Steve Church Endangered Species Garden

Once described as one of the most rare shrubs in the United States, Alabama croton is found only in two counties in Alabama. It was also found in Tennessee in the past, but it has not been found there for many years and is considered extinct in the state. Genetic isolation is the primary threat to the species, with small, isolated populations making pollination difficult if not impossible.

Native to bogs, streamsides and wet meadows from Maine to Georgia, Canadian burnet is threatened or endangered in over half of its range. Conversion of its wet meadow habitat to agriculture and increased competition from other species due to fire suppression are some of the major threats to this plant. 

Once native to wet bogs and savannas from North Carolina to Florida, Cooley’s meadow-rue is now known to exist in only four counties in eastern N.C. and one county in Florida. Agricultural development and timber operations are the main factors in the continuing decline of its populations.

Once native throughout the eastern half of the United States, common pricklyash has seen its populations in a number of southern states decline significantly. Known as a plant of both medicinal and culinary interest, it is critically imperiled in Florida, Georgia and Alabama due to timbering, agricultural development and wild collection.

Endemic to the Piedmont and Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia and South Carolina, Piedmont barren strawberry exists on only 20 sites, predominantly in Georgia. Found on steep, acidic slopes among Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel, it has suffered mostly from logging in its native range.

Endangered or threatened in over a third of its native range, queen of the prairie has suffered from genetic isolation and the loss of its wet meadow habitat. Populations in many southern states are thought to be sterile due to separation from other individuals, making their survival in the South an even greater challenge.

Miccosukee gooseberry is currently known from two counties in Florida and one in South Carolina. These populations, due to their genetic isolation, are highly vulnerable to any sort of disturbance. Relics from a Pleistocene forest, these two populations represent all that remain of a once broad range for this species.

One of the more rare wildflowers in the country, Tennessee Coneflower was the second plant listed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as endangered, in 1979. Native to a very small area near Nashville, Tenn., Echinacea tennesseensis has suffered greatly from suburban sprawl.

Limited to 16 sites in six states in the southeast and south central U.S., where it can be encountered on steep limestone slopes, Alabama snow-wreath is thought to be an ancient relic species that has survived a number of geological and climate changes to find refuge in its current isolated habitats. Genetic isolation is the primary threat to its survival.