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sessile trillium, sessile-flower wake-robin, toad trillium, toadshade

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

Rhizomes

horizontal, brownish, thick, praemorse, fleshy.

horizontal, white, slender, elongated, brittle.

Scapes

1–3, round in cross section, 0.8–2.5 dm, slender to stout, glabrous.

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

baccate, dark greenish purple, odorless, subglobose, 6-angled, angles somewhat winglike, pulpy, not juicy.

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

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium sessile

Trillium recurvatum

Phenology Flowering spring (Mar–early May). Flowering spring (late Mar–late May).
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 Rich clayey floodplain soils, plants often temporarily inundated while in flower, rich moist woods and bluffs, limestone-derived soils
Elevation 100–300 m (300–1000 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; IL; IN; KS; KY; MD; MI; MO; NC; NY; OH; OK; PA; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MI; MO; MS; OH; TN; TX; WI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trillium sessile is rather uniform throughout its range, with few color forms.

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

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. 115. FNA vol. 26, p. 114.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum 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. recurvatum, T. reliquum, T. rivale, T. rugelii, 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. 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 Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 340. (1753) L. C. Beck: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. (1826)
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