![Union Grove Cover TennGreen]()
Tennessee trillium is among the beneficiaries of a partnership between the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the land conservancy TennGreen that protected the rare flower’s limited habitat in Hamblen County, Tenn. Photo illustration courtesy of TennGreen
60-acre Union Grove acquisition marks first protection of imperiled Tennessee trillium, unknown to scientists until only 2013
MORRISTOWN — In May 2023, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) alerted TennGreen Land Conservancy that a 60-acre swath of land nestled in the forests of Hamblen County known as Union Grove was for sale in East Tennessee. Most interestingly: The property contains some of the only known populations of a native trillium that were described for the first time only 20 years ago.
Union Grove’s owner first alerted University of Tennessee botanists and researchers to the unusual trillium in hopes of safeguarding both the wildflowers and the forests they live within. The botanists realized the trillium was nothing they nor other botanists had encountered and described it as “new to science” in 2013. To date, the Tennessee trillium (Trillium tennesseense) has only been found in the Bays Mountain formation areas in Hamblen and Hawkins counties.
Until this successful collaboration, Trillium tennesseense existed only in private, unprotected areas such as the project landowner’s property. The landowner was moving out of Tennessee, and wished to sell their property to an organization that would value it and seek to protect its incredible habitat. TennGreen Land Conservancy stepped in to quickly acquire the property.
TennGreen then transferred the property to TDEC in June 2024.
Now under TDEC’s ownership and management, the 60 acres and its population of Tennessee trillium — judged by environmental data aggregator NatureServe to be critically imperiled — will be protected for generations of Tennesseans in Union Grove.
This acquisition establishes the first protected population of the Trillium tennesseense, which is on the state endangered species list and only lives in forested hillsides above healthy creeks. The Union Grove area provides such habitat with full, appropriate drainage, allowing the species to thrive in a niche ecosystem.
The herbaceous, long-lived, woodland perennial wildflower is impacted by a variety of threats, including loss of habitat due to development, rooting by feral hogs, and invasive species.
Flowers of this trillium bloom from early to late spring. Three distinct, bright yellow petals project upwards as mirroring broad leaves take in sunlight on the forest floor. There is no developed access to this site, but watch for guided hikes led by TDEC’s ecologists to see this amazing flower in bloom next spring.
All of East Tennessee’s 16 species of trillium are impacted by these threats. Ongoing land protection efforts by TennGreen Land Conservancy, TDEC, and other partners in the region are critical to their survival.
