Trillium cernuum
Trillium cuneatum
nodding trillium, nodding wakerobin, trille penché, whip-poor-will-flower
bloody butcher, cuneate trillium, large toadshade, little sweet betsy, purple toadshade, sweet betsy, whip-poor-will flower
short, thick.
horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle.
1–2(–3), round in cross section, 1.5–4+ dm, slender, glabrous.
1–5, 1.6–4.5 dm, smooth to rough near bract attachment.
often overlapping, sessile or with a barely noticeable, petiolelike base, umbrellalike;
blade bright green without red tones, broadly rhombic-ovate to suborbicular, 5–15 × 6–15+ cm, base attenuate, apex acuminate.
held well above ground, sessile;
blade green to purplish green, weakly to strongly mottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate, ovate-elliptic, occasionally ovate-orbicular with margins overlapping, 7–18.5 × 7–13 cm, usually widest below middle, not glossy, base ± rounded, margins of distal 1/3 convex-curved to apex, apex acuminate to acute.
usually hidden beneath bracts, nodding, odorless;
sepals spreading, green, lanceolate-ovate, 9–30 mm, slightly shorter than to equaling petals, margins slightly raised, apex acuminate;
petals usually strongly recurved from above base, extending behind plane of sepal bases for more than 1/2 their length, white or rarely pale pink, adaxial veins not conspicuous, oblong-lanceolate, 1.5–2.5 × 0.9–1.5 cm, thin-textured, margins entire, apex acuminate;
stamens ± straight, 6–15 mm, shorter than pistil, slender;
filaments white, ± equaling anthers, slender;
anthers straight, pale lavender-pink or -gray, 2–6.5 mm, dehiscence introrse to latrorse;
ovary prominent, white to pinkish, pyramidal, strongly 6-angled, 3–12 × 3–10 mm, widest above basal attachment;
stigmas erect, recurved, distinct, white, not lobed adaxially, 3–8 mm, widest at base, fleshy, basally thickened, gradually tapered;
pedicel strongly recurved or declined below or angled between bracts, 1.5–3 cm.
borne upon bracts, erect, odor usually pleasant, faint, spicy, reminiscent of odor of bruised sweetshrub (Calycanthus) leaves, occasionally musty or unpleasant;
sepals widely spreading, variably green, purple-streaked to all purple, oblong-lanceolate, 27–60 × 7–13 mm, margins entire, apex rounded to acute;
petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, maroon, maroon-purple, brownish purple, bronze, greenish purple, clear green, yellowish green, pale lemon yellow, or 2-colored, yellow distally with purple base, in occasional clones, flowers open or quickly fade to bright copper bronze, the particular color pattern is consistent from year to year, fading to browner tones with age except in yellow or green forms, not spirally twisted, shape quite variable across range, elliptic-obovate to oblanceolate, 4–7 × 0.9–2.7 cm, thick-textured, with widest portion at or above middle, narrowed to usually cuneate basally, not clawed, margins flat, entire, apex acute, rounded-acute to obtuse;
stamens erect, straight, brownish purple-green, 11–18 mm;
filaments brownish purple, 1.5–3.5 mm, widest at base;
anthers erect, straight, brownish gray, 7–14 mm, dehiscence latrorse or occasionally introrse;
connectives straight, scarcely (0.5 mm or less) if at all extended beyond anther sacs;
ovary maroon, ovoid to vase-shaped, weakly 6-angled or -ridged when mature, 12–15 mm;
stigmas erect, slightly diverging to spreading, distinct, purplish gray, linear-subulate to thickly subulate, 4–15 mm, fleshy.
dark red, with fruity fragrance, ovoid, to 3 cm diam., fleshy, juicy.
green or with purple streaks, ovoid, very obscurely angled or angles no longer apparent, 2 × 1–1.5 cm, mealy or pulpy, fleshy, not juicy.
= 10.
= 10.
Trillium cernuum
Trillium cuneatum
Previous authors commonly recognized var. cernuum and var. macranthum, based primarily upon size differences. Plants attributed to var. cernuum are found from Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania northward to Newfoundland, while those attributed to var. macranthum are found mainly farther inland into the Midwest. Although there is a tendency for the eastern seaboard plants to be somewhat smaller and more delicate, and the midwestern and far northern plants to be more robust, there is much variation, largely dependent on soil nutrients. There are regional size trends, but based on my observations of this species in Newfoundland, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, I do not believe that the two varieties can be maintained.
In the Gray Herbarium, there is a collection by Richardson labeled “Mackenzie River,” which has been cited by H. M. Raup (1947) and others. W. J. Hooker ([1829–]1833–1840) reported Trillium cernuum “from Saskatchewan to Mackenzie River.” Raup stated that “it is the only evidence for the occurrence of...Trillium in the entire Mackenzie Basin.” Other writers have simply quoted that statement. In view of the relatively great disjunction from the known Saskatchewan stations and in the absence of any other supporting specimens from that area, I believe that there might be locality error on the Richardson sheet. However, it is not beyond possibility that T. cernuum could occur there. This apparent disjunct station is not mapped here.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Trillium cuneatum has escaped locally and become established in Michigan and other states. It is most frequent on the Ordovician limestone-derived soils of southern Kentucky and Tennessee, and is perhaps the most vigorous and certainly the largest of the eastern sessile trilliums. Numerous, mostly unnamed color forms occur. Plants from the lower piedmont of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, considered by most botanists to be of this species, have smaller, narrower petals than specimens from northeastern Alabama northward to Kentucky, and they are therefore sometimes difficult to place with certainty.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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