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bloody butcher, bloody noses, prairie trillium, prairie wakerobin, toadshade

Rhizomes

horizontal, white, slender, elongated, brittle.

Scapes

typically 1(–3), round in cross section, 1.5–4.8 dm, slender to robust, glabrous.

Bracts

held well above ground, strongly petiolate;

blade at first strongly mottled in darker green or bronze, mottling fading with seasonal expansion after anthesis, rarely all green, ovate, elliptic, or lanceolate, 6–18 × 2.5–6.5 cm, not glossy, apex acuminate;

petiole ca. 1/5 bract length.

Flower

erect, fragrance not reported;

sepals strongly recurved basally and held against scape by turgor pressure, green, sometimes purple-streaked, ovate-lanceolate, 18–35 × 6–18 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon purple to clear yellow, occasionally 2-colored with purple and yellow, not spirally twisted, lanceolate to ovate, 1.8–4.8 × 0.9–2 cm, thick-textured, base attenuate to weakly clawed, margins entire, apex acute;

stamens incurved, 10–15 mm;

filaments erect, dark purple, 4–6 mm, ± slender;

anthers strongly incurved above filaments, dark purple, 5–16 mm, ± thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives strongly incurved inward, dark purple, projecting about 1 mm beyond anther sacs;

ovary greenish with ± purple stains distally, transversely rhombic to angular-ovate, somewhat 6-angled or -winged, 7–10 mm, ± equaling filament height;

stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, ± linear, 4–6 mm, slightly thickened basally.

Fruits

green to white- and purple-streaked, odorless, rhomboid-ovoid, 6-angled, almost winged, ca. 1 cm diam., pulpy.

2n

= 10.

Trillium recurvatum

Phenology Flowering spring (late Mar–late May).
Habitat Rich clayey floodplain soils, plants often temporarily inundated while in flower, rich moist woods and bluffs, limestone-derived soils
Elevation 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MI; MO; MS; OH; TN; TX; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trillium recurvatum has several named color forms, most notably forma shayi E. J. Palmer & Steyermark with clear yellow petals, and one foliose anomaly (possibly caused by mycoplasma).

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 114.
Parent taxa 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. 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. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, T. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
Name authority L. C. Beck: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. (1826)
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