Trillium catesbaei |
Trillium decumbens |
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bashful trillium, bashful wakerobin, Catesby's trillium |
decumbent trillium, trailing wakerobin |
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Rhizomes | short, tapered to a point distally. |
short, thick. |
Scapes | 1–2, round in cross section, 2–4.5 dm, slender, glabrous. |
1–2, decumbent, usually by an S-shaped curvature, round in cross section, 0.5–2 dm, somewhat stout, slightly expanded toward bracts, densely puberulent, especially just below bracts and on bases of main bract veins beneath. |
Bracts | usually raised somewhat, exposing flower; blade green, often with underlying purplish maroon in well-lighted plants, major veins on adaxial surface deeply engraved, elliptic-ovate, 6.5–15 × 4–8 cm, including elongated, petiolelike base, proximal 1/3 of leaf gradually tapered to base, margins often slightly raised, apex blunt-acute to acuminate. |
appearing early in season, in good condition for only a few weeks after anthesis, dying back to semipersistent bases early, resting on ground surface, sessile; blade strongly mottled in shades of green and bronze and with silvery overlay, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate to suborbicular, 4–12 × 3.3–7 cm, apex acute to rounded. |
Flower | opening at or recurved below bracts, rarely erect; sepals falcate-recurved, green or streaked with purple, linear-lanceolate, 20–45 × 7–8 mm, margins ± flat, apex acuminate; petals falcate-recurved distally, white, pink, or rose, darkening to pink or nonfading with age, veins visible but not appearing engraved, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 3.5–5 × 1–2+ cm, thin-textured, bases somewhat imbricated, forming funnel-like tube, margins undulate, apex acuminate; stamens prominent, recurved, 16–25 mm; filaments white, slightly longer and narrower than anthers; anthers recurving, bright yellow, 5–14 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse; ovary inconspicuous, white, angular-ovoid, deeply 6-angled, 4–12 × 3–7 mm, slender, base narrow; style 2–6 mm; stigmas prominent, strongly curled (circinate) to erect, connate basally, pale green or white, not lobed, 4–10 mm, uniformly thin; pedicel deflexed or recurved, rarely erect, angled, 2–4(–5) cm. |
erect, odor unreported; sepals divergent, green- or maroon-streaked, lanceolate-ovate, 22–48 × 9–14 mm, margins entire, flat, apex acute; petals long-lasting, rigidly erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon-purple when fresh, fading especially distally to dull reddish brown, greenish brown, or with creamy yellow tones, very rarely pale lemon yellow forms occur, twisted (but not spiraled), linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 4–8+ × 0.7–1 cm, thick-textured, margins entire, apex acute; stamens erect, straight, dark purple, 10–25 mm; filaments dark purple, 2–5 mm; anthers straight, dark purple, 9–20 mm, dehiscence extrorse; connectives broad, extending to 3.5–4 mm beyond anther sacs; ovary dark purple, oval, 6-angled, 5–10 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, sessile, pink or white, subulate, 4.5–8 mm. |
Fruits | baccate, greenish or whitish, ovoid-globose, angles less prominent when mature, 1–1.5 cm diam., pulpy but not juicy. |
baccate, dark purple, broadly ovoid to subglobose, crownlike, strongly ridged, 1–1.5 × 1 cm, pulpy but not juicy, present and enlarging on naked scapes until early autumn. |
2n | = 10. |
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Trillium catesbaei |
Trillium decumbens |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–summer (late Mar–early Jun). | Flowering late winter–spring (mid Mar–Apr). |
Habitat | Acid soils, open dry or rich woods, laurel and rhododendron thickets, cove forests | Thin, open rocky wooded slopes, mature deciduous woodlands, rocky talus and disintegrating shale, flats (floodplains) of small streams and adjacent slopes near river entrance |
Elevation | 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) | 50–200 m (200–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
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AL; GA; TN
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Discussion | Elliott, author of Trillium catesbaei, apparently recognized one of its forms separately as T. nervosum. This name is still mentioned in British horticultural and botanical literature, but it is rarely found in U.S. literature. North American botanists treat T. nervosum as a synonym of T. catesbaei. Plants of Trillium catesbaei from deep coves in South Carolina tend to have petals that are deeper pink and longer and wider than those of many other populations. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Trillium decumbens occurs in the Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau physiographic provinces. It has a large, deep, horizontal rhizome, the growing point of which always faces downslope. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 96. | FNA vol. 26, p. 109. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. affine, T. nervosum, T. stylosum | |
Name authority | Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 429. (1817) | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 158. (1902) |
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