and habitat loss due to development
Green pitcher plant Sarracenia oreophila	only extant population in Towns County, historic population in Bibb County	Open seepy meadows, along sandy flushed banks of streams, and in partially shaded red maple-blackgum low woods or poorly drained oak-pine flatwoods More Information	Collection for commercial sale; fire suppression; and increased residential, agricultural, and silvicultural development
American Chaff-seed Link to Picture Schwalbea americana	Coastal Plain and Fall Line	Fire-maintained wet savannahs in the Coastal Plain (with grass pinks, colic root, huckleberry and gallberry); grassy openings and swales of relict longleaf pine woods in the Piedmont More Information	Fire suppression, habitat conversion, and incompatible agriculture and forestry practices
Fringed campion Silene polypetala	Coastal Plain and Fall Line	Mature hardwood or hardwood-pine forests on river bluffs, small stream terraces, moist slopes and well-shaded ridge crests. Rich woods with other flowers. Found over limestone in Coastal Plain and over biotite/amphibolite geology in Fall Line More Information	Residential development, logging, and spread of Japanese honeysuckle
Cooley's meadowrue Link to Picture Thalictrum cooleyi	Worth County	Fine sandy loam in open, seasonally wet mixed pine-hardwoods and in adjacent wet savannahs; in Georgia, may be restricted to roadsides and powerline right-of-ways More Information	Most extirpated populations were eliminated by fire suppression and/or silvicultural or agricultural development. 5 Year Review - 2008
Florida torreya Link to Picture Torreya taxifolia	Decatur County	Beech-magnolia forests and mixed hardwoods on middle slopes of steep ravines with nearly permanent seepage (steepheads) More Information	A disease (first observed in late 1950's that killed all mature trees) that kills needles and stems, causing defoliation and tree death
Persistent trillium Link to Picture Trillium persistens	Habersham, Rabun, and Stephens County	Either in mixed pine-hemlock-hardwood forests (growing with Viola hastata and Rhododendron maximum) or in mixed oak-beech forests; restricted to Tallulah-Tugaloo River system More Information	Limited range and population size make the species vulnerable to any factor that reduces habitat or abundance. Clearcutting and collecting also are threats.
Relict trillium Trillium reliquum	Coastal Plain and Fall Line	Hardwood forests; in the Piedmont, found in either in rich ravines or adjacent alluvial terraces with other spring-flowering herbs More Information	Logging, road construction, agricultural conversion, mining, residential/industrial development, and encroachment by Japanese honeysuckle and kudzu
Tennessee yellow-eyed grass Xyris tennesseensis	Northwest Georgia	Gravelly open, calcareous, seepy margins and wet meadows along spring-fed headwater streams More Information	Ditching, wetlands conversion. conversion of spring-seep habitat to farm ponds/eutrophication, competition with woddy shrubs and trees.