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Blue Ridge wakerobin, twisted trillium

green trillium, wood wakerobin

Rhizomes

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

horizontal, brownish, short, slender to stout, praemorse, not brittle.

Scapes

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

1–3, round in cross section, 2.3–3.4+ dm, ± slender, smooth to scabrous below bracts.

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.

held well above ground, sessile;

blade green to bluish green, weakly mottled, rarely unmottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, adaxial surface covered with numerous stomata easily visible under a lens, occasionally visible as tiny white dots to the naked eye, narrowly to broadly elliptic, 8–20.5 × 5–8 cm, not glossy, apex blunt to rounded-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.

erect, odor of decayed fruit;

sepals displayed above bracts, widely spreading, distal 1/2 often weakly declined, green, lanceolate-acute, 28–60 × 7–9 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, erect to widely spreading, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, green, yellowish green, yellow, or variously purple streaked throughout, especially basally (rarely all purplish green), not spirally twisted, narrowly spatulate to linear-spatulate, 3.5–6.8 × 0.5–1.5 cm, widest above middle, thick-textured, base narrowed and thickened, ± forming claw, margins entire, apex obtuse, lacking nipple;

stamens relatively straight-erect to slightly incurved, 15–25 mm;

filaments brown-olive, 3–5.5 mm, dilated basally;

anthers erect, straight, olive-brown or purplish, 8–21 mm, ± slender, dehiscence introrse-latrorse;

connectives olive, straight, very slightly (± 0.5 mm) extended beyond sacs;

ovary greenish basally, olive-purplish distally, ellipsoid to ovoid, deeply angled, 5–12 mm;

stigmas spreading-erect, recurved, distinct, sessile, olive or purplish, subulate, 5–10 mm, somewhat fleshy.

Fruits

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

greenish white, odorless, ovoid, angled, 1–1.5 cm, somewhat pulpy, not juicy.

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium stamineum

Trillium viride

Phenology Flowering spring (late Mar–mid May). Flowering spring (late Apr–May).
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, bluffs, rocky hillsides with some limestone outcrops, woodsy, humusy soil over fairly stiff, clayey substrate
Elevation 50–200 m (200–700 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; MS; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
IL; MO
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trillium viride has long been confused with T. luteum of the Smoky Mountain region, though it is far more slender and delicate than T. luteum. Because the pallid forms and so-called albinos of many other sessile trilliums described in written accounts sound much like the description of this plant, early authors ascribed far too wide a range to T. viride. The plant is closely limited to the woodlands of the counties adjacent to the Missouri River in northeastern Missouri and southern Illinois.

Although the ranges of Trillium viride and the very similar T. viridescens do not overlap, both species grow in Missouri, and authors earlier than J. D. Freeman (1975) frequently combined the two as a single species. If all other means of identification fail, the prevalence of numerous stomates on the adaxial bract surface, seen under magnification, will always distinguish T. viride.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 115. FNA vol. 26, p. 116.
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. 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. 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. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viridescens
Name authority Harbison: Biltmore Bot. Stud. 1: 23. (1901) L. C. Beck: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. (1826)
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