Trillium decumbens

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Trillium decumbens
Trillium-decumbens-habit-square.jpg
Status TNC G4.svg
Apparently Secure  (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. decumbens
Binomial name
Trillium decumbens

Trillium decumbens, also known as the decumbent trillium [3] or trailing wakerobin, [4] is a species of flowering plant in the bunchflower family (Melanthiaceae). It is native to the southeastern United States, specifically Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, [5] where it grows in mature deciduous woodlands or on open rocky wooded slopes. [6]

Contents

Description

Trillium decumbens is a perennial herbaceous plant that blooms from mid-March to April. The dark maroon flower petals are long and twisted, and held upright at full bloom. The flowers emit a strongly fetid odor. [3] Unlike most other trilliums, its stems grow along the ground ("decumbent") rather than standing upright, so that the plant appears to rest on the surrounding leaf litter. This characteristic is what drew the attention of its discoverer, Charles Lawrence Boynton. [7] Its leaves are mottled green and silver. They die back early in the season while the fruit, a dark purple berry, is still developing. By early autumn, the ripe fruit is presented on a stalk without surrounding leaves. [3]

Taxonomy

Trillium decumbens was first described by American botanist Thomas Grant Harbison in 1902. [2] It was one of several Trillium species described by Harbison as part of a project to review what he considered the neglected biodiversity within the genus. He emphasized the uniqueness of its combination of a decumbent and finely-hairy stem, relatively large and twisted petals, and prominently elongated anther connectives to distinguish it from other trilliums. [7]

Several "amazingly disjunct" [8] central Georgia populations formerly identified as T. decumbens are thought to constitute a new species, Trillium delicatumFloden & E.E.Schill.. [9] The latter differs markedly from T. decumbens genetically, morphologically, and ecologically, resembling it only in general appearance. [10]

Conservation

The global conservation status of Trillium decumbens is apparently secure (G4). [1] It is critically imperiled in the Tennessee and vulnerable in both Georgia and Alabama.

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>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 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. 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 rugelii</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium rugelii, also known as the southern nodding trillium or illscented wakerobin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to parts of the southeastern United States. It is found in the Great Smoky Mountains, Fernbank Forest, Steven's Creek Heritage Preserve, and other places of the Piedmont and southern Appalachian Mountains in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee. It prefers to grow near streams in humus-rich soil under the shade of deciduous trees.

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

Trillium discolor, the mottled wakerobin, pale yellow trillium, or small yellow toadshade, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is native to areas of the Savannah River drainage system of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina such as Steven's Creek Heritage Preserve and Lake Keowee. It is found along moist stream banks in upland woods, on acidic to basic soils.

<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 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 vaseyi</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium vaseyi, the sweet wakerobin or sweet beth, is a spring flowering perennial plant which is found only in the southeastern United States, primarily in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains but with a few populations farther south.

<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 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. 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 foetidissimum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trillium foetidissimum, also known as the Mississippi River wakerobin, stinking trillium, or fetid trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found along the Louisiana–Mississippi border in a variety of habitats.

<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.

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

Trillium ludovicianum, the Louisiana wakerobin or Louisiana trillium, is a species of flowering plant in the family Melanthiaceae. It is found only in the south-central United States, in Louisiana, Mississippi, and eastern Texas.

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.

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 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 "Trillium decumbens". NatureServe Explorer. NatureServe . Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Trillium decumbensHarb.". International Plant Names Index (IPNI). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Harvard University Herbaria & Libraries; Australian National Botanic Gardens . Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Case Jr., Frederick W. (2002). "Trillium decumbens". 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 via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Trillium decumbens". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. "Trillium decumbens". County-level distribution map from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. Pistrang, Mark. "Decumbent Trillium (Trillium decumbens)". United States Forest Service . Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  7. 1 2 Harbison, T. G. (1902). "New or little known species of Trillium, II". Biltmore Botanical Studies. 1 (2): 158. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  8. Patrick, Tom (2007). "Trilliums of Georgia". Tipularia. 22: 3–22.
  9. "Trillium delicatumFloden & E.E.Schill.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  10. Schilling, Edward E.; Floden, Aaron; Lampley, Jayne; Patrick, Thomas S.; Farmer, Susan B. (2019). "A New Species of Trillium (Melanthiaceae) from Central Georgia and its Phylogenetic Position in subgenus Sessilium". Systematic Botany. 44 (1): 107–114. doi:10.1600/036364419X697958. S2CID   91263667.

Bibliography