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giant purple wakerobin

Trillium ovatum

Pacific trillium, trillium, western trillium, western wake-robin, western white trillium, white or western trillium, white trillium

Rhizomes

horizontal, brownish, thick, praemorse, not brittle.

semierect to horizontal, short, stout, praemorse.

Scapes

often 2 from single terminal bud, round in cross section, 2.5–5.5 dm, stout, glabrous.

1–2, round, 2–5 dm, ± slender, glabrous.

Bracts

held well above ground, sessile;

blade bright green (in early anthesis rather succulent in appearance), usually well-marked with lighter and darker green spots, occasionally obscurely or scarcely mottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate to broadly ovate, 11–18 × 12–17 cm, somewhat glossy, apex acuminate.

sessile, subsessile, or short-petiolate;

blade medium green, sometimes blotched and mottled, main veins prominent, ovate-rhombic, 7–12 × 5–20 cm, continuing to expand during anthesis, base rounded, apex acuminate.

Flower

odor spicy in fresh flowers, becoming fetid in older flowers;

sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, divergent, green, purple-streaked, lanceolate, 40–75 × 10–14 mm, margins entire, apex acute to round-acute;

petals long-lasting, conspicuous, spreading-erect to erect, tips incurving slightly, ± connivent, partially to completely concealing stamens and ovary, glossy dark maroon-red or purple, not spirally twisted, flat, oblanceolate, 5.5–11 × 2–3.5 cm, widest at or below middle, glossy, thick-textured, cuneate basally, margins ± flat, entire, apex round-acute;

stamens erect, straight, 15–26 mm, slightly concealing ovary;

filaments dark purple, 2–4 mm;

anthers dark maroon, 13–24 mm, dehiscence introrse;

connectives straight, barely extended beyond anther sacs;

ovary inconspicuous, purple, ovoid, round to 6-angled, 8–15 mm;

stigmas erect, distinct, subulate, 6–8 mm, fleshy, thickened basally.

erect or nodding, odorless;

sepals spreading to horizontal, green, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 15–50 × 6–20 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals erect-ascending, usually wide-spreading from base, exposing entire pistil, white or with pink or blush markings, lacking V-shaped markings, fading to rosy pink, purple, or dark red, veins not deeply engraved, ± linear to widely obovate, 1.5–7 ×1–4 cm, widest at or above middle, thin-textured, margins flat to undulate, apex acuminate;

stamens prominent, slightly recurved-spreading to straight, 10–18 mm;

filaments white, shorter than anthers, slender;

anthers yellow, 4–16 mm, slender, dehiscence latrorse-introrse;

ovary green or white, ovoid, 6-angled, 5–12 mm, attachment ± 3/4 ovary width;

stigmas recurved, barely connate basally, greenish white or white, linear, not lobed adaxially, 6–10 mm, uniformly thin;

pedicel erect to leaning, 2–6 cm.

Fruits

dark reddish purple, ovoid to ellipsoid or weakly angled, 20–50 mm, fleshy.

baccate, green or white, ± odorless, broadly ovoid, obscurely winged, 1.2–2.8 × 0.7–1.9 cm, pulpy-moist.

2n

= 10.

Trillium kurabayashii

Trillium ovatum

Phenology Flowering spring (late Mar–early May).
Habitat Rich, moist conifer-hardwood forest, slopes, especially lower slopes, predominantly deciduous flat woods along streams, edges of Sequoia groves, and alder, vine maple, and fern thickets along streams, especially older, higher flood terraces, not the lowest and wettest, at higher elevations, both in forests and in open grassy meadows with scattered oak trees
Elevation 20–500+ m (100–1600+ ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR
[WildflowerSearch map]
from USDA
w North America
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

Key
1. Bracts sessile; petals lanceolate to obovate, 1.5–7 × 1–4 cm
var. ovatum
1. Bracts distinctly short-petiolate; petals linear to linear-lanceolate, 0.5–2.4 × 0.2–0.6 cm
var. oettingeri
Source FNA vol. 26, p. 110. FNA vol. 26, p. 100.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
T. ovatum var. oettingeri, T. ovatum var. ovatum
Name authority J. D. Freeman: Brittonia 27: 56, fig. 12. (1975) Pursh: Fl. Amer. Sept. 1: 245. (1814)
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