The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Blue Ridge wakerobin, twisted trillium

great white trillium, large-flower trillium, trille grandiflore, white trillium, white wake-robin

Rhizomes

horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle.

short, thick, praemorse.

Scapes

1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–3 dm, slender to stout, pilose-pubescent, rarely glabrous.

(1–)2–3(–many), round in cross section, 1.5–3+ dm, thick, glabrous.

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.

sessile or subsessile (occasionally weakly cuneate basally);

blade dark green with maroon overtones early, ovate-rhombic, 12–20 × 8–15 cm, apex acuminate.

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.

outfacing, erect, odorless;

sepals spreading, flat, green, very rarely streaked with maroon-purple, lanceolate, 20–55 × 12–23 mm, margins entire, apex acuminate or acute;

petals erect basally, recurving somewhat above middle to produce strongly funnelform corolla, obscuring ovary and base of style, white or rarely pink, without V-shaped or other markings, fading to dull pinkish purple, veins of adaxial surface conspicuous but not appearing engraved, shape variable, lanceolate to oblong, obovate, or, rarely, suborbicular, sides often parallel, 4–7.5 × 2–4 cm, thin-textured, base abruptly attenuate, margins overlapping basally, rolled, undulate-wavy in distal 1/2, apex ± acuminate;

stamens straight or barely recurved, 9–27 mm;

filaments white, much shorter than anthers, relatively thin;

anthers recurving slightly, pale yellow, strongly yellow when pollen exposed, long, 5–16 mm, slender, dehiscence introrse;

ovary inconspicuous, pale green or white, ovoid, 6-angled, 8–18 mm, basal attachment narrower than ovary width;

style barely united for 0.5–2 mm or merely closely grouped and separate;

stigmas erect, becoming spreading, weakly connate basally, pale green-white, uniformly linear, 3–18 mm, equaling or exceeding ovary, slender;

pedicel erect-ascending to strongly erect, 2–8+ cm.

Fruits

baccate, purple, odorless, ovoid, strongly 6-angled, sometimes winged, 2 × 1–1.5 cm, pulpy, moist.

pale green, odorless, ± globose, obscurely 6-angled, 1.2–1.6 × 0.8–1.4 cm, mealy, moist (not juicy).

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium stamineum

Trillium grandiflorum

Phenology Flowering spring (late Mar–mid May). Late spring–early summer (Apr–Jun).
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 Rich deciduous or mixed coniferous-deciduous upland woods, floodplains, roadsides
Elevation 50–200 m (200–700 ft) 20–700 m (100–2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; MS; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CT; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; NS; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Most variants of Trillium grandiflorum have green stripes or markings on the petals, many with numerous (4–30+) extra petals and/or bracts, and, often, much-deformed, monstrous characteristics. G. R. Hooper et al. (1971) showed that mycoplasmic organisms were present in all such forms examined, and were absent from normal plants. Most such forms should not be named taxonomically but, unfortunately, many have been. Nearly all of those that I examined represented stages in the development of the mycoplasma infection. Trillium grandiflorum, unlike most trilliums, produces many-petaled “double” forms. Forma roseum Farwell, opening a striking clear salmon-pink, occurs very rarely throughout the range, but is frequent in mixed or pure colonies along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 115. FNA vol. 26.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium
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. sessile, T. simile, 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. 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. sessile, T. simile, T. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
Synonyms T. rhomboideum var. grandiflorum, T. erythrocarpum
Name authority Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) (Michaux) Salisbury: Parad. Lond. 1: plate 1. (1805)
Web links