Relict trillium is a rhizotomous perennial plant that can be identified by its whorl of three leaves that sit on an S-shaped hairless stem (Chafin 2007). The ovate to elliptic leaves have distinctive shades of light green, dark green, bronze-green, and dark purple and will often show a silver stripe down the midvein (Patrick et al. 1995). These perennial herbs send up stems, leaves, and flowers in early spring, after temperatures have risen but before the forest canopy leafs out.