Trillium sessile |
Trillium ludovicianum |
|
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sessile trillium, sessile-flower wake-robin, toad trillium, toadshade |
Louisiana trillium, Louisiana wakerobin |
|
Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, thick, praemorse, fleshy. |
± horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 0.8–2.5 dm, slender to stout, glabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 1.4–2.6 dm, ± slender, glabrous. |
Bracts | held well above ground, sessile; blade green to bluish green, strongly to sparsely mottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, oval to suborbicular, 4–10 × 2–8 cm, base broadly attached, apex rounded-acuminate to bluntly parallel sided-acuminate (rounded basally to its broad attachment). |
held well above ground, sessile; blade strongly mottled in dark and bronzy green, often with central light strip, mottling becoming somewhat obscure with age, lanceolate-ovate, 5.3–9.5 × 2.3–5 cm, not glossy, margins of distal 1/3 convex-curved to apex, apex rounded-acute. |
Flower | erect, odor pungent, spicy; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, variously streaked with maroon, lanceolate-oblanceolate, 9–35 × 4–8 mm, margins entire, apex rounded-acuminate; petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, maroon, brownish maroon, green, or yellowish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate to elliptic, occasionally almost orbicular, 1.7–3.5 × 0.7–2 cm, thick-textured, narrowed near basal attachment (but not truly clawed), margins entire, apex gradually rounded-tapered to acute; stamens straight, 10–23 mm; filaments red-purple, 2–5 mm, dilated basally; anthers erect, straight, gray-purple, 9–16 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse; connectives purplish brown, straight, projecting 2–5+ mm beyond anther sacs; ovary greenish white basally, purple distally, ovoid to globose, 6-angled, pyramidally narrowed to stigmas, 4–8.5 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, purple, subulate, 1–5 mm, ± fleshy. |
erect, odor of carrion; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, lanceolate-oblanceolate, 19–35 × 2.7–4 mm, margins entire, apex rounded or acute to sometimes weakly reflexed; petals long-lasting, faintly introrsely curved-erect-spreading, weakly connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon-brown, purplish, or dull greenish, or 2-colored, basal portion purple, distal portion grayish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate-linear, 3.5–5.5 × 0.4–0.8 cm, thick-textured, thickened and weakly clawed basally, margins entire, apex acute; stamens erect, straight, 10–18 mm; filaments olive-orange, 2–3 mm, widened basally; anthers erect, straight, olive to orange, 7–20 mm, slender, dehiscence latrorse; connectives olive to orange, straight, scarcely extended beyond anther sac; ovary purple, ovoid, 6-angled, 8–9 mm; stigmas erect, with spreading or coiled tips, distinct, pale purple, subulate, 3–6 mm, ± fleshy. |
Fruits | baccate, dark greenish purple, odorless, subglobose, 6-angled, angles somewhat winglike, pulpy, not juicy. |
dark purplish green, little or no odor, ovoid, 6-angled, pulpy. |
2n | = 10. |
|
Trillium sessile |
Trillium ludovicianum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (Mar–early May). | Flowering late winter–early spring (early Mar–Apr). |
Habitat | Rich woodlands, limestone districts, calcareous soils, floodplains, riverbanks, clayey alluvium, less fertile soils, high, dry limestone woods, persists under light pasturing, in fencerows and brushy areas after lumbering | Low flatwoods, floodplains along streams, steep ravine slopes leading to floodplains, mixed pine-beech woods |
Elevation | 100–300 m (300–1000 ft) | 50–500 m (200–1600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; IL; IN; KS; KY; MD; MI; MO; NC; NY; OH; OK; PA; TN; VA; WV
|
LA; MS |
Discussion | Trillium sessile is rather uniform throughout its range, with few color forms. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The range of Trillium ludovicianum is near to that of T. cuneatum in Mississippi, and the two appear to intergrade. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 115. | FNA vol. 26, p. 111. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 340. (1753) | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) |
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