Trillium viridescens |
Trillium sessile |
|
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green trillium, Ozark green trillium, Ozark trillium, tapertip wakerobin |
sessile trillium, sessile-flower wake-robin, toad trillium, toadshade |
|
Rhizomes | horizontal, brownish, short, thick, praemorse, not brittle. |
horizontal, brownish, thick, praemorse, fleshy. |
Scapes | 1–3, round in cross section, 2–5 dm, ± stout, glabrous to scabrous. |
1–3, round in cross section, 0.8–2.5 dm, slender to stout, 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. |
held well above ground, sessile; blade green to bluish green, strongly to sparsely mottled, mottling becoming obscure with age, oval to suborbicular, 4–10 × 2–8 cm, base broadly attached, apex rounded-acuminate to bluntly parallel sided-acuminate (rounded basally to its broad attachment). |
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, odor pungent, spicy; sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green, variously streaked with maroon, lanceolate-oblanceolate, 9–35 × 4–8 mm, margins entire, apex rounded-acuminate; petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary, maroon, brownish maroon, green, or yellowish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate to elliptic, occasionally almost orbicular, 1.7–3.5 × 0.7–2 cm, thick-textured, narrowed near basal attachment (but not truly clawed), margins entire, apex gradually rounded-tapered to acute; stamens straight, 10–23 mm; filaments red-purple, 2–5 mm, dilated basally; anthers erect, straight, gray-purple, 9–16 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse; connectives purplish brown, straight, projecting 2–5+ mm beyond anther sacs; ovary greenish white basally, purple distally, ovoid to globose, 6-angled, pyramidally narrowed to stigmas, 4–8.5 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct, purple, subulate, 1–5 mm, ± fleshy. |
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, dark greenish purple, odorless, subglobose, 6-angled, angles somewhat winglike, pulpy, not juicy. |
2n | = 10. |
|
Trillium viridescens |
Trillium sessile |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (early Apr–mid May). | Flowering spring (Mar–early May). |
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 | Rich woodlands, limestone districts, calcareous soils, floodplains, riverbanks, clayey alluvium, less fertile soils, high, dry limestone woods, persists under light pasturing, in fencerows and brushy areas after lumbering |
Elevation | 100–400 m (300–1300 ft) | 100–300 m (300–1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
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AL; AR; IL; IN; KS; KY; MD; MI; MO; NC; NY; OH; OK; PA; TN; VA; 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 sessile is rather uniform throughout its range, with few color forms. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 26, p. 117. | FNA vol. 26, p. 115. |
Parent taxa | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum | Liliaceae > Trillium > subg. Phyllantherum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 155. (1837) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 340. (1753) |
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