Trillium stylosum

• Interesting Facts
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Description

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]

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : Nutt. Publication : Gen. N. Amer. Pl. [Nuttall]. 1: 239 (-240) 1818

Similar Species

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

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A world of green hills; observations of nature and human nature in the Blue Ridge, Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and company, 1898. url p. 56.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url p. 147.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 30 1903 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 294, p. 324, p. 395.
• Class book of botany. Being outlines of the structure, physiology and classification of plants. With a flora of all parts of the United States and Canada. By Alphonso Wood. .. New York, A.S. Barnes & Burr;1860. url p. 705.
• Class-book of botany: being outlines of the structure, physiology, and classification of plants: with a flora of the United States and Canada / by Alphonso Wood. New York: A.S. Barnes & Co.; 1874, c1869. url p. 705.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 6 1901 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 443.
• Exercises in botany for the Pacific states / by Volney Rattan. San Francisco: Whitaker & Ray, 1897. url p. 705.
• Flora cestrica: an herborizing companion for the young botanists of Chester County...Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, Lindsay & Blakiston, 1853. url p. 320.
• Flora of the southeastern United States; being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and in Oklahom by John Kunkel Small. New York, The author, 1913. url p. 279.
• Garden and forest; a journal of horticulture, landscape art and forestry. New York: The Garden and forest publishing co., 1888-97. url p. 296.
• Garden planning and planting / ed. by H. H. Thomas; with numerous illustrations from photographs and sketches. London; Cassell and company, ltd., 1910. url p. 145.
• Hand-list of herbaceous plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Gardens. London, Printed for H. M. Stationery Off. by Darling, 1902. url p. 1165.
• How to study plants: or, Introduction to botany, being an illustrated flora / by Alphonso Wood. New York: Barnes, 1882. url p. 249.
• Irish gardening. Dublin: Pub. Office, 1906-1922 url p. 61.
• Journal of botany, British and foreign. London: Robert Hardwicke, 1863-1942. url p. 333.
• Meehan's monthly: a magazine of horticulture, botany, and kindred subjects. Phila., PA: T. Meehan & Sons, 1891-1902. url .
• Meehans' monthly: a magazine of horticulture, botany and kindred subjects / conducted by Thomas Meehan. Philadelphia: Thomas Meehan & Sons, 1891-1902. url p. 59.
• Plant life of Alabama, an account of the distribution, modes of association, and adaptations of the flora of Alabama, together with a systematic catalogue of the plants growing in the state. By Charles Mohr. .. Montgomery, Ala., Brown printing co., 1901. url p. 443, p. 66, p. 79.
• Plant life of Alabama. An account of the distribution, modes of association, and adaptations of the flora of Alabama, together with a systematic catalogue of the plants growing in the state. Prepared in cooperationwith the Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1901. url .
• Plant life of Alabama: an account of the distribution, modes of association, and adaptations of the flora of Alabama, together with a systematic catalogue of the plants growing in the state / by Charles Mohr. Montgomery, Ala.: Brown Printing Co., 1901. url p. 443.
• Report of the United States Geological Survey of the territories. F.V. Hayden, United States geologist in charge. .. [Final reports or monographs. vol. I]-III, V-XIII. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1873-90. url p. 565.
• Small, J. K. Flora of the southeastern United States;being descriptions of the seed-plants, ferns and fern-allies growing naturally in North Carolina, South Carolin, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and the Indian territory and in Oklahoma and Texas east of the one-hundredth meridian /by John Kunkel Small. .. 1903 New York: The author, 1903. url p. 277.
• Standardized plant names; a catalogue of approved scientific and common names of plants in American commerce. Salem, Mass., 1923. url p. 498, p. 499.
• The American botanist and florist: including lessons in the structure, life, and growth of plants: together with a simple analytical flora, descriptive of the native and cultivated plants growing in the Atlantic division of the Americ by Alphonso Wood. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1877, c1870. url p. 340.
• The Book of gardening; a handbook of horticulture. London, C. Scribner's Sons, 1900. url .
• The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general. New York, N.Y.: [A.T. De la Mare Ptg. and Pub. Co., url p. 862.
• The Garden: an illustrated weekly journal of gardening in all its branches. London: [s.n., url p. 138, p. 153, p. 381, p. 39, p. 463, p. 643.
• The Gardeners' chronicle: a weekly illustrated journal of horticulture and allied subjects. London: [Gardeners Chronicle], 1874-1955. url , p. 328, p. 333.
• The Tennessee flora; with special reference to the flora of Nashville. Phaenogams and vascular cryptogams, by August Gattinger. Nashville, Tenn.The author, 1887. url p. 87.
• The bulb book; or, Bulbous and tuberous plants for the open air, stove, and greenhouse, containing particulars as to descriptions, culture, propagation, etc.. .. by John Weathers. London, J. Murray, 1911. url p. 432.
• Berg, R. Y. 1958. Seed dispersal, morphology, and phylogeny of Trillium. Skr. Norske Vidensk.-Akad. Oslo, Mat.-Natkurvidensk. Kl. 1958(1): 1-36.
• Case, F. W. and G. L. Burrows. 1962. The genus Trillium in Michigan: Some problems of distribution and taxonomy. Pap. Michigan Acad. Sci. 47: 180-200.
• Case, F. W. and R. B. Case. 1997. Trilliums. Portland. Gates, R. R. 1917b. A systematic study of the North American genus Trillium, its variability and its relation to Paris and Medeola. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 4: 43-92.
• Kato, H. et al. 1995. Evolutionary biology of Trillium and related genera (Trilliaceae). 1. Restriction site mapping and variation of chloroplast DNA and its systematic implications. Pl. Spec. Biol. 10: 7-30.
• Kazempour Osaloo, S., F. H. Utech, M. Ohara, and S. Kawano. 1999. Molecular systematics of Trilliaceae I. Phylogenetic analyses of Trillium using matK gene sequences. J. Pl. Res. 112: 35-49.
• Samejima, K. and J. Samejima. 1987. Trillium Genus Illustrated. Sapporo.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 9, 2012.

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 7173159
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15885639
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:542608-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 542608-1
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1427537

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]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.