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green trillium, Ozark green trillium, Ozark trillium, tapertip wakerobin

bashful trillium, bashful wakerobin, Catesby's trillium

Rhizomes

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

short, tapered to a point distally.

Scapes

1–3, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, ± stout, glabrous to scabrous.

1–2, round in cross section, 2–4.5 dm, slender, glabrous.

Bracts

touching ground in early anthesis or not at all, sessile;

blade dark green, obscurely marked with few–many darker blotches (very rarely unmottled), mottling becoming obscure with age, few or no stomates adaxially, ovate-elliptic to broadly so, 8.5–14 × 6.8–9 cm, apex acuminate.

usually raised somewhat, exposing flower;

blade green, often with underlying purplish maroon in well-lighted plants, major veins on adaxial surface deeply engraved, elliptic-ovate, 6.5–15 × 4–8 cm, including elongated, petiolelike base, proximal 1/3 of leaf gradually tapered to base, margins often slightly raised, apex blunt-acute to acuminate.

Flower

erect, odor, if present, spicy or musty;

sepals displayed above bracts, widely spreading, green or variously purple marked, lanceolate, 38–60 × 5–12 mm, margins entire, apex acute;

petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, purplish black on claw, greenish to yellow-green distally, sometimes all dark purple, occasionally slightly twisted, linear to narrowly spatulate, 4–8 × 0.8–1.2 cm, thick-textured, base slightly thickened and clawed, margins entire, apex rounded, lacking nipple;

stamens erect, connivent (clustered together, leaning upon each other), 16–25 mm;

filaments olive or purplish brown, 2.5–5 mm, very slender, widened basally;

anthers erect, straight or slightly incurved, olive-brown, 13–20 mm, ± slender, dehiscence latrorse;

connectives brownish, barely extending beyond anther sacs;

ovary pale greenish white basally, purplish distally, ovoid, 6-angled, 5.5–10 mm;

stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, purplish abaxially, sessile, almost linear, 6–10 mm, ± equaling ovary, ± not fleshy, very slightly widened basally.

opening at or recurved below bracts, rarely erect;

sepals falcate-recurved, green or streaked with purple, linear-lanceolate, 20–45 × 7–8 mm, margins ± flat, apex acuminate;

petals falcate-recurved distally, white, pink, or rose, darkening to pink or nonfading with age, veins visible but not appearing engraved, elliptic-oblong to oblong-lanceolate, 3.5–5 × 1–2+ cm, thin-textured, bases somewhat imbricated, forming funnel-like tube, margins undulate, apex acuminate;

stamens prominent, recurved, 16–25 mm;

filaments white, slightly longer and narrower than anthers;

anthers recurving, bright yellow, 5–14 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse;

ovary inconspicuous, white, angular-ovoid, deeply 6-angled, 4–12 × 3–7 mm, slender, base narrow;

style 2–6 mm;

stigmas prominent, strongly curled (circinate) to erect, connate basally, pale green or white, not lobed, 4–10 mm, uniformly thin;

pedicel deflexed or recurved, rarely erect, angled, 2–4(–5) cm.

Fruits

dark purplish green or green, odor unreported, ovoid, obscurely angled, with remains of persistent stigma, 0.7–1.5 cm, pulpy, not juicy at time of separation from receptacle.

baccate, greenish or whitish, ovoid-globose, angles less prominent when mature, 1–1.5 cm diam., pulpy but not juicy.

Trillium viridescens

Trillium catesbaei

Phenology Flowering spring (early Apr–mid May). Flowering spring–summer (late Mar–early Jun).
Habitat Deciduous forests, usually quite rich, on banks, bluffs, talus slopes, floodplain alluvium, with cane (Arundinaria) or on sloping banks just above normal flood levels in heavy, clayey soils, with common spring ephemerals Acid soils, open dry or rich woods, laurel and rhododendron thickets, cove forests
Elevation 100–400 m (300–1300 ft) 50–800 m (200–2600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; GA; NC; SC; TN
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Of conservation concern.

J. D. Freeman (1975) considered that Trillium viridescens intergrades with T. gracile in northeastern Texas and stated that these putative intergrades produce purple petals, but purple-petaled forms also occur in Arkansas, far from the influence of T. gracile.

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

Elliott, author of Trillium catesbaei, apparently recognized one of its forms separately as T. nervosum. This name is still mentioned in British horticultural and botanical literature, but it is rarely found in U.S. literature. North American botanists treat T. nervosum as a synonym of T. catesbaei.

Plants of Trillium catesbaei from deep coves in South Carolina tend to have petals that are deeper pink and longer and wider than those of many other populations.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 117. FNA vol. 26, p. 96.
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. stamineum, T. sulcatum, T. underwoodii, T. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride
T. albidum, T. angustipetalum, 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
Synonyms T. affine, T. nervosum, T. stylosum
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 155. (1837) Elliott: Sketch Bot. S. Carolina 1: 429. (1817)
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