Trillium discolor |
Trillium rugelii |
|
---|---|---|
mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade |
illscented wakerobin, southern nodding trillium |
|
Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short or somewhat compressed-thickened, bulblike, praemorse, not brittle. |
short, thick, tapered to point distally. |
Scapes | 1–2, 1–2.2 dm, slender, essentially glabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–4 dm, 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. |
sessile to subsessile; blade bright green, veins not engraved, rhombic, broader than long, 6–15 × 6–16 cm, not glossy, base attenuate, apex acuminate. |
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. |
strongly recurved below bracts; sepals shorter than petals and somewhat obscured by them, spreading, green, very rarely streaked with red, lanceolate-elliptic, 15–40 × 7–17 mm, margins entire, apex acuminate; petals recurving in distal 1/2 in most forms (forms from Alabama with petals slightly narrower and strongly recurved just above base), white, rarely 2-colored with base rose or dark purple and white, adaxial veins conspicuous, broadly ovate-elliptic, 2.5–5 × 0.8–3.5 cm, heavy-textured, margins entire, without undulations, apex abruptly acuminate; stamens ± straight, 8–18 mm; filaments deep purple, 2–8 mm, slender; anthers ± straight, dark purple, 12–16 mm, thin, dehiscence introrse; connectives not extended beyond anther sacs; ovary prominent, purple-streaked or maroon distally or throughout, flask-shaped, 6-angled, 14–17 mm, widely attached at base; stigmas recurved, distinct, dark purple, not lobed adaxially, subulate, 2–5 mm, fleshy; pedicel strongly recurved beneath bracts, 1–7+ cm. |
Fruits | baccate, greenish white, subglobose, weakly 6-winged, 1–5 × 1 cm, pulpy or mealy, not juicy. |
baccate, dark reddish purple, fragrance faintly of fruit, ovoid to orbicular, 1.7 × 2 cm, fleshy, juicy. |
2n | = 10. |
= 10. |
Trillium discolor |
Trillium rugelii |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (mid Apr–early May). | Flowering mid spring (mid Apr–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 | Deciduous forest hillsides and coves, inner piedmont, mostly in alluvial soils along stream banks and flats |
Elevation | 100–200 m (300–700 ft) | 200–700 m (700–2300 ft) |
Distribution |
GA; NC; SC
|
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
|
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 Alabama plants of Trillium rugelii differ from those in the Great Smoky Mountains region in having usually smaller bracts, narrower ovate petals strongly recurved from the base, and strongly fragrant flowers with the odor of old-fashioned garden roses. The anther color and structure are the same as in the mountain form. Hybrids between T. vaseyi and T. rugelii occur frequently. Trillium rugelii has been much confused with T. cernuum in past floras, and it is the taxon upon which most reports of T. cernuum south of Virginia are based. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 109. | FNA vol. 26, p. 103. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | T. Wray ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 58: plate 3097. (1831) | Rendle: J. Bot. 39: 331, plate 426, fig. B1901 (as rugeli) |
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