Trillium stamineum |
Trillium vaseyi |
|
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Blue Ridge wakerobin, twisted trillium |
sweet beth, sweet trillium, sweet wakerobin, Vasey's trillium |
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Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
short, stout, praemorse. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 1.5–3 dm, slender to stout, pilose-pubescent, rarely glabrous. |
1–2 per rhizome terminus, round in cross section, 3–6.5 dm, ± slender to stout, 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 to subsessile; blade rhombic, 10–20 × 6–20 cm, often wider than long, not glossy, base attenuate, 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. |
carried beneath bracts, odor faintly sweet; sepals spreading, pale green, lanceolate-acuminate, 25–50 × 6–18 mm, margins involute, apex acuminate; petals spreading to recurved distally, adaxially crimson, maroon-red, or brownish red, abaxially paler, grayish pink or rose, veins engraved, ovate-suborbicular, 3–6.5 × 4–6 cm, somewhat fleshy, base rounded and overlapping, margins entire, apex acute; stamens conspicuous, ± erect to weakly recurved, 15–25 mm, longer than pistil at anthesis; filaments grayish purple to blackish purple, longer than anthers, 5–12 mm, slender; anthers weakly recurving, grayish purple to maroon, slender, dehiscence introrse; connectives purple, barely equaling anther sacs; ovary small, maroon or dark reddish purple, ± globose to conical-pyramidal, 6-ridged, 3–12 mm, basal attachment less than ovary width; stigmas erect, recurved, distinct, gray-purple, not lobed adaxially, basally widened, ± linear distally, 2.5–6.5 mm, fleshy; pedicel horizontal to declined-drooping, ± straight, 2–13 cm. |
Fruits | baccate, purple, odorless, ovoid, strongly 6-angled, sometimes winged, 2 × 1–1.5 cm, pulpy, moist. |
dark reddish maroon, ovoid, obtusely angled, relatively small, 1–1.4 × 1–2 cm, pulpy. |
2n | = 10. |
= 10. |
Trillium stamineum |
Trillium vaseyi |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (late Mar–mid May). | Flowering mid–late spring (late Apr–early 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 woods, often on steep slopes, ravines, stream banks, and deep, wind-sheltered, moist coves |
Elevation | 50–200 m (200–700 ft) | 300–700 m (1000–2300 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; MS; TN
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AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
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Discussion | Although sometimes submerged within Trillium erectum, T. vaseyi has a later blooming season, a nodding flower of much larger size, a sweet fragrance, and cove habitat unlike that of T. erectum. In my garden hybridization experiments, T. vaseyi hybrids have different color patterns than T. erectum hybrids. Trillium vaseyi is clearly a distinct species. It frequently hybridizes with T. rugelii. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 115. | FNA vol. 26, p. 105. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | T. erectum var. vaseyi | |
Name authority | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) | Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 24. (1901) |
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