font settings and languages

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

Trillium cernuum

(Nodding Trillium)

Overview

[ Back to top ]

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Nodding Trillium, Nodding Wake-Robin, Northern Nodding Wake-Robin, Whip-Poor-Will Flower, Whip-Poor-Will-Flower

Common Names in French:

Trille Penché

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 cernuum

Rhizomes short, thick. Scapes 1-2(-3), round in cross section , 1.5-4+ dm, slender, glabrous . Bracts often overlapping, sessile or with a barely noticeable, petiolelike base , umbrellalike; blade bright green without red tones, broadly rhombic-ovate to suborbicular , 5-15 × 6-15+ cm, base attenuate, apex acuminate. Flower usually hidden beneath bracts, nodding , odorless; sepals spreading , green, lanceolate-ovate, 9-30 mm, slightly shorter than to equaling petals, margins slightly raised, apex acuminate; petals usually strongly recurved from above base, extending behind plane of sepal bases for more than 1/2 their length , white or rarely pale pink, adaxial veins not conspicuous , oblong-lanceolate, 1.5-2.5 × 0.9-1.5 cm, thin-textured, margins entire, apex acuminate; stamens ± straight, 6-15 mm, shorter than pistil, slender; filaments white, ± equaling anthers , slender; anthers straight, pale lavender-pink or -gray, 2-6.5 mm, dehiscence introrse to latrorse ; ovary prominent , white to pinkish, pyramidal , strongly 6-angled, 3-12 × 3-10 mm, widest above basal attachment; stigmas erect , recurved, distinct , white, not lobed adaxially, 3-8 mm, widest at base, fleshy , basally thickened, gradually tapered; pedicel strongly recurved or declined below or angled between bracts, 1.5-3 cm. Fruits dark red, with fruity fragrance, ovoid , to 3 cm diam., fleshy, juicy. 2n = 10. [source]

Previous authors commonly recognized var. cernuum and var. macranthum, based primarily upon size differences. Plants attributed to var. cernuum are found from Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania northward to Newfoundland, while those attributed to var. macranthum are found mainly farther inland into the Midwest. Although there is a tendency for the eastern seaboard plants to be somewhat smaller and more delicate, and the midwestern and far northern plants to be more robust , there is much variation , largely dependent on soil nutrients . There are regional size trends, but based on my observations of this species in Newfoundland, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, I do not believe that the two varieties can be maintained. [source]

In the Gray Herbarium , there is a collection by Richardson labeled "Mackenzie River", which has been cited by H. M. Raup (1947) and others. W. J. Hooker ([1829-]1833-1840) reported Trillium cernuum œfrom Saskatchewan to Mackenzie River . Raup stated that œit is the only evidence for the occurrence of...Trillium in the entire Mackenzie Basin . Other writers have simply quoted that statement. In view of the relatively great disjunction from the known Saskatchewan stations and in the absence of any other supporting specimens from that area, I believe that there might be locality error on the Richardson sheet. However, it is not beyond possibility that T. cernuum could occur there. This apparent disjunct station is not mapped here. [source]

Habit: Forb/herb

Flowers: Bloom Period: February, March, April, May, June, July. • Flower Color: near white, white

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-18" tall.

Habitat

Rich, mostly deciduous forest southward, mixed deciduous-coniferous forests, swamps , moist coniferous forests northward; 30--600 m (Ref. 104055).

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 931 meters (0 to 3,054 feet).[2]

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 24-36" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Light Shade.

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

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Synonyms

Trillium cernuum var. macranthum Eames & Wiegand • Trillium stylosum Nutt.

Notes

Publishing author : Barton Publication : Fl. N. Amer. (Barton) 2: 13, t. 40 1821 [Jul-Dec 1821]

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 November 19, 2007:

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. Mean = 255.030 meters (836.713 feet), Standard Deviation = 162.720 based on 309 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012