Trillium flexipes
Trillium luteum
bent trillium, declined trillium, drooping trillium, nodding wakerobin
wax trillium, yellow toadshade, yellow trillium, yellow wakerobin
somewhat erect, thick, praemorse.
horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle.
1–several from single rhizome, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, glabrous.
1–4, round in cross section, 1.4–4 dm, stout, glabrous.
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, mottling becoming more obscure as growth matures, shape variable, ovate-elliptic to ± orbicular-acuminate, 6.5–17 × 6.5–9.8 cm, not glossy, apex acuminate to long-acuminate.
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 strongly lemony;
sepals displayed above bracts, widely spreading, green, oblong-lanceolate, lanceolate, or oblong-elliptic, 22–47 × 8–9 mm, margins entire, apex distinctly rounded-acute;
petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, greenish yellow to lemon yellow, not spirally twisted, not clawed, elliptic-lanceolate, lanceolate, or oblanceolate, 3.4–6.6 × 1–2.1 cm, thick-textured, widest near base, margins entire, tapering to long-acuminate apex;
stamens erect, 11–18 mm;
filaments greenish white, 1.5–2 mm, basally dilated;
anthers erect, straight, yellow, 9–16 mm, dehiscence introrse (or appearing lateral);
connectives green, straight, broad, extending only slightly (to 0.5 mm) or not at all beyond anther sacs;
ovary pale green, ovoid to globose, 6-angled, 5–8 mm;
stigmas erect, barely spreading, distinct, greenish white, sessile, linear to subulate, 3–4 mm, fleshy.
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.
green to greenish white, occasionally with dark streaks, odor not reported, ovoid, 6-angled, 3.5 × 2 cm, pulpy.
= 10.
= 10.
Trillium flexipes
Trillium luteum
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.)
Botanists have been confused by Trillium luteum for a long time. Some, such as A. E. Radford et al. (1968), appear to regard it as a form of T. cuneatum, while others confuse it with T. viride, a more western species. Early botanists confused T. luteum with the occasional individual or very local larger population of pallid color forms of other species. Trillium cuneatum rather frequently produces green, yellowish green, or pale lemon yellow forms (but with a cuneate larger and wider petal) that mimic T. luteum. These forms, when growing with T. luteum, hybridize, leading to so many intergrades that many plants cannot be placed in either species with any confidence. For these reasons, almost no work older than J. D. Freeman’s (1975) can be used reliably to plot distribution of T. luteum.
In some parts of their ranges, Trillium luteum and T. cuneatum do not grow together. Trillium luteum is abundant in eastern Tennessee, extending a short distance into North Carolina and Georgia. Trillium cuneatum is rare or absent from this region except along the Little Tennessee River (J. D. Freeman 1975).
Trillium luteum has escaped and become established along the Grand and Saint Joseph rivers and elsewhere in Michigan, near Kingston and Grimsby, Ontario (J. K. Morton pers. comm.), and probably elsewhere.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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