Trillium discolor |
Trillium ludovicianum |
|
---|---|---|
mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade |
Louisiana trillium, Louisiana wakerobin |
|
Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short or somewhat compressed-thickened, bulblike, praemorse, not brittle. |
± horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
Scapes | 1–2, 1–2.2 dm, slender, essentially glabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 1.4–2.6 dm, ± slender, glabrous. |
Bracts | held well above ground, sessile; blade mottled dark green over lighter green, mottling fading or blurring with time, ovate, elliptic to almost circular, 6–13 × 4–7 cm, apex acute to acuminate. |
held well above ground, sessile; blade strongly mottled in dark and bronzy green, often with central light strip, mottling becoming somewhat obscure with age, lanceolate-ovate, 5.3–9.5 × 2.3–5 cm, not glossy, margins of distal 1/3 convex-curved to apex, apex rounded-acute. |
Flower | erect, odor faintly pleasant, resembling sweetshrub (Calycanthus sp.); sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, oblong-lanceolate, shorter than petals, 20–30 × 7–19 mm, margins entire, apex acute; petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary to spreading distally, soft pale sulfur-yellow, fading to ± cream, sometimes slightly spirally twisted, widely spatulate, clawed basally, 2.2–5 × 0.9–1.5 cm, thick-textured, margins entire, often upraised adaxially, at least 1 petal with apex strongly apiculate, nipplelike, others with apex apiculate-acuminate; claw green, sometimes obscurely marked or mottled with purple, broadly cuneate; stamens incurved-erect, 8–15 mm; filaments purple, 1–2.5 mm; anthers erect, straight or arcuate, brown, 6.5–14 mm, dehiscence introrse-latrorse; connectives straight, extending 1–2 mm beyond anthers; ovary purplish, ovoid, 6-ridged, 2.5–8.5 mm; stigmas divergent to erect, distinct, purplish white, subulate, short, 2–6 mm, ± fleshy. |
erect, odor of carrion; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, lanceolate-oblanceolate, 19–35 × 2.7–4 mm, margins entire, apex rounded or acute to sometimes weakly reflexed; petals long-lasting, faintly introrsely curved-erect-spreading, weakly connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon-brown, purplish, or dull greenish, or 2-colored, basal portion purple, distal portion grayish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate-linear, 3.5–5.5 × 0.4–0.8 cm, thick-textured, thickened and weakly clawed basally, margins entire, apex acute; stamens erect, straight, 10–18 mm; filaments olive-orange, 2–3 mm, widened basally; anthers erect, straight, olive to orange, 7–20 mm, slender, dehiscence latrorse; connectives olive to orange, straight, scarcely extended beyond anther sac; ovary purple, ovoid, 6-angled, 8–9 mm; stigmas erect, with spreading or coiled tips, distinct, pale purple, subulate, 3–6 mm, ± fleshy. |
Fruits | baccate, greenish white, subglobose, weakly 6-winged, 1–5 × 1 cm, pulpy or mealy, not juicy. |
dark purplish green, little or no odor, ovoid, 6-angled, pulpy. |
2n | = 10. |
|
Trillium discolor |
Trillium ludovicianum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (mid Apr–early May). | Flowering late winter–early spring (early Mar–Apr). |
Habitat | Rather acidic to clearly circumneutral or basic soils of mixed deciduous forests, often under oaks, near Rhododendron thickets, or near tangles of Leucothoë on moist stream banks, slopes near streams | Low flatwoods, floodplains along streams, steep ravine slopes leading to floodplains, mixed pine-beech woods |
Elevation | 100–200 m (300–700 ft) | 50–500 m (200–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; NC; SC
|
LA; MS |
Discussion | Trillium discolor occurs only in the upper drainage of the Savannah River, but it is locally frequent within its limited range. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The range of Trillium ludovicianum is near to that of T. cuneatum in Mississippi, and the two appear to intergrade. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 109. | FNA vol. 26, p. 111. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | T. Wray ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 58: plate 3097. (1831) | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) |
Web links |