Trillium erectum |
Trillium rugelii |
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birthwort, red trillium, red wakerobin, stinking Benjamin, stinking willie, wake-robin |
illscented wakerobin, southern nodding trillium |
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Rhizomes | short, thick, praemorse. |
short, thick, tapered to point distally. |
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Scapes | 1–2, often with numerous offsets forming heavy clumps, round in cross section, 1.5–6 dm, ± robust, glabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–4 dm, robust, glabrous. |
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Bracts | sessile; blade bright green, lacking dark pigmentation, major veins prominent, broadly rhombic to ovate-rhombic, 5–20 × 5–20 cm, about as broad as long, widest near middle, base attenuate, apex 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. |
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Flower | erect, ascending, or proximal to but above bracts, odor fetid, like a wet dog; perianth open, flat; sepals flat to sulcate apically, green, often streaked or overlain with maroon, occasionally entirely dark maroon, lanceolate-acuminate, 10–50 mm, equaling petals, ± 1/2 petal width, texture leafy, margins entire, apex acuminate; petals spreading, carried in same plane as sepals or ascending slightly, dark reddish brown, maroon, purple, or white, sometimes pale yellow, major adaxial veins prominent and appearing somewhat engraved, usually flat, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, or occasionally ovate, 1.5–5 × 1–3 cm, 2 times sepal width, widest near base, heavy-textured, apex acuminate; stamens erect to slightly recurved, 5–15 mm; filaments white, pinkish, or dark purple, ± equaling anthers, but variable within local populations, thin; anthers erect or weakly recurving, dark maroon, grayish maroon, or yellowish, strongly yellow when pollen exposed, 5–12 mm, dehiscence introrse; ovary dark purple to maroon, even in white-flowered forms, ovoid, elliptic to globose, 6-angled, angles forming very low ridges when fruit is ripe, 5–10 mm, broadly attached at base; stigmas recurved, distinct, dark purple, not lobed adaxially, subulate, short, 3–7 mm, ca. 1/2 or less length of ovary at anthesis, fleshy; pedicel straight, erect, or somewhat declined but not strongly recurved below bracts, 1–10+ cm. |
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. |
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Fruits | dark maroon, weakly fragrant of fruit, ± globose to slightly pyramidal, 1–1.6 × 1–1.5 cm, juicy. |
baccate, dark reddish purple, fragrance faintly of fruit, ovoid to orbicular, 1.7 × 2 cm, fleshy, juicy. |
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2n | = 10. |
= 10. |
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Trillium erectum |
Trillium rugelii |
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Phenology | Flowering mid spring (mid Apr–May). | |||||
Habitat | Deciduous forest hillsides and coves, inner piedmont, mostly in alluvial soils along stream banks and flats | |||||
Elevation | 200–700 m (700–2300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
e North America
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AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 98. | FNA vol. 26, p. 103. | ||||
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 340. (1753) | Rendle: J. Bot. 39: 331, plate 426, fig. B1901 (as rugeli) | ||||
Web links |