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mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade

bloody butcher, bloody noses, prairie trillium, prairie wakerobin, toadshade

Rhizomes

horizontal, brownish, short or somewhat compressed-thickened, bulblike, praemorse, not brittle.

horizontal, white, slender, elongated, brittle.

Scapes

1–2, 1–2.2 dm, slender, essentially glabrous.

typically 1(–3), round in cross section, 1.5–4.8 dm, slender to robust, 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, strongly petiolate;

blade at first strongly mottled in darker green or bronze, mottling fading with seasonal expansion after anthesis, rarely all green, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 6–18 × 2.5–6.5 cm, not glossy, apex acuminate;

petiole ca. 1/5 bract length.

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, fragrance not reported;

sepals strongly recurved basally and held against scape by turgor pressure, green, sometimes purple-streaked, ovate-lanceolate, 18–35 × 6–18 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon purple to clear yellow, occasionally 2-colored with purple and yellow, not spirally twisted, lanceolate to ovate, 1.8–4.8 × 0.9–2 cm, thick-textured, base attenuate to weakly clawed, margins entire, apex acute;

stamens incurved, 10–15 mm;

filaments erect, dark purple, 4–6 mm, ± slender;

anthers strongly incurved above filaments, dark purple, 5–16 mm, ± thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives strongly incurved inward, dark purple, projecting about 1 mm beyond anther sacs;

ovary greenish with ± purple stains distally, transversely rhombic to angular-ovate, somewhat 6-angled or -winged, 7–10 mm, ± equaling filament height;

stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, ± linear, 4–6 mm, slightly thickened basally.

Fruits

baccate, greenish white, subglobose, weakly 6-winged, 1–5 × 1 cm, pulpy or mealy, not juicy.

green to white- and purple-streaked, odorless, rhomboid-ovoid, 6-angled, almost winged, ca. 1 cm diam., pulpy.

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium discolor

Trillium recurvatum

Phenology Flowering spring (mid Apr–early May). Flowering spring (late Mar–late May).
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 Rich clayey floodplain soils, plants often temporarily inundated while in flower, rich moist woods and bluffs, limestone-derived soils
Elevation 100–200 m (300–700 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
GA; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MI; MO; MS; OH; TN; TX; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Trillium recurvatum has several named color forms, most notably forma shayi E. J. Palmer & Steyermark with clear yellow petals, and one foliose anomaly (possibly caused by mycoplasma).

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 109. FNA vol. 26, p. 114.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum
Sibling taxa
T. albidum, T. angustipetalum, T. catesbaei, T. cernuum, T. chloropetalum, T. cuneatum, T. decipiens, T. decumbens, 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. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, T. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
Name authority T. Wray ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 58: plate 3097. (1831) L. C. Beck: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. (1826)
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