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Barksdale trillium, furrowed wakerobin, southern red trillium

bent trillium, declined trillium, drooping trillium, nodding wakerobin

Rhizomes

horizontal–slightly erect, thick, praemorse.

somewhat erect, thick, praemorse.

Scapes

1–4+, round in cross section, 3–7 dm, 2–2.5 times as long as bract, stout, glabrous.

1–several from single rhizome, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, glabrous.

Bracts

subsessile;

blade obovate to broadly elliptic, 13–20 × 8–22 cm, not glossy, base attenuate, apex acuminate.

sessile;

blade medium green without red or maroon undertones, rhombic, 7–25 × 7–25 cm, frequently wider than long, base attenuate from just above middle, apex acuminate.

Flower

facing outward at right angle to pedicel, above bracts, odor faintly musty, like fresh fungus;

perianth gaping, strongly 3-dimensional;

sepals spreading, usually streaked or entirely purplish maroon, occasionally entirely green except on margins, elliptic, 15–38 × 9–15 mm, margins entire, apex strongly sulcate-acuminate;

petals carried somewhat forward to recurved-spreading in distal 1/2, usually dark reddish maroon to purplish, rarely cream to soft yellow, pink, white, or 2-colored, heavy-veined, ovate to broadly ovate-overlapping, 1.8–5 × 1–3 cm, heavy-textured, apex acuminate, rarely somewhat sulcate;

stamens erect, ± equaling or slightly longer than ovary, 15–18 mm;

filaments purple to white, 3–5 mm, slender;

anthers straight, purplish to yellow, 5–12 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse;

connectives equaling or ± shorter than anther sacs;

ovary usually dark purple, globose to flask-shaped, 6-angled, 14–18 mm, broadly attached basally;

stigmas prominent, recurved, distinct, purple, not lobed adaxially, basally thickened, gradually tapered, 2–5 mm, fleshy;

pedicel usually stiffly erect (rarely almost horizontal above bracts), straight, reflexed ± 90° at tip, 6–11 cm.

flexed ca. 90° on summit of pedicel to face outward rather than upward, or variously carried on strongly declined pedicels;

sepals weakly recurved, green, lanceolate, 14–45 mm, shorter than or barely equaling petals, margins entire, apex acuminate;

petals flat or recurved in distal 1/2, creamy white, not 2-colored, veins conspicuously engraved, ovate-lanceolate to broadly ovate, 2–5 × 1–4 cm, texture heavy, margins entire, apex acute;

stamens large, ± erect, 9–23 mm;

filaments white, less than 1/2 anther length, thin;

anthers straight or very slightly recurving, creamy white or yellow, 5–18 mm, thick, dehiscence ± introrse;

ovary white, ovoid to flask-shaped, strongly 6-angled, 5–16 × 4–12 mm, widely attached basally;

stigmas recurved, distinct but closely grouped, white, not lobed adaxially, linear-subulate, short, thick, 4–13 mm, ± equaling ovary, fleshy;

pedicel stiffly erect, carried horizontally, or declined beneath bracts, rarely recurved, 4–12 cm.

Fruits

red, fragrance of fresh mushrooms, ± globose to pyramidal, 1.5–3 × 1.2–2.8 cm, juicy to pulpy.

baccate, rosy red to purplish, fragrant of ripe fruit, ovoid to somewhat pyramidal at summit, strongly angled, 2–3.5 × 1–3 cm, very juicy at maturity.

2n

= 10.

= 10.

Trillium sulcatum

Trillium flexipes

Phenology Flowering mid spring (Apr–May). Flowering spring (Apr–early Jun).
Habitat Rich mesic woodlands, especially moist north- or east-facing slopes, wooded ledges and stream banks on neutral to slightly acid soil Rich wooded slopes, floodplains in deciduous forests, especially over limestone
Elevation 300–400 m (1000–1300 ft) 100–600 m (300–2000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; GA; KY; NC; TN; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; DE; IA; IL; IN; KY; MI; MN; MO; NY; OH; PA; SD; TN; VA; WI; WV; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Trillium sulcatum is present mainly on the Cumberland Plateau and is absent from the Great Smoky Mountains and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains.

T. S. Patrick (1984) described Trillium sulcatum flowers as “relatively small and turned downward.” This is true of plants from the type locality; however, in most plants of the Cumberland Plateau, the flowers are quite large and flattened, and the petals are recurved distally and face outward.

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

Although there are no named varieties of Trillium flexipes, many forms exist and at least one has been named, forma walpolei (Farwell) Fernald. F. W. Case and G. L. Burrows (1962) mapped the occurrence of forma walpolei for Michigan and found it to occur only along the contact zone between T. flexipes and T. erectum. F. W. Case and R. B. Case (1993) crossed typical T. erectum and T. flexipes to produce identical color variations as occur in these wild, mixed-species populations. I consider this form to be a hybrid expression. Some of the hybrids have petals colored proximally and white distally, superficially resembling T. undulatum. Dried specimens, when hastily examined, resemble T. undulatum superficially and probably account for reports of that species from locations near Ann Arbor, Michigan, and various places in Indiana and Illinois, all of which are well out of the range of T. undulatum.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 104. FNA vol. 26, p. 99.
Parent taxa Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium 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. stamineum, 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. 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. viride, T. viridescens
Synonyms T. declinatum, T. gleasonii
Name authority T. S. Patrick: Brittonia 36: 27, figs. 1–4. (1984) Rafinesque: Autik. Bot., 133. (1840)
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