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bent trillium, declined trillium, drooping trillium, nodding wakerobin

mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, small yellow toadshade

Rhizomes

somewhat erect, thick, praemorse.

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

Scapes

1–several from single rhizome, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, glabrous.

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

Bracts

sessile;

blade medium green without red or maroon undertones, rhombic, 7–25 × 7–25 cm, frequently wider than long, base attenuate from just above middle, apex acuminate.

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.

Flower

flexed ca. 90° on summit of pedicel to face outward rather than upward, or variously carried on strongly declined pedicels;

sepals weakly recurved, green, lanceolate, 14–45 mm, shorter than or barely equaling petals, margins entire, apex acuminate;

petals flat or recurved in distal 1/2, creamy white, not 2-colored, veins conspicuously engraved, ovate-lanceolate to broadly ovate, 2–5 × 1–4 cm, texture heavy, margins entire, apex acute;

stamens large, ± erect, 9–23 mm;

filaments white, less than 1/2 anther length, thin;

anthers straight or very slightly recurving, creamy white or yellow, 5–18 mm, thick, dehiscence ± introrse;

ovary white, ovoid to flask-shaped, strongly 6-angled, 5–16 × 4–12 mm, widely attached basally;

stigmas recurved, distinct but closely grouped, white, not lobed adaxially, linear-subulate, short, thick, 4–13 mm, ± equaling ovary, fleshy;

pedicel stiffly erect, carried horizontally, or declined beneath bracts, rarely recurved, 4–12 cm.

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.

Fruits

baccate, rosy red to purplish, fragrant of ripe fruit, ovoid to somewhat pyramidal at summit, strongly angled, 2–3.5 × 1–3 cm, very juicy at maturity.

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

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium flexipes

Trillium discolor

Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–early Jun). Flowering spring (mid Apr–early May).
Habitat Rich wooded slopes, floodplains in deciduous forests, especially over limestone 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
Elevation 100–600 m (300–2000 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; DE; IA; IL; IN; KY; MI; MN; MO; NY; OH; PA; SD; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
GA; NC; SC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Although there are no named varieties of Trillium flexipes, many forms exist and at least one has been named, forma walpolei (Farwell) Fernald. F. W. Case and G. L. Burrows (1962) mapped the occurrence of forma walpolei for Michigan and found it to occur only along the contact zone between T. flexipes and T. erectum. F. W. Case and R. B. Case (1993) crossed typical T. erectum and T. flexipes to produce identical color variations as occur in these wild, mixed-species populations. I consider this form to be a hybrid expression. Some of the hybrids have petals colored proximally and white distally, superficially resembling T. undulatum. Dried specimens, when hastily examined, resemble T. undulatum superficially and probably account for reports of that species from locations near Ann Arbor, Michigan, and various places in Indiana and Illinois, all of which are well out of the range of T. undulatum.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 99. FNA vol. 26, p. 109.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum
Sibling taxa
T. albidum, T. angustipetalum, T. catesbaei, T. cernuum, T. chloropetalum, T. cuneatum, T. decipiens, T. decumbens, T. discolor, T. erectum, 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. 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
Synonyms T. declinatum, T. gleasonii
Name authority Rafinesque: Autik. Bot., 133. (1840) T. Wray ex Hooker: Bot. Mag. 58: plate 3097. (1831)
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