font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Trillium sulcatum

(Barksdales Trillium)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Common Names in English:

Barksdales Trillium, Barksdale Trillium, Furrowed Wakerobin, Southern Red Trillium

Description

[ Back to top ]

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 sulcatum

Rhizomes horizontal-slightly erect , thick, praemorse . Scapes 1-4+, round in cross section , 3-7 dm, 2-2.5 times as long as bract, stout, glabrous . Bracts subsessile ; blade obovate to broadly elliptic , 13-20 × 8-22 cm, not glossy, base attenuate, apex acuminate. Flower facing outward at right angle to pedicel, above bracts, odor faintly musty, like fresh fungus; perianth gaping , strongly 3-dimensional; sepals spreading , usually streaked or entirely purplish maroon, occasionally entirely green except on margins , elliptic, 15-38 × 9-15 mm, margins entire, apex strongly sulcate-acuminate; petals carried somewhat forward to recurved-spreading in distal 1/2, usually dark reddish maroon to purplish, rarely cream to soft yellow, pink, white, or 2-colored, heavy-veined, ovate to broadly ovate-overlapping, 1.8-5 × 1-3 cm, heavy-textured, apex acuminate, rarely somewhat sulcate ; stamens erect, ± equaling or slightly longer than ovary, 15-18 mm; filaments purple to white, 3-5 mm, slender; anthers straight, purplish to yellow, 5-12 mm, thick, dehiscence introrse ; connectives equaling or ± shorter than anther sacs ; ovary usually dark purple, globose to flask-shaped, 6-angled, 14-18 mm, broadly attached basally; stigmas prominent , recurved, distinct , purple, not lobed adaxially, basally thickened, gradually tapered, 2-5 mm, fleshy ; pedicel usually stiffly erect (rarely almost horizontal above bracts), straight, reflexed ± 90° at tip , 6-11 cm. Fruits red, fragrance of fresh mushrooms, ± globose to pyramidal , 1.5-3 × 1.2-2.8 cm, juicy to pulpy. 2n = 10. [source]

T. S. Patrick (1984) described Trillium sulcatum flowers as œrelatively small and turned downward. This is true of plants from the type locality ; however, in most plants of the Cumberland Plateau , the flowers are quite large and flattened, and the petals are recurved distally and face outward. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: March, April, May. • Flower Color: dark red, maroon, scarlet

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-18" tall.

Habitat

Rich mesic woodlands, especially moist north- or east-facing slopes , wooded ledges and stream banks on neutral to slightly acid soil ; 300--400 m [2].

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Partial to Full Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b. (map)

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Synonyms

Trillium erectum sulcatum Barksdale • Trillium erectum var. album Pursh • Trillium erectum var. flavum Torr. • Trillium erectum var. sulcatum Barksdale

Notes

Publishing author : T.S.Patrick Publication : Brittonia 36: 27, fig 1984

Similar Species

[ Back to top ]

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

[ Back to top ]

Further Reading

[ Back to top ]

Notes

[ Back to top ]

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 sulcatum". in Flora of North America Vol. 26 Page 94, 104. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012