Trillium viridescens |
Trillium nivale |
|
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green trillium, Ozark green trillium, Ozark trillium, tapertip wakerobin |
dwarf white trillium, snow trillium, snow wakerobin |
|
Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
short, praemorse. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, ± stout, glabrous to scabrous. |
usually 1, 6-gonal in cross section, 0.3–0.5 dm at onset of anthesis, expanding to 0.45–0.8 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. |
distinctly petiolate; blade bluish green, elliptic-ovate to ovate, 1.5–4.5 cm × 0.7–34 mm, base abruptly rounded to petiole, apex round-obtuse. |
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. |
erect, fragrance sweet; sepals spreading, flat, bluish green, lanceolate, 10–32 × 2–7 mm, shorter than petals, margins entire, apex obtuse; petals very showy, recurved to erect-spreading, white, veins not engraved on adaxial surface, ovate-elliptic to oblong, 1.5–3.5+ × 0.8–1.5 cm, thin- to firm-textured, margins entire to slightly wavy, apex obtuse-acuminate; stamens straight, 5–18 mm; filaments white, slightly shorter than anthers, slender; anthers straight, pale yellow, 2.5–11 mm, thin, dehiscence introrse; ovary greenish white, ± globular, obtusely 3-angled; style with tips spreading, elongate, 0.5–1.5 mm, slender; stigmas prominent, recurved or curled, connate basally, white, linear, threadlike, 4–12+ mm; pedicel erect in anthesis, rapidly recurving below leaves after pollination, 5–20 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. |
greenish white, odorless, globose-ovate, 0.6–1 × 0.5–0.8 cm, pulpy, not juicy. |
2n | = 10. |
|
Trillium viridescens |
Trillium nivale |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (early Apr–mid May). | Flowering spring (early Mar–early Apr). |
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 | Forested, limestone-derived soils, alkaline glacial drift or loess, creeping soils at head of ledges, talus of cliff bases, crevices in limestone cliffs, gravelly deposits on higher floodplain riverbanks |
Elevation | 100–400 m (300–1300 ft) | 100–300 m (300–1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
|
IA; IL; IN; KY; MD; MI; MN; MO; NE; OH; PA; SD; WI; WV
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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.) |
Trillium nivale occurs primarily at the southern edge of Pleistocene glaciation and shuns humus, leaf deposits, and much plant competition. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 117. | FNA vol. 26, p. 100. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Trillium |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 155. (1837) | Riddell: Syn. Fl. West. States, 93. (1835) |
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