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

green trillium, wood wakerobin

giant trillium, giant white wakerobin, sessile trillium, smallflower trillium, white toadshade

Rhizomes

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

horizontal, ± erect, brown, superficially bulblike, short, thick, not brittle.

Scapes

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

often several from same rhizome terminus, round in cross section, 2.2–5.8 dm, stout.

Bracts

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.

held well above ground, sessile;

blade weakly mottled with scattered, darker green spots, mottling often fading later in season, broadly ovate, 10–20 × 12–15 cm, not glossy, base rounded, apex obtuse.

Flower

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.

borne directly upon bracts, erect, fragrance roselike;

sepals conspicuous, spreading, displayed above bracts, pale green, lanceolate, 30–65 × 12–15 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, usually erect or slightly spreading, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary basally, white to creamy white, rarely soft pinkish rose near base, veins prominent but not engraved, not spirally twisted, obovate, more lanceolate in young plants, 4.8–8 × 2.2–3 cm, widest at or just above middle, ± thick-textured, base cuneate, margins entire, ± flat, apex rounded to acute;

stamens erect, greenish white, 15–25 mm;

filaments whitish green, 3–4 mm, slender;

anthers erect, straight, yellow, 11–20 mm, dehiscence latrorse;

connectives straight, extended ca. 1 mm beyond anther sacs, rounded;

ovary green or occasionally purple, ovoid, rounded 6-gonal, 6–11 mm;

stigmas erect to spreading, distinct, sessile, subulate, 4–7 mm, thin distally.

Fruits

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

green or purplish green, fragrance unknown, ovoid to globose, pulpy, juicy.

2n

= 10.

Trillium viride

Trillium albidum

Phenology Flowering spring (late Apr–May). Flowering spring (mid Mar–late Apr).
Habitat Rich woods, bluffs, rocky hillsides with some limestone outcrops, woodsy, humusy soil over fairly stiff, clayey substrate Moist slopes in rich mixed deciduous-coniferous forests or coniferous stands, brushy thickets on flats, open fields, pastures, and fencerows, dense second-growth coniferous forests, floodplains along streams and larger rivers
Elevation 100–200 m (300–700 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IL; MO
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR
[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. 116. FNA vol. 26, p. 106.
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. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viridescens
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. viride, T. viridescens
Name authority L. C. Beck: Amer. J. Sci. Arts 11: 178. (1826) J. D. Freeman: Brittonia 27: 48, fig. 11. (1975)
Web links