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

longbract wakerobin, Underwood's trillium

Rhizomes

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

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

Scapes

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

1–2, round in cross section, 0.8-2 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.

usually drooping, often touching ground in early anthesis, sessile;

blade pale silvery green, strongly mottled in 3 or more shades of dark green and bronze, sometimes maroon, mottling becoming obscure with age, ovate-lanceolate to obovate, 6.5–12 × 5–7.8 cm, margins of distal 1/3 straight from rounded base to apex, apex 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.

erect, odor fetid, especially when first open;

sepals displayed above bracts, spreading, green or purple on adaxial surface, lanceolate, 4.5–5 × 8–12 mm, margins entire, flat, apex rounded-acute;

petals long-lasting, erect-spreading, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary or at least partially obscuring stamens, tips ± incurved, dark maroon-red, or purplish red, brownish maroon, or yellowish green, not spirally twisted, oblanceolate to elliptic, 3–5.5+ × 1–1.5 cm, usually 3–4 times longer than wide, thick-textured, margins entire, apex acute;

stamens ± erect to weakly incurved, 14–17 mm;

filaments purple, 1–2 mm;

anthers 8–15 mm, thick, dehiscence latrorse;

connectives brown-purple, straight, extended 1–2 mm beyond anther sacs, apex somewhat acute;

ovary purple, ellipsoid, 6-angled, 6.3–11 mm;

stigmas erect, abruptly recurved upon ovary, distinct, purplish, linear, 1.5–5 mm, slightly thickened basally, 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, purple-black to dull greenish maroon, odorless, ovoid to obovoid, 6-angled (-ridged), 0.7–1 cm diam., pulpy, not juicy.

Trillium viridescens

Trillium underwoodii

Phenology Flowering spring (early Apr–mid May). Flowering mid winter–spring (late Feb–mid 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 Rich to dryish deciduous forests of mature or second-growth timber, dominated by oaks or with beech-oaks, occasionally with scattered pines present, flat ground along streams where soil can be fairly moist, rich clay or sand
Elevation 100–400 m (300–1300 ft) 100–200 m (300–700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; KS; MO; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA
[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.)

Trillium underwoodii can cause considerable confusion for the beginning student of the genus. In some ways it closely resembles a small-statured T. cuneatum. As T. underwoodii continues to expand after flowering, it may become somewhat taller and less “ground hugging,” and it then appears similar to a smaller plant of T. decipiens, which grows in parts of the same range, especially when its bracts do not touch the ground at anthesis. It also has vague similarities to T. reliquum, with which it grows sympatrically in parts of its range. Care should be taken to observe the details of floral structure accurately.

Distribution of Trillium underwoodii is much more restricted than that given by J. K. Small (1933), who indicated a range extending from Alabama to North Carolina and Arkansas.

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

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 117. FNA vol. 26, p. 116.
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. viride
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. undulatum, T. vaseyi, T. viride, T. viridescens
Name authority Nuttall: Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc., n. s. 5: 155. (1837) Small: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 24: 172. (1897)
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