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bashful trillium, bashful wakerobin, Catesby's trillium

Barksdale trillium, furrowed wakerobin, southern red trillium

Rhizomes

short, tapered to a point distally.

horizontal–slightly erect, thick, praemorse.

Scapes

1–2, round in cross section, 2–4.5 dm, slender, glabrous.

1–4+, round in cross section, 3–7 dm, 2–2.5 times as long as bract, 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.

subsessile;

blade obovate to broadly elliptic, 13–20 × 8–22 cm, not glossy, base attenuate, apex 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.

facing outward at right angle to pedicel, above bracts, odor faintly musty, like fresh fungus;

perianth gaping, strongly 3-dimensional;

sepals spreading, usually streaked or entirely purplish maroon, occasionally entirely green except on margins, elliptic, 15–38 × 9–15 mm, margins entire, apex strongly sulcate-acuminate;

petals carried somewhat forward to recurved-spreading in distal 1/2, usually dark reddish maroon to purplish, rarely cream to soft yellow, pink, white, or 2-colored, heavy-veined, ovate to broadly ovate-overlapping, 1.8–5 × 1–3 cm, heavy-textured, apex acuminate, rarely somewhat sulcate;

stamens erect, ± equaling or slightly longer than ovary, 15–18 mm;

filaments purple to white, 3–5 mm, slender;

anthers straight, purplish to yellow, 5–12 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives equaling or ± shorter than anther sacs;

ovary usually dark purple, globose to flask-shaped, 6-angled, 14–18 mm, broadly attached basally;

stigmas prominent, recurved, distinct, purple, not lobed adaxially, basally thickened, gradually tapered, 2–5 mm, fleshy;

pedicel usually stiffly erect (rarely almost horizontal above bracts), straight, reflexed ± 90° at tip, 6–11 cm.

Fruits

baccate, greenish or whitish, ovoid-globose, angles less prominent when mature, 1–1.5 cm diam., pulpy but not juicy.

red, fragrance of fresh mushrooms, ± globose to pyramidal, 1.5–3 × 1.2–2.8 cm, juicy to pulpy.

2n

= 10.

Trillium catesbaei

Trillium sulcatum

Phenology Flowering spring–summer (late Mar–early Jun). Flowering mid spring (Apr–May).
Habitat Acid soils, open dry or rich woods, laurel and rhododendron thickets, cove forests Rich mesic woodlands, especially moist north- or east-facing slopes, wooded ledges and stream banks on neutral to slightly acid soil
Elevation 50–800 m (200–2600 ft) 300–400 m (1000–1300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; NC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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 sulcatum is present mainly on the Cumberland Plateau and is absent from the Great Smoky Mountains and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

T. S. Patrick (1984) described Trillium sulcatum flowers as “relatively small and turned downward.” This is true of plants from the type locality; however, in most plants of the Cumberland Plateau, the flowers are quite large and flattened, and the petals are recurved distally and face outward.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 96. FNA vol. 26, p. 104.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium
Sibling taxa
T. albidum, T. angustipetalum, T. cernuum, T. chloropetalum, T. cuneatum, T. decipiens, T. decumbens, T. discolor, T. erectum, T. flexipes, T. foetidissimum, T. gracile, T. grandiflorum, T. kurabayashii, T. lancifolium, T. ludovicianum, T. luteum, T. maculatum, T. nivale, T. ovatum, T. parviflorum, T. persistens, T. petiolatum, T. pusillum, T. recurvatum, T. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, T. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
T. albidum, T. angustipetalum, T. catesbaei, T. cernuum, T. chloropetalum, T. cuneatum, T. decipiens, T. decumbens, T. discolor, T. erectum, T. flexipes, T. foetidissimum, T. gracile, T. grandiflorum, T. kurabayashii, T. lancifolium, T. ludovicianum, T. luteum, T. maculatum, T. nivale, T. ovatum, T. parviflorum, T. persistens, T. petiolatum, T. pusillum, T. recurvatum, T. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, T. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
Synonyms T. affine, T. nervosum, T. stylosum
Name authority Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 429. (1817) T. S. Patrick: Brittonia 36: 27, figs. 1–4. (1984)
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