Trillium chloropetalum

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Trillium chloropetalum
TrilliumChloropetalumRubrum-thumb.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Genus: Trillium
Species:
T. chloropetalum
Binomial name
Trillium chloropetalum
Synonyms [2] [3]
T. chloropetalum
    • Trillium giganteum var. chloropetalum(Torr.) R.R.Gates
    • Trillium sessile var. chloropetalumTorr.
T. c. var. giganteum
    • Trillium chloropetalum subsp. giganteum(Hook. & Arn.) A.E.Murray
    • Trillium giganteum(Hook. & Arn.) A.Heller
    • Trillium sessile var. californicumS.Watson
    • Trillium sessile subsp. giganteum(Hook. & Arn.) A.E.Murray
    • Trillium sessile var. giganteumHook. & Arn.

Trillium chloropetalum, also known as giant trillium, [4] giant wakerobin, [5] or common trillium, [6] is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is endemic to the western U.S. state of California, being especially frequent in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Contents

Description

Trillium chloropetalum is a perennial, clump-forming herbaceous plant with a thick underground rhizome. Like all trilliums, it has a whorl of three bracts (leaves) and a single trimerous flower with 3  sepals, 3  petals, two whorls of 3  stamens each, and 3  carpels fused into a single ovary with 3  stigmas. [7] Since its flower has no stalk, T. chloropetalum belongs to subgenus Sessilia, the sessile-flowered trilliums. It is one of the largest of all Trillium species, with a scape (stem) from 20 to 70 cm (7.9 to 27.6 in) long. The bracts are broadly ovate, 7 to 21 cm (2.8 to 8.3 in) long and 7 to 18 cm (2.8 to 7.1 in) wide, usually with brownish mottling but sometimes unmottled. Petal color is highly variable, typically ranging from pale greenish yellow to greenish bronze (or purplish green) to dark purple. A variety that lacks yellow pigments has petal colors ranging from white to reddish-purple. The flower petals enclose purple stamens, 15 to 30 mm (0.59 to 1.18 in) long, and a purple ovary. Flowering occurs from late February to early April. [4] [8] [9]

In the San Francisco Bay Area, a white-petaled form of T. chloropetalum is often confused with T. albidum, which also has white petals. The former is distinguished by the purple pigment in its anther connective tissue, a character lacking in T. albidum. [10]

Taxonomy

In 1856, John Torrey described Trillium sessile var. chloropetalum based on a specimen collected by John Milton Bigelow two years earlier in the "redwoods" of California. [11] [12] At the time, Bigelow was exploring the valleys and tributaries of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, but the precise original location of his specimen remains unknown. In 1903, Thomas Jefferson Howell described the species Trillium chloropetalum based on Torrey's variety. [13] [14] The epithet chloropetalum means "green-petaled". [15] : 105 

In 1975, John Daniel Freeman published an influential revision of subgenus Sessilia that included the description of a new species Trillium albidum J.D.Freeman and a completely new circumscription of Trillium chloropetalum(Torr.) Howell. [16] By separating out white-flowered T. albidum, Freeman was able to provide a rational circumscription of T. chloropetalum that includes the following taxa:

The petals of T. chloropetalum var. chloropetalum always show yellow pigments but these are often masked by purple or other pigments. [17] In contrast, the petals of T. chloropetalum var. giganteum lack yellow pigments altogether. [18] The former is characterized by the green-petaled form described by Torrey while the latter includes a white-flowered form of T. chloropetalum distinguished from T. albidum by the presence of dark purple stamens and carpels.

Freeman's treatment of Trillium chloropetalum is widely (if not universally) accepted. [19] [4] [2] [5] Some authorities consider Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum to be a synonym for Trillium chloropetalum, but even those authorities cite Freeman. [8]

Distribution and habitat

Trillium chloropetalum is endemic to California. Some authorities claim the species ranges across ten California counties, from Monterey County on the central California coast to Lake County in the north central part of the state: [4] [9]

Other authorities claim that T. chloropetalum has a broader range that extends northward to Siskiyou County or southward to Santa Barbara County. [6] [8] [20]

T. chloropetalum is found at the edges of redwood forests and chaparral, usually on moist slopes, canyon banks, and alluvial soils. [9]

Uses

The variety Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum, with its deep maroon flower petals, gained the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1993. [21] [22]

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<i>Trillium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Trillium is a genus of about fifty flowering plant species in the family Melanthiaceae. Trillium species are native to temperate regions of North America and Asia, with the greatest diversity of species found in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States.

<i>Trillium erectum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium erectum, the red trillium, also known as wake robin, purple trillium, bethroot, or stinking benjamin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. The plant takes its common name "wake robin" by analogy with the European robin, which has a red breast heralding spring. Likewise Trillium erectum is a spring ephemeral whose life-cycle is synchronized with that of the forests in which it lives. It is native to the eastern United States and eastern Canada from northern Georgia to Quebec and New Brunswick.

<i>Tiarella</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae

Tiarella, the foamflowers, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Saxifragaceae. The generic name Tiarella means "little turban", which suggests the shape of the seed capsules. Worldwide there are seven species, one each in eastern Asia and western North America, plus five species in eastern North America. As of October 2022, the taxonomy of Tiarella in eastern North America is in flux.

<i>Trillium ovatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium ovatum, the Pacific trillium, also known as the western wakerobin, western white trillium, or western trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found in western North America, from southern British Columbia and the tip of southwestern Alberta to central California, east to Idaho and western Montana. There is an isolated population in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming.

<i>Trillium luteum</i> Species of plant

Trillium luteum, the yellow trillium or yellow wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae with native populations in the Great Smoky Mountains of the United States and surrounding areas.

<i>Trillium flexipes</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium flexipes, known as the nodding wakerobin, bent trillium, or drooping trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found from Minnesota to Ohio, south to Tennessee, with isolated populations in New York, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and other states. It is an endangered species in Ontario and possibly extirpated in North Carolina.

<i>Trillium cuneatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cuneatum, the little sweet betsy, also known as whip-poor-will flower, large toadshade, purple toadshade, and bloody butcher, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States but is especially common in a region that extends from southern Kentucky through central Tennessee to northern Alabama. In its native habitat, this perennial plant flowers from early March to late April. It is the largest of the eastern sessile-flowered trilliums.

<i>Trillium sessile</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium sessile is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet sessile means "attached without a distinct stalk", an apparent reference to its stalkless flower. It is commonly known as toadshade or toad trillium. It is also called sessile trillium or sessile-flowered wake-robin,, however it is not the only member of the genus with a sessile flower.

<i>Trillium cernuum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium cernuum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet cernuum means "drooping, curving forwards, facing downwards", a distinctive habit of its flower. It is commonly called nodding trillium or nodding wakerobin since the flower is invariably found nodding beneath the leaves. It is sometimes referred to as the northern nodding trillium to distinguish from Trillium rugelii, a similar nodding species native to the southern Appalachian Mountains. It is also called the whip-poor-will flower since presumably its bloom coincides with the spring arrival of the migrating bird with the same name.

<i>Tiarella trifoliata</i> Species of flowering plant

Tiarella trifoliata, the three-leaf foamflower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Saxifragaceae. The specific name trifoliata means "having three leaflets", a characteristic of two of the three recognized varieties. Also known as the laceflower or sugar-scoop, the species is found in shaded, moist woods in western North America.

<i>Trillium stamineum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium stamineum, the twisted trillium, also known as the Blue Ridge wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee. Its natural habitat is calcareous woodlands.

<i>Trillium sulcatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium sulcatum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific name sulcatum means "furrowed, grooved, or sulcate", which describes the tips of the sepals. It is most abundant on the Cumberland Plateau in central Tennessee and eastern Kentucky where it blooms in April and May. The species is commonly known as the southern red trillium or furrowed wakerobin.

<i>Trillium pusillum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium pusillum is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae known by the common names dwarf trillium, least trillium and dwarf wakerobin. It is native to the southeastern and south-central United States from Oklahoma to Maryland.

<i>Trillium albidum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium albidum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is the only trillium characterized by a stalkless white flower. The species is endemic to the western United States, ranging from central California through Oregon to southwestern Washington. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is often confused with a white-flowered form of Trillium chloropetalum. In northern Oregon and southwestern Washington, it has a smaller, less conspicuous flower.

<i>Trillium petiolatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium petiolatum, the Idaho trillium, also known as the long-petioled trillium or round-leaved trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to the northwestern United States, in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The type specimen for this species was gathered by Meriwether Lewis in 1806 along the Clearwater River during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

<i>Trillium angustipetalum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium angustipetalum, with the common name is narrowpetal wakerobin, is a species of Trillium, plants which may be included within the Liliaceae or the newer family Melanthiaceae.

<i>Trillium kurabayashii</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium kurabayashii is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The species is endemic to the western United States, occurring in extreme southwestern Oregon, northwestern California, and the Sierra Nevada of northern California. It was first described by John Daniel Freeman in 1975. The specific epithet kurabayashii honors Masataka Kurabayashi, a Japanese cytologist and population geneticist who first postulated the taxon’s existence. It is commonly known as the giant purple wakerobin, a reference to its conspicuously large, dark purple-red flower, one of the largest of any sessile-flowered trillium.

<i>Trillium maculatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium maculatum, the spotted wakerobin or spotted trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found only in the eastern United States.

Trillium viride, commonly called the wood wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found in the central United States, in certain parts of Missouri and Illinois. The specific epithet viride means "youthful" or "fresh-green", an apparent reference to the color of the plant's flower petals. For this reason, it is also called the green trillium, not to be confused with other green-flowered trilliums such as T. viridescens and the green form of T. sessile, both of which are found in Missouri.

Trillium hibbersonii is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. The specific epithet hibbersonii honors the English Canadian surveyor John Arthur Hibberson (1881–1955) who first collected this plant in 1938 on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Hibberson and his son propagated the trilliums, selling them to buyers in England and other European countries. In 1968, Leonard Wiley coined the Latin name Trillium hibbersonii, a name that has since been used by horticulturists without reservation.

References

  1. ↑ "Trillium chloropetalum". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Trillium chloropetalum(Torr.) Howell". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  3. ↑ "Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum(Hook. & Arn.) Munz". Plants of the World Online . Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium chloropetalum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 7 March 2022– via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  5. 1 2 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Trillium chloropetalum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. 1 2 "Trillium chloropetalum". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  7. ↑ Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 29 March 2023– via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  8. 1 2 3 McNeal, Dale W.; Ness, Bryan D. (2012). "Trillium chloropetalum". Jepson eFlora. The Jepson Herbarium. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 Freeman (1975), pp. 52–55.
  10. ↑ Freeman (1975), p. 51.
  11. ↑ "Trillium sessile var. chloropetalumTorr.". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Torrey, John (1856), Report on the botany of the expedition (Part V), Description of the general botanical collections (No. 4), Explorations and Surveys for a Railroad Route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean, vol. IV: Route near the thirty-fifth parallel, explored by lieutenant A. W. Whipple, topographical engineers, in 1853 and 1854, Washington, D.C.: Department of War, p. 151, doi:10.5962/bhl.title.41563, OCLC   12125612 , retrieved 7 March 2022
  13. ↑ "Trillium chloropetalum(Torr.) Howell". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Howell, Thomas (1903), A Flora of Northwest America, vol. 1, Portland, Oregon, p. 661, retrieved 7 March 2022
  15. ↑ Gledhill, David (2008). The Names of Plants (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-86645-3.
  16. ↑ Freeman (1975), pp. 48–55.
  17. ↑ Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium chloropetalum var. chloropetalum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 7 March 2022– via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  18. ↑ Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 26. New York and Oxford. Retrieved 7 March 2022– via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  19. ↑ Case & Case (1997), pp. 164–170.
  20. ↑ "Trillium chloropetalum". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  21. ↑ "Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  22. ↑ "Ornamentals AGM Plants March 2020" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. p. 112. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
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