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mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade

green trillium, wood wakerobin

Rhizomes

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

horizontal, brownish, short, slender to stout, praemorse, not brittle.

Scapes

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

1–3, round in cross section, 2.3–3.4+ dm, ± slender, smooth to scabrous below bracts.

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 green to bluish green, weakly mottled, rarely unmottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, adaxial surface covered with numerous stomata easily visible under a lens, occasionally visible as tiny white dots to the naked eye, narrowly to broadly elliptic, 8–20.5 × 5–8 cm, not glossy, apex blunt to 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 decayed fruit;

sepals displayed above bracts, widely spreading, distal 1/2 often weakly declined, green, lanceolate-acute, 28–60 × 7–9 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, erect to widely spreading, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, green, yellowish green, yellow, or variously purple streaked throughout, especially basally (rarely all purplish green), not spirally twisted, narrowly spatulate to linear-spatulate, 3.5–6.8 × 0.5–1.5 cm, widest above middle, thick-textured, base narrowed and thickened, ± forming claw, margins entire, apex obtuse, lacking nipple;

stamens relatively straight-erect to slightly incurved, 15–25 mm;

filaments brown-olive, 3–5.5 mm, dilated basally;

anthers erect, straight, olive-brown or purplish, 8–21 mm, ± slender, dehiscence introrse-latrorse;

connectives olive, straight, very slightly (± 0.5 mm) extended beyond sacs;

ovary greenish basally, olive-purplish distally, ellipsoid to ovoid, deeply angled, 5–12 mm;

stigmas spreading-erect, recurved, distinct, sessile, olive or purplish, subulate, 5–10 mm, somewhat fleshy.

Fruits

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

greenish white, odorless, ovoid, angled, 1–1.5 cm, somewhat pulpy, not juicy.

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium discolor

Trillium viride

Phenology Flowering spring (mid Apr–early May). Flowering spring (late 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 Rich woods, bluffs, rocky hillsides with some limestone outcrops, woodsy, humusy soil over fairly stiff, clayey substrate
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
IL; MO
[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 viride has long been confused with T. luteum of the Smoky Mountain region, though it is far more slender and delicate than T. luteum. Because the pallid forms and so-called albinos of many other sessile trilliums described in written accounts sound much like the description of this plant, early authors ascribed far too wide a range to T. viride. The plant is closely limited to the woodlands of the counties adjacent to the Missouri River in northeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

Although the ranges of Trillium viride and the very similar T. viridescens do not overlap, both species grow in Missouri, and authors earlier than J. D. Freeman (1975) frequently combined the two as a single species. If all other means of identification fail, the prevalence of numerous stomates on the adaxial bract surface, seen under magnification, will always distinguish T. viride.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 109. FNA vol. 26, p. 116.
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. recurvatum, T. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, T. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, 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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