Trillium stamineum |
Trillium foetidissimum |
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Blue Ridge wakerobin, twisted trillium |
fetid trillium, Mississippi River wakerobin, stinking trillium |
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Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
horizontal, brownish, thick, short, praemorse, not brittle. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–3 dm, slender to stout, pilose-pubescent, rarely glabrous. |
1–2, green to maroon, round in cross section, 0.8–2.8 dm, papillose basally. |
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. |
often carried quite horizontally, well above ground, sessile; blade light green or bronze-green, strongly mottled in dark green with central light green stripe, mottling becoming obscure with age but less so than in most species, elliptic-ovate, rarely ± orbicular, 6.7–12 × 3.8–6 cm, not glossy, base evenly tapered to broad attachment, apex obtuse-acute. |
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. |
borne directly on bracts, odor of putrid meat, especially when in strong sunlight; sepals displayed above bracts, carried almost horizontally, green or green streaked with dark maroon, lanceolate, 16–40 × 4–6 mm, thick-textured, margins entire, apex acute; petals long-lasting, erect, very gradually incurved from base to apex, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, pinkish purple, light to reddish purple, brownish purple, rarely yellow, fading to brownish tones with age, not spirally twisted, not inrolling with age, veins not engraved, narrowly elliptic to linear-lanceolate, 2–5 × 0.3–0.5 cm, thick-textured, not glossy, margins entire, flat, acute at apex; stamens relatively prominent, erect, 9–25 mm; filaments dark maroon, 3–6 mm, dilated basally; anthers straight, dark maroon-black, 8–15 mm, dehiscence introrse; connectives straight, extended 1–1.5 mm beyond anther sacs; ovary red-purple, ovoid, hexagonal in cross section, 5–12 mm, broadly attached; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, dark purple, subulate, nearly as long as ovary, fleshy. |
Fruits | baccate, purple, odorless, ovoid, strongly 6-angled, sometimes winged, 2 × 1–1.5 cm, pulpy, moist. |
purplish brown, ovoid, 6-angled at least apically, fleshy. |
2n | = 10. |
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Trillium stamineum |
Trillium foetidissimum |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (late Mar–mid May). | Flowering late winter–early spring (early Mar [rarely Feb]--early 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 | River bluffs, ravines, floodplains, low ground, rich woods, road shoulders, silts, sandy-alluvium, loess soils, drier upland oak and pine woods |
Elevation | 50–200 m (200–700 ft) | 40–50 m (100–200 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; MS; TN
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LA; MS
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Discussion | Trillium foetidissimum seems tolerant of a wide range of soil moistures and types, from low, swampy woods to high, dry bluffs and ravine slopes. This is the only Trillium known to occur within its Louisiana range (J. D. Freeman 1975). Freeman considered it to be closely related to T. sessile. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 115. | FNA vol. 26, p. 110. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) | J. D. Freeman: Brittonia 27: 31, fig. 7. (1975) |
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