Trillium catesbaei |
Trillium maculatum |
|
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bashful trillium, bashful wakerobin, Catesby's trillium |
spotted trillium, spotted wakerobin |
|
Rhizomes | short, tapered to a point distally. |
horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
Scapes | 1–2, round in cross section, 2–4.5 dm, slender, glabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 1.4–4 dm, slender to stout, glabrous. |
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. |
held well above ground, tips only touching ground in early anthesis, sessile; blade dark green, mottling darker, mottled to varying degrees, mottling becoming obscure with age, broadly ovate-elliptic to elliptic, 7–15 × 4.6–6.7 cm, not glossy, apex rounded or barely acuminate. |
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 faintly spicy and bananalike; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading almost to horizontal, often suffused or streaked with purple-maroon, lanceolate-linear, 22–50 × 5–7 mm, margins entire, apex rounded-acute, recurving slightly; petals long-lasting, spreading-erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary or sometimes slightly spreading early, only partially obscuring stamens, becoming more erect and even touching in the manner of Trillium cuneatum when older, clear dark red-maroon, or reddish purple, without muddy or brown tones of many purple sessile species, or, rarely, purple basally and yellow toward apex, or clear sulfur yellow, not spirally twisted, narrowly oblanceolate-spatulate to linear-spatulate, widest above middle, narrowing to apex, 4–7 × 0.7–1.7 cm, thick-textured, margins entire, slightly involute in proximal 1/2, apex acute to round-acute; stamens erect, 12–20 mm; filaments dark purple, 2–3 mm, widest at base, much shorter than anther sacs; anthers erect, straight, brownish purple, 10–16 mm, dehiscence introrse on broad connective; connectives brown-purple, straight, essentially not extended beyond anther sacs; ovary dark purple, ovoid, weakly 3-angled to smooth (rarely very obscurely 6-angled), angles often obscured in large, turgid ovary, 8–11 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, purplish, subulate, 2–4 mm, fleshy. |
Fruits | baccate, greenish or whitish, ovoid-globose, angles less prominent when mature, 1–1.5 cm diam., pulpy but not juicy. |
dark purplish green, odor not reported, ovoid, obscurely 3- to 6-angled, bearing persistent stigma, 1 × 2 cm, pulpy. |
Trillium catesbaei |
Trillium maculatum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring–summer (late Mar–early Jun). | Flowering mid winter–early spring (early Feb–early Apr). |
Habitat | Acid soils, open dry or rich woods, laurel and rhododendron thickets, cove forests | Rich mesic forests, particularly banks and bluffs of rivers, floodplains, often where quite brushy, rich soils, calcareous soils, alluvium |
Elevation | 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) | 0–500 m (0–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
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AL; FL; GA; SC
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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.) |
In their account of the Carolinas flora, A. E. Radford et al. (1968) did not treat Trillium maculatum or give any explanation of why they omitted this species, which is fairly widely distributed in southeastern South Carolina and morphologically is one of the more distinct sessile trilliums. Many color forms occur and have been named. In forma luteum J. D. Freeman, for example, all floral organs lack purple pigment, and the petals are clear, soft yellow, whereas forma simulans J. D. Freeman has yellow petals with purple bases, and purple stamens and carpels. These are illustrated in color in F. W. Case and R. B. Case (1997). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 96. | FNA vol. 26, p. 112. |
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) | Rafinesque: Med. Fl. 2: 103. (1830) |
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