Trillium discolor
Trillium sulcatum
mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade
Barksdale trillium, furrowed wakerobin, southern red trillium
horizontal, brownish, short or somewhat compressed-thickened, bulblike, praemorse, not brittle.
horizontal–slightly erect, thick, praemorse.
1–2, 1–2.2 dm, slender, essentially glabrous.
1–4+, round in cross section, 3–7 dm, 2–2.5 times as long as bract, stout, glabrous.
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.
subsessile;
blade obovate to broadly elliptic, 13–20 × 8–22 cm, not glossy, base attenuate, apex acuminate.
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.
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.
baccate, greenish white, subglobose, weakly 6-winged, 1–5 × 1 cm, pulpy or mealy, not juicy.
red, fragrance of fresh mushrooms, ± globose to pyramidal, 1.5–3 × 1.2–2.8 cm, juicy to pulpy.
= 10.
= 10.
Trillium discolor
Trillium sulcatum
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 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.)
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