Trillium stamineum |
Trillium decumbens |
|
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Blue Ridge wakerobin, twisted trillium |
decumbent trillium, trailing wakerobin |
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Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
short, thick. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–3 dm, slender to stout, pilose-pubescent, rarely glabrous. |
1–2, decumbent, usually by an S-shaped curvature, round in cross section, 0.5–2 dm, somewhat stout, slightly expanded toward bracts, densely puberulent, especially just below bracts and on bases of main bract veins beneath. |
Bracts | held well above ground, sessile; blade light silvery or bluish green with strong to faint mottling in darker colors, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate-lanceolate to broadly ovate, 6.3–7.6 × 3.3–5 cm, larger bracts abaxially pilose-pubescent, margins entire, apex acute. |
appearing early in season, in good condition for only a few weeks after anthesis, dying back to semipersistent bases early, resting on ground surface, sessile; blade strongly mottled in shades of green and bronze and with silvery overlay, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate to suborbicular, 4–12 × 3.3–7 cm, apex acute to rounded. |
Flower | erect, odor strong, of carrion; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading to ± horizontal position, green, purple markings adaxially, lanceolate-elliptic, 17–40 mm, margins entire, purple, apex acuminate; petals long-lasting, spreading and carried in ± horizontal position unlike any other sessile trillium, very deep maroon to blackish red, rarely yellow, purple-streaked, with 1–2 spiral twists, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate or linear, narrow, 1.5–3.8 × 0.3–0.6 cm, rarely broader, thick-textured, margins entire, apex sharply acute to rounded, tips incurving slightly; stamens fully exposed, somewhat stiffly erect, dark purple, 16–24 mm, thick; filaments dark purple, 2–4 mm, basally dilated; anthers erect, straight, dark purple, 13–18 mm, thick, dehiscence extrorse; connectives dark purple, straight, coarse, flat, ± not extended beyond anther sacs; ovary dark purple, oval, 6-angled, 5–7 mm; stigmas erect, widely spreading, often strongly recurved or recoiled, distinct, purple, linear, 4–10 mm, slightly thickened basally. |
erect, odor unreported; sepals divergent, green- or maroon-streaked, lanceolate-ovate, 22–48 × 9–14 mm, margins entire, flat, apex acute; petals long-lasting, rigidly erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, dark maroon-purple when fresh, fading especially distally to dull reddish brown, greenish brown, or with creamy yellow tones, very rarely pale lemon yellow forms occur, twisted (but not spiraled), linear-lanceolate or oblanceolate, 4–8+ × 0.7–1 cm, thick-textured, margins entire, apex acute; stamens erect, straight, dark purple, 10–25 mm; filaments dark purple, 2–5 mm; anthers straight, dark purple, 9–20 mm, dehiscence extrorse; connectives broad, extending to 3.5–4 mm beyond anther sacs; ovary dark purple, oval, 6-angled, 5–10 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, sessile, pink or white, subulate, 4.5–8 mm. |
Fruits | baccate, purple, odorless, ovoid, strongly 6-angled, sometimes winged, 2 × 1–1.5 cm, pulpy, moist. |
baccate, dark purple, broadly ovoid to subglobose, crownlike, strongly ridged, 1–1.5 × 1 cm, pulpy but not juicy, present and enlarging on naked scapes until early autumn. |
2n | = 10. |
= 10. |
Trillium stamineum |
Trillium decumbens |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (late Mar–mid May). | Flowering late winter–spring (mid Mar–Apr). |
Habitat | Dry, upland woods of deciduous trees, deciduous forest mixed with pines, soil on limestone outcroppings, mesic woods, sandy flats along medium streams, steep wooded slopes, banks of rivers | Thin, open rocky wooded slopes, mature deciduous woodlands, rocky talus and disintegrating shale, flats (floodplains) of small streams and adjacent slopes near river entrance |
Elevation | 50–200 m (200–700 ft) | 50–200 m (200–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; MS; TN
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AL; GA; TN
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Discussion | Trillium decumbens occurs in the Ridge and Valley and Cumberland Plateau physiographic provinces. It has a large, deep, horizontal rhizome, the growing point of which always faces downslope. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 115. | FNA vol. 26, p. 109. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 158. (1902) |
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