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Trillium angustipetalum

(Narrowpetal Wakerobin)

Overview

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Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Narrowpetal Wakerobin, Narrow-Petaled Trillium

Description

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Genus Trillium

Herbs, perennial , scapose , rhizomatous ; rhizomes subterranean , horizontal or semierect, monopodial, unbranched or weakly branched, elongated to thick and fleshy , compressed-shortened, distal end tapered to point or praemorse , apex bearing large terminal bud, numerous cataphylls, and contractile, adventitious, ringed roots . Scapes arising from terminal bud or axil of adjacent cataphylls, aerial (subterranean in T. petiolatum), erect , straight (decumbent , S-shaped in T. decumbens and T. reliquum). Bracts on mature plants in whorl of 3, uniformly green or mottled , foliaceous , petiolate or sessile, venation palmate-reticulate, with 3-5 major veins, ovate or obovate to elliptical . Inflorescences terminal, 1-flowered. Flowers: some totally to partially syncarpous , pedicellate or sessile; sepals persistent , 3, distinct , green, maroon, or with maroon markings, foliaceous, oblong , ovate, or lanceolate, alternating with bracts; petals shriveling after anthesis , typically 3, erect, spreading , or recurved, distinct, red, purple, pink, white, yellow, green, or combination of these, ovate or obovate to linear , sometimes clawed; stamens 6, alternating in 2 whorls of 3, erect, incurved , or divergent; filaments mostly short, basally expanded; anthers 2-locular, ± equaling or longer than filaments, dehiscence extrorse , latrorse , or introrse ; connectives flat between (or in some species extending beyond) anther sacs ; ovary superior, proximal portion 3-locular, 3- or 6-lobed, some axile , some parietal or a combination of both, distal portion forming stigmas; stigmas often persistent, 3, spreading, twisted, or erect, sometimes connate , sessile or with very short style, linear to subulate . Fruits capsular or baccate , fleshy with obscure sutures, not or rarely dehiscent along sutures, each shed as unit through abscission of thin-walled cells at base . Seeds many, elliptic , 2-4 mm, bearing white or yellowish, large, oily, myrmecochorous elaiosome (aril). x = 5. 2n = 10 in all American species recorded.

Species 43: North America, Asia.

Trillium is traditionally divided into two subgenera , which overlap in some characters. Botanists consider subg. Trillium to be the more primitive group, because the genera considered closest to Trillium all have pedicellate flowers, as does subg. Trillium, except for one variety of T. pusillum that bears sessile to only barely pedicillate flowers.

There is not yet agreement among taxonomists about the relationships among the species within the genus. Certain ones, such as Trillium recurvatum and T. lancifolium, clearly are closely related, but the interrelationships of many others are not obvious. In the absence of definitive studies, the species are listed here alphabetically within subgenera. Several species of Trillium contain sapogenins that have been used medicinally as astringents, coagulants , expectorants , and uterine stimulants, hence the common names birthwort and Indian balm, and T. erectum, T. grandiflorum, and possibly other species have been utilized commercially as beth root (W. B . Zomlefer 1996). Fruits, seeds, and rhizomes of trilliums are generally considered to be poisonous. Deer, however, feed voraciously on T. grandiflorum plants, especially in early spring . Gardeners and wildflower enthusiasts, over most of the temperate zones of the world, consider trilliums to be among the most beautiful of wildflowers. Species of Trillium exhibit few and obscure structural differences, making key construction difficult (J. D. Freeman 1975).[1]

Physical Description

Species Trillium angustipetalum

Plants tall, very robust . Rhizomes erect , brownish, thick, somewhat compressed-thickened, praemorse , not brittle. Scapes 1-2, round in cross section , 2.5-6 dm. Bracts held well above ground , spreading horizontally, subsessile ; blade very sparsely mottled with dark greenish brown or rarely all green, mottling becoming obscure with age, broadly ovate , 10-22 × 8.7-15 cm, not glossy, often narrowed to falsely petiolate , very short, and narrowly cuneate base 10-20 mm, apex obtuse . Flower erect, odor spicy-musty, musty, or fetid ; sepals conspicuous , spreading, often resting on bracts, maroon to green, linear to oblong-lanceolate, 35-47 × 8-10 mm, margins flat, entire, apex acute; petals long-lasting, erect, ± connivent, ± concealing stamens and ovary and partially obscuring stamens, dark purple to red-purple, not spirally twisted, veins obscure, linear, 5-10 × 0.7-1.4 cm, 8-10 times longer than wide, glossy, thick-textured, base linear, margins entire, at first flat but inrolling with age, apex variously acute-obtuse; stamens erect, 12-22 mm; filaments dark maroon, 2-4 mm, slender, widest at base; anthers erect, straight, purple, 12-18 mm, dehiscence introrse ; connectives purple, slightly extended 1-1.5 mm beyond anther sacs ; ovary dark, ovoid-ellipsoid, 6-angled toward apex, 7.5-12 mm; stigmas erect, divergent-recurved, distinct , purple, sessile, awl-shaped , thickly subulate , 5 mm, thick, fleshy . Fruits dark purple, fragrance unknown, subglobose, 6-angled, almost winged , fleshy. 2n = 10. [source]

B . D. Ness (1993) listed Trillium kurabayashii as a synonym of T. angustipetalum. In bract orientation, color, and texture , and in petal shape, the two are quite different and certainly not the same species. Cytologist Masataka Kurabayashi found chromosomal differences between the two species (reported by J. D. Freeman 1975). [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April, May, June.

Habitat

Big-tree (Sequoiadendron) groves and other mixed coniferous-deciduous flatwoods, slightly damper depressions under maples and deciduous shrubs ; coastal mountains, oak (Quercus) groves in ravines and otherwise quite arid , almost treeless chaparral , wooded canyon slopes , dense woods near streams ; 30--200 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,147 meters (0 to 7,044 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Pacif. Railr. Rep. (5): 151. 1857 • T. giganteum (Hooker & Arnott) A. Heller Var. angustipetalum (Torrey) R. R. Gates • Trillium chloropetalum (Torr.) Howell Var. angustipetalum (Torr.) Munz • Trillium chloropetalum angustipetalum (Torr.) Munz • Trillium chloropetalum var. angustipetalum (Torr.) Munz • Trillium giganteum (Hook. & Arn.) A. Heller Var. angustipetalum (Torr.) R. R. Gates • Trillium Giganteum Angustipetalum • Trillium giganteum angustipetalum Bonpl. • Trillium sessile angustipetalum (Raddi) • Trillium sessile angustipetalum Torr. • Trillium sessile L. var. angustipetalum Torr. • Trillium sessile Linnaeus var. angustipetalum Torrey • Trillium sessile var. angustipetalum Torr.

Notes

Publishing author : J.D.Freeman Publication : Brittonia 27: 55 1975

Basionym author: (Torr.)

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Trillium

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 58 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

T. albidum (Giant Trillium) · T. angustipetalum (Narrowpetal Wakerobin) · T. catesbaei (Bashful Wakerobin) · T. cernuum (Nodding Trillium) · T. chloropetalum (Giant Wakerobin) · T. chloropetalum (Torr.) Howell var. chloropetalum (Torr.) T.J.Howell (Giant Wakerobin) · T. chloropetalum giganteum (Giant Wakerobin) · T. chloropetalum var. chloropetalum (Giant Wakerobin) · T. chloropetalum var. giganteum (Giant Wakerobin) · T. cuneatum (Little Sweet Betsy) · T. decipiens (Chattahoochee River Wakerobin) · T. decumbens (Trailing Trillium) · T. discolor (Mottled Wakerobin) · T. erectum (Red Erect Trillium) · T. erectum f. albiflorum (White Erect Trillium) · T. erectum var. japonicum (Stinking Benjamin) · T. flexipes (Bent Trillium) · T. foetidissimum (Mississippi River Wakerobin) · T. gracile (Sabine River Wakerobin) · T. grandiflorum (Great White Trillium) · T. grandiflorum f. polymerum 'Flore Pleno' (Double-Flowered American Wake-Robin) · T. grandiflorum Gothenburg pink strain (Great White Trillium) · T. grandiflorum 'Flore Pleno' (Trillium) · T. kamtschaticum (Trillium) · T. kurabayashi (Wake Robin) · T. kurabayashii (Giant Purple Wakerobin) · T. lancifolium (Lanceleaf Wakerobin) · T. ludovicianum (Louisiana Wakerobin) · T. luteum (Lemon Trillium) · T. maculatum (Spotted Wakerobin) · T. nivale (Dwarf White Wakerobin) · T. ovatum (Pacific Trillium) · T. ovatum oettingeri (Oettinger's Trillium) · T. ovatum 'Roy Elliott' (Western Trillium) · T. parviflorum (Smallflower Wakerobin) · T. persistens (Persistent Trillium) · T. petiolatum (Idaho Trillium) · T. pusillum (Dwarf Wakerobin) · T. pusillum var. ozarkanum (Ozark Wake-Robin) · T. pusillum var. pusillum (Dwarf Wakerobin) · T. pusillum var. virginianum (Virginia Wakerobin) · T. rectum (Stinking Benjamin) · T. recurvatum (Bloody Butcher) · T. reliquum (Confederate Wakerobin) · T. reliquum f. luteum (Relic Trillium) · T. rivale (Brook Wakerobin) · T. rugelii (Ill-Scented Wakerobin) · T. sessile (Common Toad Shade) · T. simile (Jeweled Wake Robin) · T. stamineum (Blue Ridge Wakerobin) · T. sulcatum (Barksdales Trillium) · T. texanum (Texas Trillium) · T. tschonoskii (Tschonoskis Wake Robin) · T. underwoodii (Lonbract Wakerobin) · T. undulatum (Painted Trillium) · T. vaseyi (Sweet Wakerobin) · T. viride (Wood Wakerobin) · T. viridescens (Tapertip Wakerobin)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Frederick W. Case Jr. "Trillium". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 51, 54, 56, 90, 91, 97, 101, 110, 113, 150. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Trillium angustipetalum". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 106. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 1,187.330 meters (3,895.440 feet), Standard Deviation = 750.930 based on 15 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012