Trillium crassifolium

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Trillium crassifolium
Trillium crassifolium Washington USA May 2022.jpg
Chelan County, Washington (May 2022)
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Liliales
Family: Melanthiaceae
Genus: Trillium
Species:
T. crassifolium
Binomial name
Trillium crassifolium

Trillium crassifolium, the Wenatchee Mountains trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It was previously thought to be endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains in Washington but recent findings suggest its range extends into Oregon and Idaho as well.

Contents

Description

Trillium crassifolium is a perennial herbaceous plant that persists by means of an 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. [3]

Like other members of the Trillium ovatum complex, the flower of Trillium crassifolium is stalked (not sessile). The flower petals are white at the onset of anthesis, fading to red or purple as the flower ages. It differs from Trillium ovatum by having erect rhizomes, shorter petals, and thickish leaves. [4] In general, the sepals and petals of Trillium crassifolium are more-or-less the same length whereas the sepals of Trillium ovatum are much shorter than the petals. [5]

The leaves of mature plants of Trillium crassifolium are elliptic (not ovate or rhombic) with their widest point near the middle. The leaf tips are obtuse to slightly acuminate. It has flattened filaments, a unique feature among the pedicellate trilliums of western North America. [6]

Taxonomy

Trillium crassifolium was described by the American botanist and agriculturalist Charles Vancouver Piper in 1899. [2] [4] Its type specimen was collected by the American botanist Kirk Whited near Wenatchee, Washington earlier that same year. [7] At the time, some authorities considered Trillium crassifoliumPiper to be a synonym for Trillium ovatum Pursh, [8] but as of April 2024 it is widely accepted as a distinct species. [1] [9] [10] The specific name crassifolium means "with thick, fleshy or leathery leaves". [11]

Trillium crassifolium is a member of the grandiflorum group (Trillium subgen. Callipetalon), [12] which includes all members of the Trillium ovatum complex. Based on phylogenetic analysis, Trillium crassifolium was placed as sister to Trillium nivale Riddell of the eastern United States, not Trillium ovatum as previously assumed. [13]

Distribution and habitat

Trillium crassifolium was originally collected near Wenatchee, Washington and for a long time it was thought to be endemic to the Wenatchee Mountains. [9] [14] In 2024, the species was reported to be more broadly distributed in the Blue Mountains and Rocky Mountains of Oregon, Washington, and west-central Idaho, [15] but by that time, it had become known as the Wenatchee Mountains Trillium. [1] [16]

Conservation

In 2019, based on available evidence, the global conservation status of Trillium crassifolium was determined to be Critically Imperiled (G1). [1] [14] Since then the species is reported to have a wider distribution, [15] but as of April 2024 its conservation status has not been reviewed.

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

Trillium grandiflorum, the white trillium, large-flowered trillium, great white trillium, white wake-robin or French: trille blanc, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. A monocotyledonous, herbaceous perennial, the plant is native to eastern North America, from northern Quebec to the southern parts of the United States through the Appalachian Mountains into northernmost Georgia and west to Minnesota. There are also several isolated populations in Nova Scotia, Maine, southern Illinois, and Iowa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trilliaceae</span> Family of flowering plants

Trilliaceae was a family of flowering plants first named in 1846; however, most taxonomists now consider the genera formerly assigned to it to belong to the family Liliaceae. The APG IV system, of 2016, does not recognize such a family either and assigns the plants involved to family Melanthiaceae, tribe Parideae.

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

Pseudotrillium is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. Its sole species, Pseudotrillium rivale, is commonly known as the brook wakerobin. It is endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of southern Oregon and northern California. The Latin specific epithet rivale means “growing by streams”, with reference to a preferred habitat.

<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 the most widespread and abundant trillium in western North America. Its type specimen was gathered by Meriwether Lewis during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806.

<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. It is a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, especially in and around the Great Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.

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

Trillium undulatum, commonly called painted trillium, painted lady, or trille ondulé in French, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is also known as smiling wake robin or striped wake-robin. The specific epithet undulatum means "wavy", which refers to the wavy edges of the flower petals. The plant is found from Ontario in the north to northern Georgia in the south and from Michigan in the west to Nova Scotia in the east.

<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 a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a subgroup of the sessile-flowered trilliums. 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 decipiens</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium decipiens, also known as Chattahoochee River wakerobin or deceiving trillium, is a spring-flowering perennial plant. It occurs mostly near the Chattahoochee River in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Scattered populations are found elsewhere in these three states, all within the Atlantic Coastal Plain or Gulf Coastal Plain. Rich deciduous woods of bluffs, ravines, and alluvial land provide its most favored habitat.

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

Trillium lancifolium, the lanceleaf wakerobin, lance-leaved trillium, or narrow-leaved trillium, is a species of plants native to the southeastern United States. It is known to occur in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The species is imperiled in Alabama and Florida, and critically imperiled in South Carolina and Tennessee.

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

Trillium sulcatum is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae. It is a member of the Erectum group, a group of species typified by Trillium erectum. 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 decumbens</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium decumbens, also known as the decumbent trillium or trailing wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae). It is native to the southeastern United States, specifically Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, where it grows in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes.

<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. Its type specimen was gathered by Meriwether Lewis during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806.

<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 a member of the Trillium cuneatum complex, a closely related group of sessile-flowered trilliums. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States, ranging across Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and northern Florida.

Trillium tennesseense, the Tennessee trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found exclusively within two counties in northeastern Tennessee. Due to its limited range, it is designated as a critically imperiled species.

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

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.

Trillium scouleri is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family Melanthiaceae.

Trillium georgianum, the Georgia dwarf trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is one of the rarest, and perhaps most threatened species in the Trillium pusillum species complex. It is the sole representative of the complex in the U.S. state of Georgia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Trillium crassifolium". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Trillium crassifoliumPiper". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  3. 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: Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 April 2024 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. 1 2 Piper (1899).
  5. Piper (1906), p. 198.
  6. Wayman et al. (2024), p. 168.
  7. "Whited, Kirk". Smithsonian Institution Archives. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  8. Gleason (1906), p. 395.
  9. 1 2 "Trillium crassifoliumPiper". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  10. "Trillium crassifoliumPiper". WFO Plant List. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  11. Gledhill (2008), pp. 124.
  12. Lampley et al. (2022), p. 281.
  13. Wayman et al. (2024), p. 162.
  14. 1 2 Meredith et al. (2022), p. 40.
  15. 1 2 Wayman et al. (2024), p. 165.
  16. "Wenatchee Mountains Trillium (Trillium crassifolium)". iNaturalist.org. Retrieved 27 April 2024.

Bibliography